Untethered Dreams

Chris Pearson of Pearsonified wrote an excellent post two years ago called How to: Kiss Corporate Life Goodbye that is an inspiration for those of us wanting to leave corporate life and go it on our own.

His story started in October of 2005 when he built a community blog site called BlogLouisville. Starting as a hobby, his thirst for knowledge pushed him to learn and become an expert in web design. As his skillz grew he was asked to design and consult on a couple of web sites which opened more and more doors. With additional contacts and skillz his business boomed with 3-5 emails per week from various people seeking his services every week!

Here’s a quote from his bottom line:

Obviously, I wouldn’t be sitting here singing the praises of an entrepreneurial lifestyle unless I felt like it offered distinct advantages.

• Freedom: If I need to take care of personal stuff at 2 pm, I’m on it like white on rice. If I want to go play golf, I’m so gone. I know that I’m going to take care of everything, and not having to worry about someone else coming down on me for doing things however I see fit is, well, priceless.
• Motivation: Most intelligent people I know suffer from burnout. Spend too long on one task or at one job, and it’s bound to hit you like a ton of bricks. If this happens in a corporate setting, you could be in danger of losing your job or not getting that raise come annual review time. On the other hand, if you work for yourself, you can devote your time towards learning something new if you experience burnout.
• Money: The guy you call “boss,” who incidentally wears a monkey suit every day to work, says that this year, you’re worth a 5% raise. Who the hell is he, anyway? Who is anyone, for that matter, to tell you what you’re worth? This seems like a ridiculous concept to me. Each day, you go out and determine how much you’re worth. You determine it by producing, by learning, and by creating more value in your life and your work.

While those points above might speak to you, I know something that definitely will. In the first four months of this year, I have earned more than I did in the first six months of last year. That may not be mind-blowing, but consider this: I literally dropped everything in my old life and completely started over in August of last year. Seriously, I ran from it like it was the plague.

The only thing I took with me was a little bit of money and the idea that I was going to forge a better life for myself.

Nine months later, I have what is essentially a new outlook on life. I’m free; I’m happy; and I feel like I can do anything I want to do. Now, wouldn’t you give up your corporate health insurance for that?

Thanks for the great personal experience and inspirational post Chris!

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