summatix

Why I can’t get a job

People constantly question my actions. I’m constantly reminded by many of my friends and peers that I can easily get a job with a 6-figure salary. Apparently I’m incredibly hot on the job market.

But I don’t want to be hot. I don’t care about getting a high salary. I want to change the world. And not change the world like the other Silicon Valley entrepreneurs talk about with their web and mobile apps, thinking they’re onto the “next big thing.” I want to actually make an impact. I want to change people’s lives. I want to save people’s lives. I want to push human civilisation to the next level. I don’t want to build the next Google or Facebook. I want to build something substantial. Something that actually provides significant value.

Working for an existing company isn’t going to allow me to reach my goal. I tried working for an existing company once. It didn’t work out so well. Apparently you’re not supposed to take charge unless you have the title of manager, even when others naturally follow your lead. And apparently it’s frowned upon when you start changing things and telling the manager how their business should be run, even if it’ll increase their profits. Yeah, I didn’t fit in so well into an existing corporation.

I have no desire to become employed. Sure, I could get a job if I wanted to. But I wouldn’t be able to keep that job for very long. I’d get bored to death very quickly. I’m not so great at mundane activities. I’m not so great at being an employee. I’m not so great at being normal. I lead. That’s what I do. That’s what I’ve always done. I don’t know how to do anything else.

I’ve declined many job offers in my past. Opportunities most people dream of. Large corporations and startups alike have expressed huge interest in hiring me. Sorry, but I’m not interested.

I hear people complain all the time about how much they hate their current job, or how much they hate studying. It puzzles me. What the hell are you doing then? If you hate it so much, why do you continue to do it? If you hate your job, change it. If you hate studying, drop out. If you’re not doing something you love, then ask yourself, why not? If you’re not doing something you love because you think it’s too hard, then ask yourself, do you want life to be boring and easy, or do you want life to be fun and rewarding?

I can’t work unless I’m motivated to do so. This is why I can’t work for an existing corporation. Money isn’t a motivator to me. Is money going to make me happy? No, not directly. It may contribute to my happiness, but it’s not going to be the source of my happiness. Working in a high paying job that I hate is going to contribute more to my unhappiness than the resulting pay will contribute to my happiness.

One of the reasons I love Silicon Valley so much is because I’m free to do whatever I want, and I’m free to be in my own little world. I don’t fit into current society well. I want to reform and change things, not fit in. I can walk around and do whatever I want here and people don’t judge. Occasionally people stop me in my tracks and question what I’m doing or how I got into the building in the first place, but I just brush them off and tell them, “Don’t worry, I’m an entrepreneur, it’s called bootstrapping.” Yeah, I can use all the American buzzwords too.

I recently met up with one of my VC contacts – let’s call him Jerry. Just a general catch-up meeting. I told Jerry of my first adventures in Silicon Valley, and how I was bored when I went back to Australia. I told him of all the great ventures I was involved with in Australia, all the activities that I was undertaking, and of the great successes, but ultimately, I just didn’t fit in. That’s why I had to come back to Silicon Valley.

Plus, Australia really sucks for starting companies.

Jerry didn’t understand my motives though. He couldn’t comprehend why I would give up everything I had in Australia and move over to Silicon Valley permanently. Jerry told me I’m too unstable. That no one would want to invest in me until I have some stability in my life. He said I should of planned things more carefully before moving here. I should of come here with some money in the bank. I should go and work for a company for 12 months, save up as much money as I can, and then go and start a company.

Others have questioned my leadership abilities because I don’t appear to be stable. I’m seen as eccentric and unpredictable. People never know what I’m thinking or what I’m going to do. I always have a plan though. That plan just never goes according to plan. And when I see an opportunity, I grab it.

I currently have no money and no home. I’ve invested my entire life savings into entrepreneurship. The risk hasn’t yet payed off. Things weren’t going well for me in Australia, so I spent the very last of my money on a plane ticket to the US. I didn’t have enough money to pay for accommodation or food in the US, but that didn’t concern me. I knew I could figure things out. I maxed out my tourist visa, and stayed 3 months. I survived. And I survived well.

But ultimately, I had to go back. You can’t stay longer than 3 months on a tourist visa. So I went back to Australia. Before doing so however, I worked with several lawyers in the US to figure out a way to stay in the country more permanently. My visa application went through without any hitches. I could now move to the US pretty much indefinitely.

When I was in Australia I had nothing. I didn’t have any money. I couldn’t afford rent. But this didn’t concern me. My friends and family were concerned when I went out and bought new clothes instead of using that money to buy food. But food can always be found. Food can be stretched out. I wanted to be taken more seriously, so some new clothes were needed – they were higher priority.

I continued working on entrepreneurial activities. I gathered up another few thousand dollars. I gathered up just enough money to buy a one-way plane ticket to the US.

I still haven’t got a permanent place to live. I still have no money. But I’m here. I’m in the right place. Now is always the right time. I know eventually I’m going to figure things out.

Still, Jerry doesn’t think I’m onto something. Apparently I have no focus. I need more stability. Jerry doesn’t think my business idea has much potential. I’ve been dreaming of running a company since I was 12. I’ve been building businesses since I was a teen. I’ve been in this space for many years. If you think you know someone who knows the market better than me, I’d like to meet them so I can prove you wrong.

It’s not like I want money so that I can go and take a vacation in Hawaii. I want a little money to pay for a roof over my head to give me a little time to build something. I want money so I can work, not so that I can relax.

But Jerry says my company isn’t ready for an investment. It probably isn’t. But you know what, Mr Jerry? There are hundreds of VC firms. There’s only one of me. I’m going to become successful no matter what. The tables will be turned the next time we meet.

What amuses me the most is how Jerry went on to describe some of the most successful startups: Facebook, Dropbox, Airbnb.

Wait… hang on. Airbnb? VCs made a terrible mistake with that startup as well. Airbnb didn’t seem like a good investment, despite the team’s creativity. Pretty sure those VCs are filled with regret now. Isn’t history wonderful? Shame most people don’t learn anything from it.

Also, all these startups are web companies. When are VCs going to start looking beyond the horizon and invest in companies building future technology?

If I had millions of dollars to invest, and if a crazy man came to me telling me how he’s been programming video games since he was 12, been running businesses since he was a teen, was the top of his high school, went to university, topped that, tried out an engineering, an IT and a business course, decided none of them were right for him after accelerating his education twice at honours level while running startups on the side, got offered 6 figure salaries, got offered an exclusive PhD scholarship, but thought, screw it, it wasn’t for him, declined them, and instead dropped everything he had, sold everything he owned except for what could fit inside a small suitcase and a backpack, invested his life savings into a business, scraped by for several years with very little money, and moved over to the US to change the world, I’d think to myself, this kid is crazy, I might not have any idea what he’s talking about or what his business idea is, but maybe, just maybe he’s crazy enough to actually change the world, and maybe I should invest in him. But then, I’m bias. Only a crazy person would give me any money.

Last time I reviewed history the people who are most crazy are usually the people who end up running the world. But then, most people don’t learn from the past.

Even now, people still keep telling me to just get a job. Get a job and launch my company on the side. Now I was seriously considering this option. I almost gave into the peer pressure. But then I rethought the situation.

I can’t get a job. I tried that. Getting a job would make me miserable. This may seem odd to some people, as I have no money and no home to live at, and a job would provide me some stability. But despite my instability, I’m happy. Right now, I couldn’t imagine things any other way. I have everything that I need in life. I can survive. I’m going to continue. I’m going to become successful, because I don’t know how to fail.

I met with a friend recently who was extremely stressed out about all her schoolwork. She had so many things on her mind and couldn’t relax. I listened intently to her story. She then commented on how relaxed I was. About how chill I was. She couldn’t comprehend how I could have such a big smile on my face, how I could look so relaxed, and how I could look so happy and stress-free while sitting next to my life belongings – a backpack and a suitcase – having no idea where I was going to sleep that night.

How can I be so happy when I have no money and no place to live? Simple. I’m free to do whatever I want. I’m free from the materialistic world. I live in the moment while creating the future. I love life, and I’m going to make the most of it.

Sometimes it’s hard being in a place where so many people are depressed. I feel like shaking these people vigorously and telling them to wake up and that happiness is a choice. But of course you can’t just tell a depressed person to be happy. It doesn’t work like that.

Eventually I’m going to become incredibly successful. More successful than most people can imagine. But I’m not going to get a job in order to do this.

I’ve been called many things, from “ballsy idiot” to “child prodigy” to “super genius” to “mentally insane.” I’ve been referred to as both a “kid with his head screwed on right” and a “kid with something loose in his head.” People have told me things like I’m “born to be an entrepreneur” and I “need to be locked up in a mental institution.” I’ve been compared to Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, among others. But I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone. I’m not trying to be the next Gates, Jobs or Zuckerberg. I want to be the next Robert Roose. I want to create my own story. Live my own life. Not live in the shadow of someone else’s. Not follow someone else’s expectations. I want to become the best human being I possibly can, and live life to its fullest.

I’ve discovered true happiness. I’ve figured out what you need in order to be happy: love. A life without love isn’t a life at all. You have to love everything about your life in order to be happy. You have to love who you spend your time with, and you have to love what you spend your time doing. If you don’t love the people around you, and if you don’t love the work that you do, how can you ever expect to be happy? I love doing what I’m currently doing. What I know I won’t love is working for an existing company. Working at an existing company will result in an absence of love, and therefore an absence of happiness.

If you do what you love, things will eventually work themselves out. If you do what you love, money will naturally follow. That’s why I can work on so many projects now without receiving any monetary rewards, because I love working on these projects, and money will eventually come.

I have enormous ambitions and huge expectations. Now if I want to meet these expectations I’m going to have to work hard. If I don’t want to be without money and without a home for the rest of my life, then I’m going to need to do whatever’s necessary to make sure that’s not the case.

Motivation is required in order to do anything. Survival is a pretty big motivation. I need to use my intellect, my creativity, my instincts, I need to use everything that I’m fortunate enough to have, and I need to figure out how to accomplish what I want to accomplish. There are many ways to make money. Getting a job is the easiest option. I don’t like easy options though – they’re not rewarding. If I want to survive, which is my greatest desire, I need to figure out a way to do so. I need to use what I have and find a way to make money. Getting a job is not on my options list.

Even if purely based on principle, I don’t want to get a job. I’ve survived for many years without being employed. I can survive a little longer. I know I can do it. I know I can make money without it being handed to me by an employer in exchange for my time or knowledge.

Call me an idiot. Call me arrogant. Call me whatever you want, I don’t care. Just know that one day, I’m going to succeed, despite what challenges life throws at me.