A 9-to-5 is not a failure.

I say this because somewhere between hustle culture and reels screaming “be your own boss,” we’ve mistaken routine for regret.

But before ambition got a PR team, before startups became Instagram biographies, most of human civilisation thrived on predictability.

In the Harappan age, people worked at the same potter’s wheel for decades. In Mauryan times, Arthashastra defined state roles and salaries. Even the Mughal courts had structured mansabdari systems. Work was sacred not because it was loud, but because it was stable. People didn’t wake up to find meaning in disruption. They found it in duty.

A good job is a practice to progress.

Recently, I met someone who’s wildly successful by all modern definitions. Owns multiple houses, sits on boards, dines with investors. I asked him what he’d pick today if he were 25 again. He smiled and said,
“I’d take a 9-to-5 with a good boss over 10 years of burnout. Every time.”

He explained it with a metaphor.

“Think of Tendulkar. What made him great wasn’t the World Cup. It was the quiet hours in the nets. Every day. Same ball. Same bat. Different mastery.”

And he’s right.

We romanticise entrepreneurship because we see the press releases, not the panic. We hear of exits, not ulcers. Most people in India don’t leave jobs to chase freedom. They leave because their jobs feel like cages. Because HR became surveillance. Managers became micromanagers. Work became a war of email timings.

And when dignity exits the workplace, dreams enter stealth mode.

People start whispering side hustle ideas. They start sharing Shark Tank clips. They tell themselves,
“I’m meant for more.”
What they mean is -
“I’m tired of less.”

Most of it is emotional and not economical.

We treat employment like a compromise. But it isn’t. A good job is a gift. A healthy team is a force multiplier. A leader who respects your boundaries is rarer than most founders.

Entrepreneurship is overrated.
Structure is underrated.

Startups get you fame.
Jobs get you stamina.

And in the long game, stamina always wins.

So if you have a job that respects you, stay. If you work with people who make you better, thank them. Don’t trade stability for spectacle. Most of success is simply showing up. With clarity. With calm. With care.

As Marcus Aurelius once wrote,
“Do not waste what remains of your life in speculating about others. Be occupied only with what is in your control.”

And for many, that control begins at 9 AM.
Ends at 5 PM.
And builds an entire life between the lines. With a lunch break in between.