From the time I started delivering newspapers at age 14, I've put my best effort into everything I did. Over 45 years later, I have yet to be laid off or asked to leave. However, I did leave some places on my own accord to seek better opportunities. Each time, the employer was sad to see me go.
I don't need to be pampered, coddled, repeatedly told "good job". I can deal with angry clients (and turn them around by helping to solve their problems), bad bosses (I always outlast them), and incompetent co-workers (I'm happy to pick up the slack for them and help train them if they are willing).
My employer owes me nothing but the paycheck and comp plan we agreed on. Either of us can decide to part company for any reason.
Reading your post, I get that we see things in a very similar way.
I have the same experience, and it isn’t just beneficial to me, it is beneficial to my employer.
A system I had been managing for years was phased out, and I was asked to interview for the job of working on the new system, but...to be honest, my heart wasn’t in it. I didn’t want the job, and I believe I interviewed very poorly. (I am one of those people with an open face, and I think the interviewers saw every emotion as if it were a lit up billboard.)
When I didn’t get the job, my boss actually created a new job for me, to keep me on board. That meant a lot to me, more than I can say, because in that environment at that time, it was no mean feat to get a new job position created and approved by management.