9 To 5

If you’re not working, well then what are you doing? I was always told and conditioned as a child to go to college, and after college start a great career. College and a great career was never an example in my family, except for my aunt Linda. My aunt was a radiology nurse that graduated from Malcolm X college in Chicago IL. with her degree in nursing. She was the only one of 8 siblings to graduate college, but after graduating she put her degree to use. A college degree and a great career was not only rare in my family but also in my friend’s families as well. We were following what America said was the only way to make it in America. Freedom of choice and entrepreneurship was a foreign language to majority of the world, but with us being poor and black it was from outer space. Success was a family, home, cars, a yearly vacation and some cash in the bank. Middle class Americans are looked at as successful, but how is that possible? If there is a low-class, middle class, and a high-class, why is middle class the standard of success? Now to those that feel middle-class is more than enough for them, well I will say I am proud of you and congratulations. I will never be acceptant of middle class when I know my potential goes much further than that.
 
I would first like you to understand that college and a great career isn’t a bad thing to have or go after in life. I feel that college and a career should be a stepping stone to eventually owning and running your own business. I know why being your own boss or owning your own company was not being taught to myself and other children my age growing up. Being an entrepreneur was unheard of in my community. I didn’t know a CEO or even a small business owner that had come from my community. No examples to myself meant that there were no examples to my parents as well. Empowering your child to be free from the constraint of a 9 to 5 just seemed like a pipe dream. The struggle of becoming an entrepreneur was not something a parent wanted their child to go through as an adult. Parents don’t realize that having a job even while making great pay, still has you making pennies on the CEO’s millions. Why are we working hard to become an athlete instead of working to own the team? Being an athlete is far more attainable in life than owning the team could ever be. Owners of franchises aren’t “cool”. Owners are “nerds” that have no social life. Owners also must sacrifice if they come from a poor background.
 
Now you’re an adult, and mediocrity is embedded in your sub-conscious. As adults, we consciously know that there is a higher class, but the thought of the sacrifices that are needed to gain access to this class is not appealing. This is how our brains are programmed by our parents, but of course its for the good which limits our growth. Parents limit your freedom as a child and it’s for your protection mentally and physically. This stays with you into adulthood and now failure and uncertainty aren’t really an option for you. Failure and uncertainty is necessary for growth and success. It is time to create your own way of life and live life and not just exist in it. You are currently working for someone that doesn’t appreciate your true talents and gifts. You aren’t allowed to spread your wings and fly in your workplace, because your boss controls your flight. We are in a time that becoming a boss is as simple as a key stroke on a computer keyboard. You can start a blog, create an app, start a fashion line, become a freelance worker in your profession, and there are a ton of other things that you can do as well. You don’t need to be rich to control your destiny or have freedom. Your life and future can be in your control, but you must recognize that power and put in the effort to accomplish what you want. Time to be and do more in life and set a greater example for your children and the youth today. Leave something behind for someone besides the debt that you’ve accumulated over your adult life.

Written By: Ronald Anthony Wilson.