At casual-work meetup, someone said “Daraz has laid off 11% of its employees.”
“Yeah, there was a rumor inside the company since a week — whoever gets an HR email is getting laid off. And everybody was refreshing their mailbox repeatedly.”
“God! That’s disturbing,” a colleague remarked.
I asked why?
They said “its stressful to wake up with the fear of getting laid off.”
I understand where they're coming from, but I have a different perspective.
To me, its a simple matter of understanding how companies and startups work.
A company, just like a person, learns from experiences and can't make guarantees.
Founders are not god, neither superhumans (although they claim to be, but they are not.) They, too, learn and adjust what doesn't work over time.
Hence, relying solely on companies for job security is a nut job.
Big reminder 👇
You're living on a planet that's floating naked in space.
What security are we asking for? Job security, as we knew it in the past, no longer exists.
But can we stop and cry about it? Not an option. We are (proud) homo sapiens; and we adapt.
1. Think like a business
To navigate the shifting tides in the job market, it is beneficial to view yourself as a solopreneur.
Think of yourself as a 1-person business.
Your job is nothing more than a temporary client.
Consider yourself not an employee but a service provider.
This frame of mind puts you in a better position to negotiate with your employer and advocate for yourself.
2. Hunt for part-time roles
A viable strategy is to get away from full-time jobs. They demand too much. Instead, look for part-time roles at early-stage startups.
Offer plethora of consultancy, contacts, and skills in return of a reduced commitment—less no of days, remote work, or whatever.
Buy time for upskilling and side projects; to spread your eggs in several baskets and diversify your income.
It may also open doors to more fulfilling and rewarding work.
Take example of Elon Musk, who is known for many things, but I know him as a master of embracing change.
In my view, he takes his career as a series of projects rather than a lifelong commitment to a single company.
This mindset allows him to divide his commitments and pursue different ventures.
3. Live on adventure mode
I started my career at 16—being a salesman of a local nimco brand in Hyderabad.
On and off—in the last 14 years—I have worked various jobs. Several ventures. In 10+ industries. Doing hundreds of new things every year.
Why? Probably because as a millennial child I wanted to do everything.
The concept of career as a straight line never made sense to me. I wanted it to be like a maze, with turns and twists. Like the one on the right 👇
Understand this 👇
When life lets you choose difficulty level: Go for the adventure mode.
Adventure mode is considering that you'll die soon and everything is temporary.
Your life becomes a living hell when you take things like a job, relationship, or person as permanent. Keep reminding yourself nothing is.
The only permanent thing in life is: change.
Take life as journey in a train, where death is your destination. Instead of sitting in one seat, why not have fun roaming around the train?
In a room full of audience, Kamran Ali, adventure cyclist and photographer, was asked: What is your biggest fear?
“Getting stuck in one place for too long!”
The comfort zone test
To keep yourself in adventure mode, here's a simple exercise from Steve Jobs.
Every week, stand in front of a mirror.
Ask yourself: am I living to the fullest?
If you answer "no" for three weeks in a row, it’s time to get out of your comfort zone and pursue new things.
Final word.
If you work a job, it's time to embrace a new mental model that combines adaptability with the excitement of adventure.
The shifting landscape of jobs is not bad. It’s an opportunity for you to reframe how you view your career and probably give your boss a run for his money.
My goal with this essay was to present a perspective on job security and offer a mindset shift towards taking complete ownership of one's career. (Let me know if I have succeeded in the comments below.)
Here’s a recap of today’s letter 👇
Want to go deeper on the topic? Reply to this email anytime.
If you’re stuck in a bad job or want to start something of your own, grab time with me for a 1:1 session on building from scratch, switching to better jobs, or writing as a career.
Thanks for reading!
Have a great week 🙌
Hassaan