The longer I put up with my job, the more I feel like a dog with a collar around my neck. In many ways, as Nassim Taleb points out, dogs are very similar to employees. They both have someone who tells them where to be, when to be there, and what to do. In exchange for loyalty, employees are fed a salary and dogs are fed a treat – just enough to make them want another. Their life is comfortable and it’s difficult for them to imagine the alternative.
Coyotes, on the other hand, live in a constant state of survival. They don’t sleep in a warm house at night, or get fed food thrice a day. But the coyote has one thing the dog will never – freedom.
Before I got a 9-5 job, I felt more like a coyote. I hunted opportunities and was in control of my own life. Now, I feel like a dog. My environment is more comfortable and my standard of living is higher, but I’m less in touch with the warrior spirit and drive that got me to where I am in the first place.
I’m afraid that if I don’t go back into the wild soon, it will get increasingly difficult to reverse the effects of having a comfortable job.
The only way for me to achieve greatness is to be a coyote. Or else, I’m just making someone else’s dream come true.