Don’t Waste Seven Years

A former Meta employee, who had worked there for about 7 years, wrote a book, reportedly about working for people who didn't care about their employees, with questionable values at best and (alleged) criminal behaviors at worst.

The book is now a bestseller, with many people wanting to read it not just because of the dirt on Meta, but because they identify with the author’s experience.

I used to work at Meta, and I have no desire to read the book. I just feel sad.

Sad that people working at one of the top technology companies in the world feel so powerless that they stay in what they perceive to be toxic situations that run counter to their values for 7 years. Not one year, not two, not three. SEVEN YEARS.

I don’t say this to judge the author or to tell anyone not to read the book. I’m bringing it up because there are so many people like her. And in most cases, their issue is a detrimental mindset, not a lack of options.

We weren't put on this planet to work in toxic environments for years solely for money, health insurance, and/or someone's good opinion of us.

We are powerful. We can change things. We can create things. We can inspire people. We can reinvent ourselves. We can build careers and lives that we love.

If we keep chipping at a problem, in most cases, it doesn’t take 7 years to see results. A sense of powerlessness to change our reality is often rooted in having too short a timeframe in mind. But there are plenty of choices between not seeing a way to change things in a month or even a year, and staying in a place that makes us miserable for 7 years.

Viktor Frankl famously said, "When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves." I don't think he meant only "write a tell-all book at the end."

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