The Costliest 'Prison' in Life: The Pursuit of Stability

The costliest 'prison' in life is the pursuit of stability. Does your job give you a sense of security, or does it trap you and make you its slave?

Seeking stability seems to be human nature, ingrained in our genes. For example, the need for reproduction requires a safe and stable living environment.

Compared with the young of other animals, which can run and find food on their own in a very short time, modern human infants need to be carefully cared for until they are in their 20s. Parents have to pay a huge cost before their children can 'fend for themselves'. However, even then, some children may still need financial support from their parents and can't support themselves.

Today, when looking at some employment cases, the most prominent thing is just one word: difficult.

For better companies, say those with less overtime and two-day weekends. Without even talking about the salary level, such job positions are relatively few in number, and these positions usually have high requirements, such as academic qualifications, experience, and abilities.

Small companies and startups have far fewer requirements, after all, they don't offer high salaries.

But in such companies, you often have to work very hard. After all, the primary task of a startup is to survive, and there isn't much room for error. There are many and complex work tasks, and there isn't a well - established process.

This strange environment for reproduction and upbringing makes us naturally have a very high demand for a stable living environment.

Think about it. You need a safe and stable living environment for more than 20 years to grow up, and it also takes 20 to 30 years to reproduce the next generation, nearly 50 years in total.

Then I understand why everyone pursues stability and wants to take the civil service exam.

As a result, a corresponding social mechanism and culture have been formed, which binds or pre - empties a person's life of nearly 50 years, leaving very little room for adventure.

This is what was said at the beginning: the pursuit of stability is the costliest 'prison' in life.

When it comes to stability and a sense of security, what can bring them? It's strength.

Why do people think that getting into the civil service, working in the public sector, or joining a state - owned enterprise are stable jobs? Because of the strength behind them. Based on our understanding, if these aren't stable, then there may be no stable places.

The underlying logic is strength.

Why do people think that starting a business, doing business, being a freelancer, becoming an internet celebrity, or doing self - media are unstable?

Actually, most people think you aren't strong enough. They think the money you earn is just temporary, and you may not be able to make money in a few years. You may even suffer losses or go bankrupt.

This is also the older generation's obsession with job - hunting. They want you to go to big companies, large enterprises, and state - owned enterprises. They think such companies and units offer security, even if the salary isn't high.

Why do they think these units are secure? Because people think they are strong enough and won't go bankrupt. Unlike private enterprises, they may start laying off employees or even go bankrupt due to poor management one day.

But I have a different view on the pursuit of stability. What is real stability? It's having a Plan B.

For example, when you're trying to get a ticket during the Spring Festival travel rush, will you only try to get a ticket for one train at one time?

Almost never. You'll definitely try to get multiple tickets at the same time, including those for the whole journey, short - distance trips, different times, different stations, and even different means of transportation.

Real stability is having a Plan B. When Plan A fails, there is always a Plan B or a Plan C to fall back on.

For example, programs, software, or services like Alipay, Taobao, and WeChat don't run on just one server or one computer.

They run on n devices. This is to ensure stability. Even if a few devices have problems, it won't affect the overall use.

So, what is stability? It's strength + Plan B.

Having enough strength can prevent you from failing easily. Having a Plan B means that even if you fail, it can immediately take over, and you can rely on your strength to return to normal in a period of time.

Compared with the way mentioned in the first half of the article, which pins stability or a sense of security on a certain company, unit, or job, the way I'm talking about may be a little more reliable. Of course, it's also much more difficult. In essence, this is a way of pursuing stability by seemingly not seeking it.

Use an approach and a mindset that don't seem to pursue stability to achieve real - life stability.

This is also the logic behind having both a main job and a side hustle. It's quite difficult to truly achieve this.

On the one hand, you need to find a good job in today's environment that can support yourself and even your family. On the other hand, you also need the time, energy, and will to explore new things.

To sum up:

Behind stability and a sense of security is strength + Plan B.

You need to focus on both your main job and your side hustle. Prioritize doing your main job well, and at the same time, start your side hustle as early as possible.

Your main job and side hustle can be related or not. The key is to understand business and be brave enough to take action.

Daily Reading & Writing by Xiaolu 2025.03.10 [day553]