The exhausting reality of constantly selling yourself

In Episode 46, here's what's on the agenda:

💡 Insight: The gig economy's dirty secret

📰 Unpopular Opinion: ‘Freedom’ might be the biggest lie we’ve been told

✨Food For Thought: 4 ways to build an inclusive workforce

Insights:

I’ve been navigating the gig economy for quite a while, and let me tell you, it’s been a mixed bag.

When I first jumped in, I was sold on the promise of being my own boss, setting my own hours, and having the freedom to choose the projects I wanted to work on.

And, for a time, that’s exactly how it felt, liberating.

I didn’t have to answer to anyone, and the idea of working from a coffee shop or from home in my pajamas was exciting.

But as the months went by, the cracks started to show.

No one prepares you for the realities that come with this kind of work. The gig economy doesn’t offer the safety nets that traditional employment does.

There's no health insurance, no paid sick days or vacation leave, and certainly no retirement benefits.

It’s all on you to figure out.

I remember waking up in a cold sweat more than once, wondering how I’d cover my bills if my current gigs dried up.

There’s this constant undercurrent of anxiety, never being entirely sure where your next paycheck will come from or if you’ll have enough work lined up to make it through the month.

Unpopular Opinion

‘Freedom’ might be the biggest lie we’ve been told

The gig economy isn’t the solution to our work woes. It’s a symptom of a larger problem.

We’ve been fed this narrative that gig work is empowering, that it gives us control over our lives.

But after being in it for a while, I see it differently.

I think it’s a way to patch over the fact that stable, full-time jobs with benefits are becoming harder to find. It’s like a shiny new toy that distracts us from the fact that we’re settling for less.

The truth is, we shouldn’t have to choose between flexibility and security.

We deserve both. But the way things are now, we’re being forced to pick sides. If you want the freedom to set your own hours, you have to give up the safety net that traditional jobs provide. And if you want stability, you have to sacrifice the flexibility that gig work offers.

It shouldn’t have to be this way. We should be advocating for better employment protections and benefits that allow us to have the best of both worlds.

Food For Thought:

Let’s really think about what we’re trading away here.

Is the flexibility of gig work truly worth the constant stress and financial uncertainty?

I’ve been in that position, counting pennies, not knowing if I’d have enough to get through the month. The mental toll is significant.

There’s this undercurrent of anxiety that comes with never being able to fully relax, always needing to be on the lookout for the next opportunity.

And it’s not just about money, either. It’s about the lack of stability and the constant pressure to perform, to always be “on.”

We talk about the freedom of gig work, but in many ways, it’s a different kind of trap—one that keeps us in a perpetual state of hustle, always looking for the next gig, the next project, the next client. Is this the kind of “freedom” we really want?

Maybe it’s time we start demanding more.

A work environment that gives us flexibility shouldn’t also require us to sacrifice our peace of mind and mental health.

We should be asking for a system that provides both the freedom to work on our own terms and the security to know that our basic needs will be met.

Closing Thoughts: 

It’s time we start having more honest conversations about what the gig economy really entails.

It’s not just about flexibility or freedom, it’s about balance.

We need a system that allows us to work in a way that suits our lives, without having to sacrifice our well-being.

Maybe it’s time to rethink how we view work altogether.

Instead of settling for the current model, we could push for a future where flexibility doesn’t come at the expense of stability. A future where we can have both. Because at the end of the day, we all deserve to do more than just survive. We deserve to thrive.

Let’s keep this conversation going and see if we can’t come up with some better solutions together.

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Best regards,

Mahum Hamza

Marketing Executive koi.work