When I was still punching the clock every morning, I had a little ritual.
I’d pull into the parking lot, shut off my 1992 Jeep Cherokee, and sit there for an extra five minutes mentally preparing myself to walk into work with a smile on my face.
Yep, this is the actual Jeep.
I already knew I was leaving. From the moment I decided I was done with that life, it only took me about 30 days to finally quit. But I still had to get through those last few weeks without spending every shift pissed off about being there.
For a while, I thought hating my job was useful. I thought the frustration kept me hungry and reminded me why I needed to build something of my own.
It didn’t.
It was just making my last 30 days there unnecessarily miserable.
So I tried something different. Instead of walking through those doors thinking about how much I hated being there, I reminded myself what the job was still doing for me:
It was paying me while I figured out my next move.
Once I started looking at it that way, showing up with a smile became a hell of a lot easier.
Hating Your Job Doesn’t Help You Escape It
If you’re working a job you can’t wait to leave, I get it. Maybe you’ve got a business idea. Maybe you’ve already started something on the side. Maybe you spend half your shift thinking about everything you could be accomplishing if you didn’t have to spend eight hours a day working for somebody else.
It’s easy to become bitter. But what exactly does that bitterness accomplish?
You still have to show up tomorrow. You still have bills. And unless your business already makes enough to support you, that paycheck still matters.
Worse, the anger doesn’t disappear when you clock out. You bring that shit home with you. Now you’re exhausted, frustrated, and mentally drained—and somehow you’re supposed to sit down and do your best work on the business that’s going to get you out?
If hating your job motivates you to quit tomorrow, great. But if you’re going to be there for another month, six months, or a year anyway, stop making yourself miserable in the meantime.
Your Job Is Funding Your Escape
This was the mindset shift that changed things for me:
The job I wanted to quit was paying me to build my way out of it.
That paycheck kept a roof over my head, bought food, and paid my bills. Whatever I had left could go toward my website, advertising, equipment, books, or anything else that might eventually make the paycheck unnecessary.
I didn’t suddenly love the place or start begging my boss for more responsibility. I just understood why I was there.
I wasn’t working for the company anymore. I was working for my exit.
Every remaining paycheck had a purpose.
And I didn’t think every extra dollar had to go directly into the business either. Some of it went into me. Good food. The gym. Sleep. A haircut. Clothes that made me feel good.
You’re the guy who has to build the thing. Don’t blow money trying to look rich, but don’t neglect yourself either.
Invest in the business. Invest in the guy building it.
Sometimes You Need Less Money, Not More
Maybe you’re thinking, That sounds great, Uncle Blayde, but after rent, food, and bills, there’s nothing left.
Then look at where the money is going.
Streaming services you barely use. Eating out constantly. Drinks every weekend. Random shit you buy because you’re bored. Then look at the bigger expenses. Do you really need that car payment? Are you paying too much for rent? Is your social life eating every dollar you manage to save?
You don’t have to make yourself miserable. But if financial freedom is supposedly your number-one priority while your spending says otherwise, something has to change.
I eventually took this idea pretty damn far.
Lowering my cost of living gave me breathing room. Money that would’ve disappeared into basic expenses could go toward other things. I could invest in myself, take more chances, and give myself more time to figure things out.
I’m not telling you to sell everything and move to another country. I’m telling you to look at the numbers.
Sometimes the answer isn’t immediately making more money.
Sometimes it’s needing less of it.
Walk Into Work With a Different Reason
That’s why those five minutes sitting in my Jeep mattered. I wasn’t trying to convince myself that I loved my job.
I was reminding myself that I had a reason to be there.
So tomorrow morning, when you pull into the parking lot and that familiar dread starts creeping in, don’t sit there thinking:
Another fucking day of my life wasted here.
Think:
This place is paying me to build my next move.
Your boss doesn’t need to know that. Your coworkers don’t need to know that.
You know it.
Go inside. Do your job. Collect your check. Then use the money and whatever energy you have left to keep building your way out.
That annoying coworker? Temporary. The boss you can’t stand? Temporary. The commute, alarm clock, and Monday mornings? Temporary.
You’re not surrendering by continuing to show up.
You’re using the job for what it can still give you.
You’re leaving. You just haven’t left yet.
Make the Job Useful Until You Don’t Need It
There’s something pretty funny about the situation when you think about it:
The company you can’t wait to leave can help finance the thing that allows you to leave it.
So let it.
Take the paycheck and build your business. Improve your skills. Take care of yourself. Save enough money that when the opportunity finally comes to walk away, you don’t have to crawl back three weeks later because you’re broke.
And while you’re still there, enjoy what you can. Talk shit with the coworkers you actually like. Enjoy the last few paychecks. Stop letting every little annoyance ruin your day.
You already know it isn’t permanent.
So stop wasting energy hating the place.
You’ve got better things to do with that energy.
Your job isn’t the dream. It’s paying for the dream.
Use it until you don’t need it anymore.
Then walk away.
Your man,
Uncle Blayde
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