“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
– Howard Thurman
I know what you’re thinking.
You’re thinking, “If I leave this good job to do something that’s more ME, then I could fail. And If I fail, then what?”
Well, we’re not going to allow that to happen.
Change is scary as hell, especially when it means trading a life you know for something that’s uncertain.
But you know what?
Life is short.
I spent way too many years believing the myth that if I just had the right job, more money, a better boss, then everything would be peachy.
I kept thinking, “Shouldn’t I feel great about having a good job? Shouldn’t I feel lucky that I’m not unemployed or struggling to make ends meet?”
I didn’t realize it at the time, but a subtle madness was tugging at my soul. I knew that I was just buying time. I knew that I was being called to do something bigger. I knew that there was a price I was paying for not giving myself fully to more meaningful work.
The only problem was, I didn’t know what to do instead.
Then one day in 2011 I decided to take a small risk. I bought a ticket to conference in Portland, Oregon called World Domination Summit. Attending this weekend conference confirmed to me that keeping my current job long term was not the true path for me.
I realized the very next Monday that I was meant to work for myself, doing the creative work that I wanted to do in a way that I designed.
I realized that a “good” corporate job was no longer a part of the plan. And that it was slowly killing my soul.
I wanted to create my own work freedom instead.
No more dreaded Monday morning sales meetings. No more getting on an airplane every week to go see clients. No more waking up in strange hotels instead of in my own bed.
I wanted to transform my experience of work from one of drudgery, rigidity and following the rules, to one of freedom, creative expression and a sense of total control over my destiny.
In short, I wanted to stop building someone else’s vision, and start creating my own. I knew that it was time for me to plan my escape. To become master of my direction in life.
It was then that I began secretly planning my exit from corporate life.
I made some fundamental shifts in my life that allowed me to step away from the corporate world for good in 2013.
Making these shifts allowed me to…
- Identify my personal leaving terms
- Generate a side income, before leaving my job
- Build a healthy savings to cover expenses and create a safety net
- Simplify and reduce expenses
- Find creative sources of income
- Leave my career behind with confidence
Creating Work Freedom
The process of starting something on the side and then leaving a job or a career can be daunting and filled with overwhelm and uncertainty. The kind that wakes you up at night in a cold sweat.
And the best way to reduce that overwhelm and uncertainty is to have a solid plan for navigating your career transition and replacing your day job income.
That’s why I’ve created something for making a safe job transition, to start testing smart business experiments, and begin making income before you even think about leaving your day job.
In other words, lets figure out how to take the smartest, lowest risk approach to doing work that matters rather than quitting your job and launching a business on a wing and a prayer.
Live bravely,
Michael
