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One of the most common questions I hear from men trying to improve their lives is some version of this:

“Caleb, my job is horrible because of X, Y, and Z. I want to start my own business, but should I first get a better job with fewer problems?”

Or…

“My boss offered me a promotion and 22% more money, but I’d have to move and delay my business. What do you think?”

Or the worst one…

“I know I need my own business, but if I go back to school for six months and get a certification, I can make more money at my job. Should I do that first and build my business later?”

These questions hurt my heart because they reveal a fundamental misunderstanding of the world we live in today. The assumptions behind the questions made sense decades ago. They do not make sense today. Not in the collapsing western world of the mid-2020s. Not in the age of AI disruption. Not when millions of jobs are evaporating with no warning.

And that brings us to the core truth: having a 9–5 job today is the modern equivalent of having cancer.

That sounds dramatic. It’s meant to. Because it’s accurate.

The Modern Job Market is Terminally Unsafe

If you live in the collapsing West—the United States, Canada, UK, most of Europe, Australia—you are watching your society unravel in real time. Economically. Culturally. Politically. It’s accelerating faster than even I predicted.

Combine that with AI, where tens of millions of jobs will disappear or be downgraded, and you have a situation where a corporate job—even a “good one”—is not stability. It is fragility. It can be taken away at any moment, without your permission, regardless of your performance, and regardless of your loyalty.

Even if your job pays extremely well.
Even if it’s “remote.”
Even if you actually like it.

It is still cancer.

A system that can rip away your income overnight is not safety. It’s dependency. And dependency is bondage.

One of the most important ingredients of long-term happiness is freedom of time: the ability to wake up and decide what your day looks like, on your terms.

When you have a job—even a job you enjoy—you do not control your time.

Someone else dictates:

• When you wake up
• When you can eat
• When you can leave
• When you can take a break
• When you can travel
• When you can see your friends or your family
• When you can work on your own goals

Even a remote job still owns your hours. You are still required to be somewhere (online) at a certain time doing certain tasks. You are still accountable to someone else’s priorities.

When you have your own location-independent business, even a small one, you choose. And that freedom is priceless.

Stop Trying to Trade Once Cancer for Another

Now imagine someone with pancreatic cancer asking:

“Should I switch to prostate cancer instead? It’s less bad, right?”

That’s what it sounds like when someone says:

“Should I get a better job?”
“Should I take a promotion?”
“Should I go to school and stay employed a little longer?”
“Should I get a nicer boss or work at a cooler company?”

You’re not fixing the problem. You’re extending the problem.

You’re asking whether you should trade one type of cancer for another type of cancer.

The answer is no.

The mission is not to make the cancer feel better for a little while. The mission is to get rid of the cancer.

My last job was in 1996. It was actually a good job at Nike corporate headquarters. Decent money. Good company. Interesting environment.

And even then, I knew:

“I have cancer. I need to get out.”

Not improve the cancer.
Not negotiate the cancer.
Not delay dealing with the cancer.
Get rid of the cancer.

That mindset is what set me free. And the world was far safer then. Today the urgency is 100 times greater.

When you say:

“I’ll get this certification and stay two more years”
“I’ll take this promotion and move cities first”
“I’ll get a slightly better job, then build my business later”

What you’re really saying is:

“I’m going to extend the cancer. I’ll deal with it someday.”

There is no someday.

There is only now.

The cure is simple, even if it’s not easy:

Build a small, location-independent, Alpha 2.0 business that replaces your job income.
Get out of the 9–5 system.
Stop relying on collapsing institutions.

Once you do that, you are:

• Safe from AI wiping your industry
• Safe from economic collapse in your country
• Free to live anywhere in the world
• In control of your schedule
• In control of your income
• In control of your life

And yes, it’s scary. Fighting cancer is scary. But people beat cancer by confronting it, not by ignoring it or bargaining with it.

Reject the Illusion of “Better” Jobs

The next time the thought crosses your mind:

“Should I get a better job?”
“Should I take this promotion?”
“Should I extend my employment so I can earn more first?”

Stop yourself.

You’re not fixing the problem.
You’re feeding the problem.

You have cancer.
Get rid of the cancer.
Build your own business.
Buy back your time.
And step out of the collapsing system before it collapses on top of you.

That is the only path to long-term safety and long-term freedom.

AI did NOT write this article. The article comes 100% from me and is 100% my content. However, AI was used to transcribe this content from some of my other social media which is why the voice is a little different. It’s still 100% my content and not written by AI. AI will never “write” my content!  Remember that you can always go to calebjonesblog.com and subscribe to my Substack if you want articles physically written by me with no AI involvement whatsoever.

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