| I'm not going to tell you to 'learn your place' like other commenters, or even suggest you change your attitude. Employment implies a power gradient between you and the employer. The thing that sucks is that income is tied to employment for most of us, and it's OK to express the fact that this sucks. How do we go beyond this? This is a problem I've found difficult to resolve myself. For people who are creative, and good at what they do (as you seem to be) it's always going to be a struggle to fit into a structure like that. Because I am a freelancer, I've worked at a lot of different companies.¹ What I've noticed is that sometimes they love you and praise you, and other times the hate you and blame you. In one situation you are a hero, in another a pain in the ass. Sometimes both even happened in the same company/team. All the time I'm the exact same person. We all have a mix of personality traits that we bring to our work. Some traits the employer will like, some they won't. But what I've learned is that they all come together. They are a package deal. So despite the posts below that encourage you to change who you are, I am suggesting you should just be more conscious of the interplay between the qualities you have in your 'bundle' and how to best deploy them in each situation. I've also learned to take blame and even praise from employers with a grain of salt.² They are just trying to shape your behaviour, and will probably change their opinion of you next month. So in the end it's a relationship. In some cultures they don't look for soulmates, they just marry a decent person and move on, saying to themselves, most [husbands|wives] are pretty much the same. I think they are onto something. Find a 'good enough' employer, and stop looking for your 'soulmate job.' Do decent work, then go home. And find some hobbies! 1: Lots of short contracts, by mutual agreement. Also a handful of full time jobs. 2: A quote from the Buddha on this: Just as solid rock is not shaken by the wind,
Even so the Wise are unmoved by blame or by praise.
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