Miserable at work. That was me several years ago, and for far too long. I was a software developer and I really enjoyed what I did. I still do, just not for anyone else anymore.
The corporate world puts a lot of arbitrary rules in place, I think, to keep people unhappy. One boss told me that I had to move into management because I hit the salary cap as a developer. They hired me to write code. I liked coding. Why would I stop doing that so that I could watch other people do it?
I had one big challenge working with other software developers too. They like to make things harder, more complex, than they need to be. I think it’s the same in any profession. Unnecessary complexity makes them feel important or somehow justifies all of the time and money that they spent on their eduction. I usually had to maintain their fragile constructions when they moved on to other projects. That was not fun.
You’re probably not a software developer, but I’m sure you can sympathize with having to clean up other people’s messes in your job. I didn’t enjoy it. You eventually reach a point where you’ve had enough.
I needed a way out.
Are You Miserable at Work
Nobody should have to go though life miserable, and if you are miserable at work, chances are you are miserable the rest of the time too.
It is next to impossible to separate your professional life from your home life, and vice versa. The energy from one always carries over into the other.
There are many reasons that you might be miserable at work.
- You aren’t doing something you enjoy
- The people you work with are miserable
- Your boss doesn’t let you do your job
- Your boss is a micro-manager
- The commute is terrible
It could be just about anything, and is probably more than one thing.
I Quit My Job
Actually, I quit my job twice. The first time I quit because I knew my current job wouldn’t give me the time off to go to an interview for a new job. I was also in massage school at the time and they were having an all-day event that would give me a lot of the hands-on hours that I needed to complete the program. So I quit my job on Wednesday, had the interview on Thursday (which took 3 hours or so) and then did the massage school event on Friday. I think I started the new job the following Monday.
My wife was also 9 months pregnant when I quit that job. Most people thought I was crazy walking away from the health insurance with a baby coming too soon.
I was more calculated in quitting my new job. I planned for this one to be temporary and needed to put something else in place to support me when I finally quit.
Be The Boss
Whatever I did next, I had to be able to make my own decisions. I had to be the boss. Which meant that I had to work for myself. I can’t say that was ever a dream of mine before, but there it was.
At the time I thought that my new business would be massage, but massage requires a lot of physical work and you can only do so many in a day. You’ve heard of trading time of money, right? Massage therapy is probably the best example of trading time for money.
I needed another way to not be miserable at work that didn’t have a built-in income cap.
Through massage I learned about another possibility that would allow me to work from home and be the boss. That is network marketing.
What Is Network Marketing?
For me, network marketing is selling someone else’s product to a customer at retail and keeping the retail profit. I also get a commission on the backend. I see it as a sales business.
Sales doesn’t interest me though, so I figured out how to change it into a marketing business, which is a lot more interesting.
Many People See Network Marketing as a Bad Thing
Network marketing has a lot of things that people see as negative.
- Recruiting
- Hotel / in-home meetings
- Selling
- Harassing your friends and family
- Get rich quick scheme
- Pyramid scheme
- Stockpile of products that you’ll never use
- Monthly autoship requirements
Do I Have to Recruit?
I don’t actively recruit people. I write articles like this explaining how I work my network marketing business and people choose to join me because they like what they see. Actually, I just got off the phone with someone who wants to join me.
I Don’t Like Selling
Recruiting, meetings, harassing your friends and family, that’s all selling. I already said I don’t do that. I figured out how to use marketing instead.
Get Rich Quick?
Network marketing is not a get rich quick scheme. I wish it was. Alas, it is just like any other business. It takes time to learn the skills, get yourself established, and build a customer base. How long it takes depends on your level of belief and commitment.
Network Marketing is a Pyramid Scheme
I love the pyramid scheme argument. You are not a pyramid when you sell product to customers outside of your organization. That’s they way I do this, and have done this for 8 years.
Quotas and Stockpiling
I have to sell a certain amount of product each month to get paid. That’s a no-brainer. If I don’t sell anything then there isn’t anything to pay me for anyway. If I don’t earn at least $5 in a month then I don’t get paid. That hasn’t happened since my early days in this business.
I haven’t had an autoship and I’m not required to purchase any product. I buy what I use and that’s it. Of course I use the product. Why would I sell something that I don’t use myself?
It is Network MARKETING, not Network SELLING
Like I said above, I don’t like selling. It’s a common objection to network marketing. I don’t know why they decided to call this network marketing instead of network selling, because that is what most people do – selling instead of marketing.
I actually do network marketing. The marketing is my website(s). The network is the Internet. Literal network marketing.
And I’m not miserable at work anymore.
Here’s what it looks like. I market the products on my main website – www.getmywellness.com and support that with a blog. I share information about the products, how I use them, what I like, what I don’t like. That’s where I make my money.
I also have this website where I talk about the business side. I don’t try to talk people into joining me. If I did that then I would have to continue talking them into working every day. That’s too hard. I just invite everyone who is interested to find out more.
People join my team because they want to do it the same way I do, online, without all of the crap side of network selling. To support that, I am also working on an e-book and membership website to show people exactly how I have built my business to become a top 10 retailer in my company.
Your Thoughts?
This is what I did to not be miserable at work anymore. It isn’t for everyone. Going into business for yourself doesn’t come with any income guarantees. Some businesses talk about how your advancement and income is merit-based. Network marketing truly is a merit-based opportunity.
So, are you miserable at work? Are you looking for a solution? If so, would you consider network marketing (as opposed to network selling)?
Thank you for taking the time to read all the way to the end. I really appreciate it. Leave me your thoughts in a comment below and please share this post with your followers on social media.