The idea of a young person having to “pay their dues” didn’t offend me when I was a young person.
Like school, taxes and a mother-in-law that I could never please, I not only accepted the idea, I believed it. Now I’m calling bullshit on that cliché.
When Hannah discovered two months into an apprenticeship with her Praxis business partner that she isn’t built for 9-5 behind a desk, she decided to leave 7 months early. A few people threw out the phrase. “She’s gotta pay her dues“.
I nodded my head on the outside and shook it violently on the inside.
I’ve been watching Hannah navigate the minefield of other people’s expectations and vague ideas of how to become successful.
So many of those same people invested 30+ years at a job they hate or have dreams that they’ll never pursue. They paid their dues, alright, but most are still paying in the form of dreams that died, relationships that were ruined or health and wellness.
James Altucher recently tweeted this:
The idea that we need to “pay our dues” is a lie told to us by people who wanted our efforts and labor on the cheap. I write down ten ideas each day to bypass the gatekeepers who try to take my dues.
— James Altucher (@jaltucher) February 6, 2018
What image comes to mind when you think about “paying your dues”?
Long hours, low pay, shit assignments, other people taking credit for your work and years at one place in order to climb up a ladder that you shouldn’t have been on in the first place.
That model doesn’t apply anymore. A traditional path doesn’t even guarantee a job, let alone a lifelong career with a pension.
I’m not sure paying dues according to someone else’s expectations makes sense anymore. Sure, put in your time at a low-paying job or do the grunt work if you’ll come out on the other end with transferrable skills.
When you stop learning or the work isn’t challenging, it’s probably time to move on. Decide for yourself when the dues have been paid.
Hannah launched a company this week. She most definitely paid her dues (and will continue to pay them)…into her own escrow account.
She built a reputation and a relationship with her new business partner that made an impression so he invited her to help him build a company.
I guess that’s the difference. Dues are unavoidable but should be deposited in the right place.