The “employee” is dead.

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Yeah, someone had to say it. Figured I’d step up.

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If you accept yesterday’s employment model, you’ll be left behind. So pay attention.

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In this Secret, we’ll cover:

• The death of the “employee”
• Rising from the ashes (while keeping your 9-5)
• 5-part framework for becoming the Self-Directed Pro

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The death of the “employee”

(Preface: (a) there are obviously exceptions to this argument and (b) I’m talking about knowledge workers, not blue-collar manual laborers.)

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Yes, the employee is dying off.

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Specifically, these workers aren’t going away — just the old concept of them.

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The employer-employee relationship is an outdated construct, packed with limiting assumptions about what a worker can be, do, and have.

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Here’s what employers are saying when you sign on their dotted line:

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“We’ll give you a good salary and title, but you’re ours now.”

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This relationship is an Industrial-era relic that no longer fits the times.

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This strain is magnified by seismic shifts in the workplace:

• Gen Z value system
• Great Resignation
• Mental health
• Quiet quitting
• Sabbaticals
• Side hustles
• Personal branding
• Purpose-driven work

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These shifts amount to the “power pendulum” swinging from employer to employee.

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You’re sensing all this, right?

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The employee is rapidly becoming self-reliant in their career. They’re setting their own terms and flexing their “worker” muscles inside and outside the corporate institution. And in this sense, the old notion of “employee” is obsolete.

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Dead. Gone. Moving on.

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These awakened souls want more out of their careers and lives. And they’re prepared to quiet quit, take a hiatus, or peace out.

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RIP, “employee.” It’s time to welcome the Self-Directed Pro.

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Rising from the ashes (while keeping your 9-5)

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I spent 15 years in management consulting. My first 10 years, I did whatever they asked. My family and my health took the hits as I dialed in for “just one more call”...and then another and another.

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My resume improved as my life devolved.

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I saw this in my colleagues too. They just “dealt with” the absurd hours, wasteful meetings, and peacocking “leaders.” They suffered in silence, afraid to really take a stand for themselves.

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After too many knockouts, I picked myself up and said “enough.” It was time to make corporate work for me by creating time freedom and operating in my Zone of Genius.

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I decided to study some badass entrepreneurs. They completely upended my view of work.

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I saw how they:

• Said goodbye to the “time for money” game
• Always sought new forms of leverage
• Fixated on improving their lifestyle

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So, knowing I had a mountain of responsibilities, I asked myself: “How could I create freedom while keeping my corporate job?”

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This contradicted prevailing wisdom, where you had to either (a) climb the ladder or (b) escape the 9-5.

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My new strategy forced me to conduct experiments:

• Stopping at my point of diminishing returns at work
• Establishing personal rules of engagement for my 9-5
• Committing to a (purpose-driven) external personal brand
• Igniting new content streams and side hustles

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Once implemented, your whole life changes. It’s like taking the red pill: you see through your perceived limitations and stand in awe of your infinite potential.

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Looking back, I realize I was no longer an employee. I was the Self-Directed Pro.

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5-part framework for becoming the Self-Directed Pro

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The employee is dead. Ya with me now?

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Do you see what saying “goodbye” to this old-world concept could do for your life?

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Again, you don’t need to leave the 9-5; just redefine your relationship to it.

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Think of it as a utility.

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So, how exactly do you become a Self-Directed Pro?

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Here’s a framework for you to apply:

1. Validate you’re in a healthy workplace

• Understand the environment you’re in
• You need a healthy “baseline” situation
• Start by analyzing local culture (all culture is local culture)
• Look for warning signs (“this feels toxic”)
• Identify positive attributes (“they really give a damn about me”)
• Three options: (1) stay where you are, (2) switch teams, (3) switch companies

2. Clarify the life you want

• Develop an exciting picture of your Future Self
• How do you spend your time?
• Who are you hanging around?
• What’s your financial situation?
• For clarity, write down an anti-vision (what you 100% don’t want)
• Reflect on, write about, and sharpen this vision daily
• This keeps your subconscious programmed correctly, helping you make microdecisions that compound into the life you want

3. Determine what “work” means to you

• My friend, Paul Millerd, often asks people, “What is work?”
• Wide-ranging answers: attending meetings, submitting deliverables, creative output, etc.
• Think beyond “salaried employment”
• For you, what’s the “work” worth doing?
• We must unravel from this era of “total work” and become self-directed

4. Shape your corporate role

• Hardly anyone takes this seriously
• You’ve got immense opportunity to shape your role to your liking
• Focus on outcomes over hours
• Streamline your efforts in your 9-5 to free up time and energy for what really excites you (sure, call this “quiet quitting” if you’d like)

5. Ignite new activities that energize you

• You’ve already got a personal brand — consciously growing it is merely the digitization of your reputation
• Be thoughtful in how you shape it within your company, but spend most of your energy maximizing it externally
• By shipping content and shaping your external reputation, you’ll open up 100X more opportunities than you’ll ever do by “performing well” at your 9-5
• Kickstart new income streams through a side hustle, where you leverage your existing abilities
• In turn, you’ll have the energy and focus to crush it at your 9-5

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“Working for great companies” is alive, but the “employee” is dead. Disconnect from that old-world concept and become a Self-Directed Pro.

Your Future Self will thank you.

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