The Unintended Consequences of the Gig Economy

In our culture today, doing has become a badge of honor.

It’s become a status symbol and the way to define ourselves.

The same is true with the rest of the lies of the gig economy that I breakdown in my new book, You Are What You Do: And Six Other Lies about Work, Life, and Love.

Our sense of meaning and significance have become tied to our experiences, our relationships, our knowledge, our stuff, our children and our past. However, the thing with each of these lies is that they all have unintended consequences.

• A life of doing leads to a life of worrying
• A life of experiences leads to a life of comparison
• A life seeking acceptance from others leads to a loss of self
• A life focused on the pursuit of knowledge leads to a life of despair
• A life amassing stuff leads to a life of imprisonment
• A life that revolves around your children leads to a life of narcissism
• And a life lived in the past leads to a life of regret and pain

When we actively resist these seven lies and instead pursue the alternative path that I propose in my new book, we’ll begin experiencing what true freedom and flexibility feel like, which, ironically, is the very thing that our culture falsely promises through these seven lies:

• You are what you do
• You are what you experience
• You are who you know
• You are what you know
• You are what you own
• You are who you raise
• You are your past

This is the kind of resistance that chooses love over hate, light over darkness, forgiveness over shame and generosity over greed.

It’s the kind of resistance that uncovers who we aren’t, so that we can begin the journey of discovering who we really are.

And this kind of resistance begins here with the truth that you are not what you do, you are not what you experience, you are not who you know, you are not what you know, you are not what you own, you are not who you raise and you are not your past.