Why It Feels Impossible To Break The Vicious 9–5 Work Cycle?
By: Yousuf Rafi
Tags: Hard Work, Work Life Balance, Stuck, Business, Work

Why It Feels Impossible To Break The Vicious 9–5 Work Cycle?

Photo by Damir Spanic on Unsplash

Human beings find solace playing safe. Stepping out of my comfort zone is grueling. It takes more than blood and sweat to leave your boring day job and start your own business. If you are committed, family responsibilities restrain you from leaving your 9–5 job.

Sadly, it’s a vicious cycle where you halt everything in the hope of your salary. Paying bills, mortgage, home allowances, and medical bills all depend upon your paycheck.

If you are starting, a 9–5 job is fine. You get to learn new things, meet people, and get ideas for your startup. But 9–5 work cycle is addicted. After a while, you get addicted to procrastination. And to excel in your career, you must understand why people believe that a 9–5 job is doing them good. Don’t be like such people; up your game.

The world is getting competitive day by day. If your only earning is a 9–5 job, then soon you’ll have to do side gigs to support your family.

Being afraid to break the nasty 9–5 work cycle takes time, faith, and slog of work.

Here are a few reasons why people are still afraid to break the 9–5 work cycle:

1. It Gives False Hope

My friend used to say, “One day, I will save enough money to start my own business.” This was in college. My friend was working as an intern at an organization. We graduated together, we enrolled for higher studies, and when I met him five years after we graduated, he was still working 9–5 job for another firm.

That’s the reality of the 9–5 work cycle. It’s an endless cycle of comfort and hope that never ends. You may dream that one-day things will get better and your financial situation will improve, but nothing of this sort happens.

You get stuck in the repetitive cycle, and at times you don’t even realize that you were living a life that you don’t love anymore. When you feel like work is exhausting, step up and get out of the work cycle.

2. You Have Bills to Pay And Family To Feed

You don’t have a second source of income. You have bills to pay, family to feed, and mortgage to pay off. At least with a 9–5 job, you can pay for the necessary things to stay alive.

That’s a lame excuse. Just working a 9–5 job is squandering your human potential. You are not here only to pay the bills; you are here to change lives, give jobs, and do something worth talking about.

Indeed, the 9–5 work cycle will help you survive, but starting a business will make your dreams come true like my friend who, by the way, is still working at a multinational firm.

3. A Dedicated Place of Work

Despite the 9–5 work cycle’s hazardous effects, people still consider it a safe place to work. With a dedicated office, you can create things, work on something, or show your efficiency to others.

But whenever you meet someone, the first question they ask is, “where do you work?” if the answer is a dedicated office, it relieves them. And if you don’t satisfy them with a solution, they might harass you with an array of endless questions.

People assume that working in the same environment helps in achieving more. That’s a lie. Amy Wallace, in the best-selling book Creativity, Inc., talks about the founding years of Pixar.

Instead of dedicated meeting rooms, Steve Jobs asked everyone to meet people on their way to coffee or a lunch break. Jobs argued that standing tables foster creativity, so there is no room for a dedicated place.

4. There’s More Growth

Of course, there are pros of affiliating with a multinational firm. If you are starting, you get to learn a lot. And if you shift from one firm to another, you explore possibilities and network with diversified people.

But that’s just one phase of your life. Once you’ve acquired that knowledge, you must step up and sprint towards success. But sadly, the way the 9–5 work cycle is laid out leaves little room to succeed as an individual.

You can begin small. Invest your morning for something productive. Until you think like a CEO, you won’t become one.

5. People Are Afraid To Take The Leap

The mediocre people often fear taking the leap and starting something from scratch.

9–5 work cycle makes people create a comfort zone around themselves. They don’t want to take the leap and even think of growing themselves.

But if you read books, watch videos or TED talks of all the successful CEOs, you’ll realize that everyone took that leap. And most of them label that decision as to the best decision of their lives.

Indeed, there will be insecurities. But once you leap, opportunities will arise, and you won’t even think of getting back to the old life.

Closing Thoughts

In his must-read book, Crush It!, Gary V talks about starting small, “Even if your ambitions are huge, start slow, start small, build gradually, build smart.”

There is no need to quit your job tomorrow and start your own business. It will help if you plan smartly before you leap. When to start, what to sell, and how much you plan to earn to keep your day job before you quit.

The best way to build your business is to start with a side gig and see how people respond to it. If the response is excellent, go for it. If people do not like it, figure out a better way to do it.

On a closing note, it is essential to understand that a 9–5 job won’t get you far; to