I’ve been thinking a bit about money lately. It’s tax time for my business and it’s come up a lot in my coaching calls. And particularly how it keeps people from following their dreams.
The Internet is full of great quotes about money. Including my favourite by Dorothy Parker
“If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.“
But this one by Tennessee Williams hits home right now for me:
“You can be young without money, but you can’t be old without it.”
I’m not old but I do appreciate the sentiment. And while I think I value money much less directly than I once did, it was probably the number one factor keeping me in my job.
And it’s probably what kept you – or keeps you – there too.
Or rather the fear of losing it. And the consequences that that will bring for your life, for your family, for your stability – and even survival.
But the fear of losing everything is so visceral that we can easily over-dramatise it. We may give it more power than it deserves.
Would we really sit back and wait to lose everything? Of course not.
But it can stop us from doing what we want to do. Cue another quote, this time from Mandela:
“Money won’t create success, the freedom to make it will.“
Certainly, the older I get, the more I recognise that a desire for freedom, showing up in different ways: autonomy, control, balance, choice…is what lies behind my – and many people’s – desire to exit a corporate job.
Because money can stop us feeling free.
It can make us feel tied to something – and, even worse, grateful for those handcuffs.
But all too often we don’t interrogate those handcuffs and how tight they really are.
I rarely budgeted in my corporate job. Five or six years in I barely noticed my salary coming into my bank account. I banked the annual salary increase before I’d even noticed it had changed.
The predictability of salary was an incredible luxury but it also let me off the hook when it came to following my dreams – and being braver. It encouraged me to believe I had no choice.
As though without that income and the employer that paid it out, my whole life would come crashing down.
If that’s what you think, of course every alternative looks terrifying and best avoided.
So I am deeply sympathetic of people who, when faced with the fear of anticipated regret by following their dreams/purpose/heart, they’ll end up somewhere worse.
I’ve said before that I’ve now spoken with hundreds of people who’ve left their corporate jobs and not a single person has ever regretted it. And I’m pretty sure that would include the financial aspects too.
Like me, most of them got clear about what my friend Joe calls their “Minimal Viable Life”, they built a buffer – and they created options. Most found what I call an ‘anchor client’, a reliable (enough) source of repeatable income to replace the salary – but ideally not taking up all their time.
What I’ve noticed over time is that I have a more direct relationship with money these days. Every time my banking app tells me an invoice has been paid or someone has paid me for one of my courses or coaching, it feels very real.
As does every cost that goes out.
It doesn’t sit in Excel or SAP, but as cash in a bank account.
And that feels good. Especially the cash in.
And then there’s the tax, which doesn’t feel so good. It actually terrifies me. But I know it’s also a good sign.
Because it means that real business is actually happening.
Don’t let money stop you following your dreams. You only get one shot at life.
Use it to drive you, to motivate you and to help you prepare. Because at the first sight of money worries, you’ll retreat faster than than you can say ‘LinkedIn‘ to the perceived safety of a salaried job.
If you’re thinking about what’s next and factors like money are keeping you trapped, drop me a line and let’s work through them together.
There’s a new Corporate Escapology podcast out today with
. Elizabeth is a writer, a dream many of us hold – but discount because of the income. For some people, however, it’s not a choice. They have so much to say and need to share – and that’s Elizabeth: on a mission to share the trials, tribulations and (thankfully) triumphs of parenting a child with cancer (and in lockdown).
And how valuable were those corporate benefits then? Especially the healthcare. But once Elizabeth’s daughter recovered, those benefits weren’t a reason to stay doing the same thing…so when a restructure popped up Elizabeth grabbed it.
This is an incredibly inspiring story of someone following their dream and HAVING to make it work. A story with a happy ending.
Watch here:
Listen here: