Don't wrestle with a pig or bureaucracy

"Don't wrestle with a pig. You'll get muddy and the pig likes it."

The pig has a pig nature and likes to get dirty. It will interpret your wrestling as play.

Your attempts to control it and get your way will just leave you dirty and in a worse place than you were to start with.

Similarly, you'll be dealing with bureaucracy and bureaucratic processes when you enter the 1099 world.

It's frustrating and you'll frequently have the urge to burn the whole thing down!

But there is no sense in fighting against the bureaucracy. You're still going to have to fill out the forms, deal with drone bureaucrats, etc.

A better strategy is instead find ways to play your own game.

Can you charm that bureaucrat into help you finding paperwork loopholes?

Are there bureaucratic rules that actually favor you?

Think through different ways you can "fight without fighting" to get what you want.

Don't wrestle the pig.

Want the full playbook? Check out Going 1099.