I Don't Want To Work For Anyone Anymore

“I feel lost and don’t want to continue the career I have now. I am no longer motivated to work for promotions, incentives, salary increases, or even bonuses. In fact, I don’t want to work for anyone anymore.”

Have you had this feeling before?

We dreamt of the careers that we have now, so aren’t we supposed to do that? Aren’t we supposed to be pumped about the path we chose?

When we’re young teachers, ask us, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

And as we grow older, our newfound question when we meet a stranger is “So, what do you do?”
It seems to be what now defines us.
But it shouldn’t be that way.

I want young people (and older ones for that matter) to take a deep breath.
Let it all out.
A sigh of relief.

Because if you don’t know this answer at 18, it’s ok.

In fact, I think we do our young people a terrible disservice by shipping them off to college when they have no idea what they want to do for the rest of their lives.

And why should you?

I mean, you’re 18 (or maybe 80).

Life is about the journey.

I mean, have you asked if you should even go to college?

Table of Contents

What That Feeling Usually Means

Here’s what I’ve noticed, in myself and in nearly everyone who has said this to me:

Most people who say “I don’t want to work anymore” don’t actually want to stop working. They want to stop working for someone else.

Those are two completely different problems, and mixing them up is what keeps people stuck for years.

Test it on yourself. If money stopped being a factor tomorrow, would you genuinely sit still — or would you be building something within about six weeks?

If it’s the second one, you don’t hate work. You hate this work — on someone else’s schedule, toward someone else’s goal, with a ceiling someone else set.

And if you genuinely can’t tell which one you are yet, that’s worth sitting with before you do anything drastic — I wrote about that here.

I’m not retiring. My wife knows that. I enjoy creating far too much to stop. But I stopped working for other people a long time ago, and that’s the part that actually changed things.

One honest caveat before we go further: if you’re genuinely burned out — exhausted rather than restless, dreading every morning, not sleeping — that’s a different problem, and it deserves a real conversation with someone rather than a side hustle article. Everything below is written for the restless.

Where The Feeling Comes From: “What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?”

If you want to know why this hits so hard, it starts early. We’re asked to pick an identity before we’re old enough to know anything, and then we’re measured against it for the next fifty years.

During back-to-school seasons, photos of little kids flood our Facebook Newsfeeds. Most of them welcome the first day of elementary, middle, and high school with a toothy grin.

Usually, on the first day of classes, students do activities as an introduction. Some of these activities require students to state their name, grade level, and their dream job.

It’s fascinating to see the jobs they want to pursue when they grow up. Some want to be teachers, policemen, firefighters, doctors, athletes, ballerinas, and Youtubers.

Now let me ask you the same thing. When you were at that age, how did you answer the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

As for me, if I’m going to look back when I answered this very same question, I reevaluate the question again. It suddenly feels a bit scary.

Why do we need to ask children about the future jobs that they want to pursue? Why can’t we ask them about the things they are passionate about or what they enjoy doing?

Instead of asking them, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” why don’t we ask them, “What do you want? What excites you when you do it? What makes you feel the most alive?”

Why Are We Too Caught Up On Kid’s Future Careers?

Most of us focus too much on our children’s future career jobs. Why can’t we ask them questions that can broaden their perspective?

Here are questions that we should practice asking them:

What do you want to study and learn in life?

What do you want to achieve?

Who do you want to help the most?

What makes you happy?

What motivates and excites you?

Instead of asking kids for a specific career that they want to pursue when they grow up, ask them questions that can extend their potential.

Looking back at that school activity, I can see why our careers affected us when we grew older.

“What do you want to be when you’re older?” is a question that is too money-centered. Come to think of it, when we ask this to kids, we are also asking them how they will earn money when they grow older?

I think it’s about time that we ask them, “What kind of person do you want to be?” and “What do you truly treasure?”

This question focuses more on what life they want to create in the future.

I Don’t Want A Job

Maybe you’re an adult and you just feel stuck.

“I don’t want to work for anyone anymore.”

You feel stuck in your career – your job – your position – your path.

It’s not too late to change. In fact, the time is now.

Will people (friends and family) talk about you and ask you what in the heck you’re doing?

Sure they will.

But are you living for you or for them?

It’s time for you to decide.

Time to figure out some money-making ideas so that you can take control of your own future!

My Career Does Not Define Me.

I believe, as most of us experienced, pursuing a career after graduation made us feel accomplished.

It’s like the validation we wanted ever since we’re young was finally there.

We want to show people that we’re capable of doing what society wants us to.

We drown ourselves with work so that we can feel satisfied.

The amount of work we can finish and the ability to solve a problem that only we can do begins to define us.

People begin to compliment us.

It makes us feel good.

Our salary increases and so do our self-esteem and self-worth.

When you’re busy, people think that it’s a good thing.
“How are you doing?”
“Oh, you know, just busy busy busy.”

We can trick ourselves to think that stress is equal to success. This is easy to do.

With persistence, you can accomplish much. And you can be proud of these things. You should be.

But is it giving you peace?
Is it what you want?
Maybe you just don’t want to have a career.
And that’s ok.

I Don’t Want To Have A Career Anymore.

Of course, it can be good to have a career.
A career can provide you with a track record to possibly become financially free.

We’re able to learn new skills, meet new people and work with smart folks.

But if you’re saying “I don’t want to work for anyone anymore” to yourself then it’s time to begin exploring options.

I think work is extremely important.
We were created to do work – whether that’s taking care of a family, building things, or working in an office.

My wife knows that I’ll probably never retire.

I enjoy creating too much. I’ll continue chasing the adventure of life.

I Want A Career Where I Don’t Overthink

Don’t stress from working.
I don’t think it’s worth it.
You should enjoy it.

Maybe not every day.
But at least you should have an overarching sense that you’re a part of something bigger than yourself.

You could pick an easy job where you won’t have to think too much.
But what’s the fun in this?

Don’t you want to at least be challenged?
Grow yourself as a person

A Job or A False Hope?

Are the jobs out there that are easy and pay well but don’t require too much stress?
What about a job that keeps you fit?

Maybe one that has regular hours so that you can have a healthy sleep schedule?
One that doesn’t put you in danger?

A job that won’t require you to work on a pile of work with strict deadlines?

If you don’t want to work only for money and added stress and anxiety then start thinking of these things.

So, should you follow your heart even though it won’t pay as much as other jobs?

And it’s worth saying: independence might not be your answer at all. Some people just need a better job, not their own thing — here are 39 that don’t suck the life out of you.

I Don’t Want to Work

I know that some of you can relate to this dilemma. If you’re reading this article, then you don’t want to work anymore too.

A lot of people rethought their careers over the last few years and never really went back to how they felt about work before. If that’s you, you’re in a much bigger group than it feels like from the inside.

I know it’s hard.
You need the job to pay bills.
It’s hard to let go of your career to pursue the life you want.
It can be scary.

First, change your lifestyle. Don’t buy things you don’t need and live more cheaply than you are. When your expenses decrease, so does your dependency on a high salary.

Second, place the money you earn from working into your bank account and let it grow.

Most of us can’t easily quit working because we still haven’t created enough income to work on its own (me included). I have to work still, which is fine.

You probably can’t quit tomorrow, and probably shouldn’t. The overlap period is the point — here’s how to build income while you’re still working full time.

But faster you start living a simple life, the earlier you can quit working.

The Ceiling On “Working For Yourself” Just Moved

For most of the last few decades, “work for yourself” really meant freelancing — and freelancing is still selling hours. You swap one boss for six clients, and when you stop working the money stops. Plenty of people escape a job and land somewhere arguably worse.

What’s changed is how much one person can produce.

I run an agency that implements AI into businesses, so I see this from both sides — and the honest version is less dramatic than the headlines but more useful. AI hasn’t made anyone rich on its own. What it has done is collapse the distance between “I have an idea” and “I have something people can pay for.” Work that used to need a designer, a developer and a copywriter can now be done badly by one person in an afternoon, and properly by one person in a week.

For someone who doesn’t want to work for anyone, that matters more than it does for anybody else. The old limit on independence was leverage — you simply couldn’t do enough alone. That limit is genuinely weaker than it was three years ago.

I’m not going to tell you to “learn AI” like it’s a career plan. It isn’t. But if you’re sitting in a job you don’t want, the most useful thing you can do this month is take one real task you’d otherwise pay someone for, and do it yourself with these tools. Not to save the money — to find out what you can now build alone.

That’s most of what I write about in my newsletter — I share the projects I’m building as I build them, including the ones that don’t work. If you’re somewhere between “I want out” and “I know what’s next,” that’s the stage it’s written for.

97 Money-Making Ideas — Rated

Cost to start, speed to first dollar, and ceiling — with notes on the ones I’ve actually done.

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