Make Yourself Unfireable

A friend of mine is convinced he’s about to be fired.

And he’s scared shitless.

He’s a mid-level exec, makes a couple hundred grand a year, and spends most of it.

Early in his career, he’d walk out the door from one job and right into another.

But he’s approaching the age where people are less impressed by his CV, more concerned by his age, and tripped up on the idea of having to pay that kind of salary.

Maybe that can’t replace him for someone costing way less.

But if they can get 60% of him for half as much, they will.

I’m sorry, but no business and certainly no corporation will choose the individual over the well-being of the organization.

We don’t live in a world of forever jobs anymore.

And with automation and available technology, it will only get worse.

See why he’s freaked the fuck out?

Here’s what I told him.

You have two choices.

Live way below your means, save every dollar you can and move to a place where the cost of living is a fraction of what you pay in a major city. Get that burn down to where you can afford not to work for extended periods or where you can afford to take work that is way below your top earning level.

Live a simple life and stop being a slave to commerce.

Or.

Make yourself indispensable.

As Steve Martin says, be so good they can’t ignore ( or not afford ) you.

How do we do that?

It can be as simple as learning two skills from the list of things every business has and will always need.

And that’s marketing and sales.

Learn to write copy and optimize for SEO.

Learn to build funnels and write VSL scripts.

Become really good at Facebook Ads and CRO.

These skills aren’t going anywhere. They’re transferable to any industry ( negating downturns ). And you can do them from anywhere, for anyone, with just a laptop and a cell phone.

That’s how you get past the fear of firing.

Or being without a paycheque.

Be your own business ( not your own boss ).

None of this is that complicated.

You can learn any of these skills for free in your spare time ( and don’t even try and tell me you don’t have spare time ).

YouTube. Reddit. Perplexity. All have all the knowledge you could ever need.

I’d start now.

Just in case.