Many years ago, one of my closest friends was discussing career choices with his father and in that conversation, his father told him something that I thought was on point, and profound. He said:
“Even if you win the rat race, you’re still a rat…”
There are many ways to unpack that statement and you can certainly have your own interpretation of it. But to me, it resonated so strongly (and why I remember it to this day) because it implies a few things:
That we should be thoughtful about the races we choose to run.
That we shouldn’t choose a particular race just because everyone else is doing it.
That we shouldn’t choose it because it feels like the safe option.
That we shouldn’t choose a race just for the money.
Which is to say, that we should aspire to something greater (however we define it).
Races are fine, but ‘rat races’ aren’t. They’re exhausting, they sap you of your energy, your will and, frankly, everything you believe in. They are the straight path to cynicism, complacency, apathy, and ultimately self-defeat. Rat races may manifest themselves in what we do, but they start in our heads.
The point is we need to choose – clearly, consciously, and with an agenda (or at least with an underlying set of values). We need to make decisions, and keep evaluating them over time. Certainly, luck and happenstance will play a role, but we need to trust our gut, even as we trust the path they may lead us towards. (Rarely does our gut lead us astray.)
To be clear, this isn’t about the choice of working for yourself versus for someone else. The reason we conflate the idea of the rat race with working for someone else is for all of the above reasons. Many of us default into it as opposed to choosing it consciously. Or we do choose it consciously and then default into a sense of security or complacency over time. And then it takes too much effort to change.
No, to me, this is about making conscious choices, of controlling your path, of doing something for a greater purpose – one that’s either defined by you or one that you wholeheartedly buy into.
If you don’t, then you’re working for someone else’s agenda, and then you are in a rat race.
And then, even if you win...
Omer Abdullah co-founded The Smart Cube, starting with a laptop and a home office, growing it into a global research and analytics firm with more than 500 people. He’s a sales guy, a marketer, a manager, and part-time writer who has worked in both the Corporate and Management Consulting worlds. Sign up for his blog at www.omerisms.com.