A Recent History of the Work Place

In the 1800’s most people were self-employed, working their land or selling their goods and services.

In the 1900’s most people worked for a company, trading their time and expertise for wages.  This was made possible by the industrial revolution.  Those who were not good at managing (or too lazy to manage) their own time and talents liked this form of work because it was easier and played into man’s desire to remain within his/her comfort zone.

Now that we are into the 2000’s the pendulum is changing back to being self-employed.  This has mainly been made possible thanks to the World Wide Web.  People are beginning to realize that it is smarter to be in charge of their destiny instead of turning their life over to others. 

Big business is also taking advantage of our shrinking world by outsourcing their work to people in other countries who are just as capable as we are yet demand a lot less in return.

Now for the hard part: we must realize and accept the fact that we are where we are in life because of the choices we and we alone have made.  If we are not living the life we deserve, then it is the person looking back at us in the mirror that is to blame, no one else.

Once we accept this as Truth, we can then do something to change it.  Not everyone was made to be their own boss, to have their own business and that is a good thing.  Yet we must all look at ourselves as being self-employed, because no matter who signs our paycheck, we do work for ourselves.

So you have three choices:

1. You can continue to work for someone else and be treated as a machine that will be replaced when your usefulness is no longer desired.
2. You can be your own boss and either work with someone else on your terms or run your own business.
3. You can do nothing and let life just happen to you.

You must realize and accept as Truth that thanks to modern technology the world is shrinking in many ways.  It is no longer my country versus your country or my race or religion versus yours.  We are all becoming interconnected.  It is now possible to easily communicate with all parts of the world, to trade knowledge, talent and services with all corners of the world.

Those of us who desire to be self-employed and work from our home can do it thanks to the Internet.  And we can do it on a part-time basis until we are easily replacing our W-2 wages with our 1099 earnings.

There is enough wealth to go around for everyone on Planet Earth, with plenty left over for future generations.  We just need to think and act differently.  We need to believe that we can, and we will.

For those of us who still desire and feel that we can do the most good for ourselves and others by working with a company (and there are many good reasons to choose this) then you might want to read a very eye opening  mini-book called Work 2.0: Rewriting the Contract  by Bill Jensen.  It is a short 15-page read (there is also a shorter 3-page version) that will open your eyes, providing you want to get your head out of the sand.  In fact it is what inspired me to write to you.

Many people have said that thanks to the Internet we have now entered the Information Age.  Some say we are past the Information Age and are now into the Action Age.  And some people even state that we have progressed beyond the Action Age and are now into the Social Networking Age.

No wonder time seems to go so fast these days.  Yes, our world is shrinking and we need to adjust or go the way of the Neanderthal Man (recent studies now indicate that they did not become extinct due to climate, rather they became extinct because they were not willing to adjust to changes).

Whatever reality you find yourself in is capable of being

altered by you at any time you want.  It is not altered by

changing what is outside of you; it’s altered by changing how

you choose to process your life.  — Wayne Dyer

Gary

PS: Did you remember to “Register” for my Blog?  It’s over to the left under “Meta“.  by registering you will be kept informed of when I post a new blog.

This entry was posted on 30. August 2008 at 11:18 am and is filed under Living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

| Print