Not My Pig, Not My Farm: Protecting Your Energy While Building Your Own Dream
I sat there with that phrase echoing in my mind: “Not my pig, not my farm.” It’s country wisdom, but it works in the corporate jungle too. Translation? This mess isn’t mine to clean. This company isn’t my family. Their drama, their “urgent priorities,” their bottom line, it’s not my concern.
Because here’s the truth: if something were to happen to me tomorrow, they’d post my position online before my chair cooled off.
The Realization
For years, I thought loyalty meant giving my all to the job. Late nights, skipped lunches, swallowing disrespect like vitamins. But here’s what experience teaches you: to a corporation, you are a line item. A number. A resource.
When you complain? They gaslight.
When you burn out? They replace you.
When they boast billions? You still check your account twice before buying groceries.
That’s when “not my pig, not my farm” hit me differently. It wasn’t just about ignoring drama at work, it was about understanding boundaries. This company isn’t mine.
Their billions don’t belong to me. And I refuse to mummify myself, pouring so much energy into them that I’ve got nothing left for me.
Choosing Yourself First
The flip is brutal but freeing: you must dish yourself before you dish out everything for a company that sees you as disposable.
That doesn’t mean slacking off. It means putting your energy where it matters, into building your own dream while you’re still sitting in their meeting. Into sketching out your exit strategy while you’re clocked in. Into making sure that when you leave, you’re leaving toward something.
Because if you give them everything, you become a mummy, wrapped up, drained, lifeless, preserved in a role that was never meant to be your forever.
Empowerment
The hardest part is admitting it: you don’t owe them your soul. You don’t owe them your health. You don’t owe them your sanity.
You owe yourself the chance to breathe, to grow, to create something that lasts longer than a paycheck. Something that actually belongs to you.
So yes, clock in. Do your work. But remember: this is not your pig, not your farm. This is just the field where you’re planting seeds for the farm you will own.
In Other Words
Protect your energy. Don’t drain your best creativity for a corporation, save it for yourself.
Shift your loyalty inward. Be loyal to your health, your peace, and your dream.
Work with boundaries. Do your job well, but stop letting it bleed into every corner of your life.
Build quietly. Use the stability of now to fund the freedom of tomorrow.
Remember the exit. Don’t wait until they replace you, have your next step ready.
So next time you hear yourself whispering, “not my pig, not my farm,” don’t just mean it about the office drama. Mean it about the entire structure.
Because you weren’t born to tend someone else’s farm forever. You’re here to raise your own.
- KIMMe PROMISEs