Hoop Jumping

Moving up in many W2 career is about hoop jumping.

Somewhat arbitrary, dehumanizing, hoop jumping.

You must be perceived as a team player, make your boss look good, and get good performance reviews.

To really move up quickly, you need to learn to be able to move to another company and then jump through their hoops.

Some people are made for this game.

But I think even more people think they are made for this game, but lie to themselves so that they don't have to do the hard thing and realize their ambitions don't line up with corporate incentive structures.

If you don't immediately get excited about doing the work to move up the corporate ladder, you should probably just let go of that idea altogether, and focus your energy elsewhere.

Going 1099 is one way to do that. You can be ambitious about it. But I actually found the greater benefit of going 1099 is to give yourself breathing room to think about what you really want.

You don't have to jump through hoops. Once you accept that, you'll feel more free.

Want the full playbook? Check out Going 1099.