After Being Laid Off, I Realized I Had Been Enslaved by Work for Ten Years

On Jun 18, 2026, at 11:53 AM, wrote:

Hi James,

Thank you for your reply and for turning my case into a short video. I have listened to it probably ten times. That reply helped my mindset and emotions a great deal.

As you recently said on the program, when I faced the layoff, what I cared about most was not actually asset allocation. When I felt lost and uncertain, I wanted someone I could talk to. Thank you very much for holding my emotions at that time.

Over the past two months, I developed a habit of walking through downtown Taipei after 10:30 at night. Ten years in the tech industry made me feel that working overtime at night was normal, and that after overtime, the only places to go were home or the gym. Everyone around me lived the same way.

Being able to wander through Taipei at night without any purpose, without worrying about what time I had to get home, and without worrying about getting up early for work the next day was something I had never imagined. Without realizing it, I had already been enslaved.

Thanks to CLEC's investing strategy, even though I had no income for the past two months, my assets have increased by two years' worth of salary since I first encountered CLEC at the beginning of the year. I also had unemployment benefits, which allowed me to slow down and stop living a life where I was constantly afraid and only working to make money.

It was rare to have the chance to travel abroad with my whole family. The last time I had such an opportunity was ten years ago.

Over the past two months, I had two realizations.

First, I should not be overly anxious about losing my job. This layoff made me realize that my previous job was actually not suitable for me. The layoff was like a forced pause button, and for me it was actually a blessing. In these two months, I interviewed with seven companies, and every one of them was better than my previous job, whether in salary or work content. A loss may turn out to be a blessing.

Second, as my assets gradually accumulate, I have also started thinking about what I will do after retirement, or after leaving the tech industry in a few years. During this period of unemployment, I had more time, but often did not know what to do. I think it is because for more than ten years I used work to numb myself and never developed my own interests.

After two months of rest, I returned to the rat cage on June 1. But I still have good opportunities in hand and need to make a choice.

One is a server system company currently riding the trend. The hours are long and the pressure is high, but it would be helpful for the later development of my career. The other is a European company with slightly higher pay, a friendly work atmosphere, and more flexibility and freedom. Each position has pros and cons.

I would like to ask: if I expect to retire in seven years, or at least leave the tech industry, what standard should I use to choose a job?

I would also like to ask how to find my own interests and passion. I still feel very confused about what I should do after leaving the workplace in a few years.

Thank you for your reply and for your companionship every week. It has kept my mindset very steady during this period. Although I still have to keep working for now, I also know in my heart that there are many possibilities beyond work, and many things worth exploring.

James's reply:

Always remember that a high-pressure job is like a drug-taking job. Never go looking for a high-pressure job, no matter how high the pay is. It is not an industry you should enter.

It is like someone paying you to smoke every day or take drugs every day. No matter how high the pay is, would you take it? So this decision is very simple. Work should be happy. Do not look for high pressure and make yourself suffer. Treating suffering as nourishment is a completely wrong idea.

In the United States, there is absolutely no such concept. Only in an enslaved culture does this idea of treating suffering as nourishment exist. "Only after eating the bitterest bitterness can one become superior" is foolish education used by a ruling class to tame the people. You are already close to retirement, and you still have not awakened to this?

In the United States, people absolutely do not use suffering as a substitute for compensation. The starting point is thinking and how to improve life for all humanity, while pursuing one's own interests and ideal life, not salary or suffering.

So the choice between these two jobs is very simple. You are already close to retirement. Just choose ease and happiness. Do not go to some server manufacturer and do that rigid work. You have already done enough in this life. If you spend another seven years in a toxic factory in Taiwan's server industry, you are just doing the same work for a lifetime. It is like someone who has worked 30 years saying they have a lot of experience, when in fact they have done the same thing for 30 years. Of course you should go to the European company. Learn the European attitude toward work and the way they enjoy life, instead of running back into the Asian rat cage of treating suffering as nourishment.

If you can get a higher salary at a European company, why are you not going immediately? Why would you still want to return to a lower-paying server factory? What future does that have? What future does Taiwan's manufacturing industry have?

When an entire country thinks in terms of selling labor, building factories, manufacturing, and selling national resources, what is there to miss? Everyone needs to wake up. Only by allowing Taiwan's entire industry to transform will our generations have a chance. Otherwise, generation after generation will grow up inside this enslaved mindset. What is the point of that?

Do not worry about what to do after retirement. Since you have now returned to the workplace, go to work happily. In the future, travel around, enjoy the mountains and rivers, and use money to experience life. That is the best job.