Labor always pays whether you're doing it for a boss or for your own sanity!

This is shaping up to be one of those inspirational posts. Even if you're not unemployed, you might find it useful.

As someone who has slid down to the deepest chambers of unemployment Hell and clawed his way back (to purgatory thus far, but I'm still climbing), let me tell you the secret of success in surviving unemployment: Never stop working.

The fact that you're no longer working for the Man is no excuse to be lazy and not work! In fact, if you just keep producing, you might find (as I am, to my pleasant surprise) that working for the Man sucks anyway, and your forced unemployment is a blessing.

The thing is, you have to work to be a full-fledged adult member of the human race. In my case, I've basically worked constantly for period of about a year. When I say "constantly," I mean every activity from the time I get up at 6:30 a.m. until the time I go to bed at 2:00 a.m. is directed toward some productive purpose.

Oh, sure, I take breaks, but it's much more work than having a job.

You may be scratching your head, wondering what the heck I'm talking about. Can you really work when you don't have a job? Maybe this post seems pointless. The television beckons seductively with its endless torrent of idiocy, propaganda, and time theft. I beseech you, don't turn it on! If it's already on, turn it off.

Work is defined as productive activity. I subscribe to the Labor Theory of Value: All wealth comes from work. The biggest diamond in the world is worth nothing until someone digs it out of the ground, cuts it, and offers it to the market. The more skillfully cut, the more value it will have. The more skillfully sold, the higher price it will fetch. All wealth comes from work.

"Work" does not mean going to a job and killing three hours of an eight-hour day surfing the Internet and yammering with co-workers. That's called a job. The five hours of the day when you're actually doing something at your job, that's work. Is that clear as a well cut high-grade diamond?

So how do you work when you're unemployed? Just keep hustlin', G. Wake up every morning with a list of things to accomplish, and accomplish them! Do things that you do not want to do, things that make you uncomfortable. For me, phone calls are uncomfortable for some reason so I force myself to get on the horn, and it pays. Do wild and crazy things, and try out new ideas. Produce value. Produce wealth.

Ask yourself what you love to do. That's where you will produce the most value and thus represents your greatest chance of success. Do you love fishing? Think about the many businesses you could start around that, anything from guiding fishing trips to making fishing rods, to digging for and selling bait. Do you love old cars? Trick one out and sell it! Do you love sewing? Make some clothes and sell them! Do you love art or music? Produce it, and hustle your ass off to sell it!

Adding value to the world. That's work in a nutshell. Your unemployment gives you the opportunity to work at something you love. Take this opportunity by the horns! Work every day, and I absolutely freakin' guaranVanDamtee that something will pay off for you at some point. It might not happen tomorrow (or it might) but it will happen.

There is so much work to be done. Do it!