I'm now self-employed and have actually been way more successful than I ever was in the traditional workforce. But, being self-employed is not without its issues either, which I will go into more detail about here, since I don't usually talk about the bad parts of my job on here...
There were several jobs that I got fired from because my bosses didn't like me, because I wasn't fast enough and had difficulty following instructions. These were mostly retail jobs.
Outdated is 100% right about social hierarchy though, that was how I got canned from a few jobs. I was a victim of workplace bullying and a lot of people had the bosses wrapped around their fingers.
My last job, I was able to keep for a long time, and I got promoted a few times. My boss had nothing but good things to say about me. But I quit because it was a sales/management position and the customers were so unhinged that I came home crying almost every day. The pandemic just gave me an excuse to quit lol
But I'm still close friends with a few of my former coworkers and hang out with some of them basically every week, so it's not like people there didn't like me. It was me who didn't like the job...
The career I have now, I was able to make happen by offering a service based on a very strong skill that I have (dog training.) I've expanded my business to offer dog daycare, grooming, and boarding now as well, which I do pretty much every day and is basically all I do.
I have one additional employee who works under me, but she is great with dogs and not so great with people. I have to handle the "people" side of things because she isn't very personable and actually has kind of a short fuse with clients (I do too, but not outwardly.)
I had to fire one last summer for being utterly crap at her job and leaving a mess in clients' homes while they were away. I was so embarrassed. She was also horrible to me and was just a mean and miserable person in general. I wish I'd screened her more thoroughly, and now I'm really reluctant to hire anyone else even though I could really use the help. I have built up a great reputation for my business and a great relationship with my clients (most of them even get me Christmas gifts, which they absolutely don't have to do) and I don't want to tarnish that by hiring people who are bad at their job, or too unfriendly or awkward in human interactions. Or irresponsible with animals. The majority of my clients are canine and feline, but I don't just deal with dogs and cats, I have a huge range of other petsitting clients including chinchillas, rats, rabbits, parrots, chickens, guinea pigs, lizards, and tropical fish.
It's a position that requires a dog training certification, a lot of knowledge about many species of domestic animals, and some level of veterinary knowledge. I'm not going to hire just any random joe.
Something I have posted about on here before is dealing with clients who don't pay on time. That was a huge issue I was dealing with for a while. I was advised (by both people on here and irl) to charge a fee for this, and I also now have a customer rewards program which is an incentive to be more responsible.
I charge a fee for last-minute cancellations too, and for calling me in the middle of the night to schedule for the next day. I can't believe I have even had to be in a situation where I have told clients not to call me for non-emergencies at MIDNIGHT.
Last summer, I had a client who boarded her dog with me, and I just happened to be in her house when her electricity went out because she hadn't been paying her bills... that was something I never thought would be part of my job...
This is the kind of stuff I wish I didn't have to worry about, but when you run a business you have to be prepared to deal with all kinds of crazy stuff (that you may not have realized was going on at a traditional job because it was behind the scenes.)
I went on a bit of a tangent as usual, but the basic point of what I'm saying is that I have found way more success and way less stress and anxiety being self-employed, but being self-employed or freelancing isn't for everyone either and also comes with a ton of downsides. Because it's still work.
I love my job, but does it make me happy and worry-free all of the time? Absolutely not.
I will always advocate for it being a much more fulfilling and somewhat less stressful alternative to working for a big company though. I think anyone who has really struggled and had a bad experience in a traditional workplace should at least consider self-employment or freelancing.
Hope that was helpful. It probably made more sense in my head than it does in writing.