Work for yourself

Not against work. Against slavery.

The goal isn’t to earn. It’s to not work.

Three levels:

• UNDER — surviving. Just to not…
• IN — living. Inside, participating, in the grind.
• ABOVE — existing. Separately. Watching and doing what you need.

The goal is ABOVE. Don’t harness yourself. Don’t pile it on. Be OUTSIDE.

There’s a kind of torture:

A person sits in an office for a long, long time, the salary drips onto their card very, very slowly, and they go mad from it.

I worked as a sysadmin once: set everything up, nobody bothered me — I’d come to my office and do remote coding work of my own. When I left, it turned out three months of salary had piled up. I had forgotten about it.

I ran the numbers: from school to retirement you’re awake for 39 years. 13 of them go to school, work and the commute, another 6 to cooking, eating and cleaning. Almost half your waking life goes into being able to show up for work again tomorrow.

You don’t work for someone. The work works for you. Let it pay for your growth. Let it strengthen you. Let it fund your escape.

Don’t fight. Use everything for yourself.

Find a way to be paid for playing.

— Alan Watts

Either life does you, or you’re in it, or you do it.

Work on your life, not in it.