Introduction

Hello Escapees –

This newsletter is dedicated to conceiving, planning and executing a plan beyond your day job. 

I know, I know, you make a lot of money. You’d never be able to replace what you have today. Oh, and what about insurance?...  No one is saying that you shouldn’t be proud of what you have  accomplished. And, of course, it would be irresponsible for you (or me) to walk away from your job without a plan. 

Speaking of which, what is your plan?

• Work until you have some amount of money saved up?

• Until you are some age? Or your kids are?

• Some windfall from parents, or social security kicks in?

Any version of the above has at least one factor that is out of your control - your employer(s). Ever been in a relationship where that person didn’t love you back?

If your boss loves you, you are receiving optimistic signals. Does your manager’s boss love her? Are there ever any reorgs? Is the company really healthy? If the answer to all of these is all favorable, consider yourself lucky. Doesn’t mean that you are safe, but it does mean that you may have more time than the rest of us to figure this stuff out. 

For the rest of us, we better get this sorted out on the double. Your boss is not your friend, your company is not here to protect you.

Let’s say your job is secure. Congratulations. Do you like it? Is the work meaningful to you? In my community, work does not seem to be something they love, but something they do until something better comes along.

In the last few years, I have seen friends lose their jobs, too. Involuntarily released after a long tenure. You know the story, a reorg, a company not doing well, a supposed performance issue. As an aside, who would be excited after doing the exact same thing for 16 years? 

Maybe there’s a severance package, maybe not. 

All of the above saw the writing on the wall, but none had a Plan B. As a result, additional stress for family and finances.

Oh, and don’t get me started on their health. Sitting at a desk job for 10, 20, 30 years. Pot / kettle moment here, but hopefully you are seeing the point. There is life beyond that career you have worked so hard to curate.

A recent reminder for me, I have worked from home since 2021. In the last few weeks, it has become clear that my role will disappear unless I start going into an office full-time. And that office will be across the Mississippi.

When COVID hit, I was laid off from a job I didn’t love. At that time, I remember the feeling of dread, that I was un-employable - too old. 

Thankfully, I had already put wheels in motion - I had a side hustle. During this scary time, it gave me a sense of purpose, confidence, an additional skillset, and a little money to boot. I did, fortunately, get another job, but many are not so lucky. As time has gone on, I have refined my plan and am now starting to take action - putting the wheels in motion to see beyond my W2 job. 

I may be lucky, but can also read the patterns I see. Your job is not your community or your saviour. You are.

Let me start by saying, I earn a good wage and am thankful for my journey, even if it’s time for a different path. I am one of very few people in my friend group who might survive without the income from my day job. That resilience can be distilled down to just a few things. 

If my vocation dried up, I probably could still make a humble living.

• I’ve built a side hustle already, so momentum and confidence are already in my favor. I’ve done it once, let’s see if it can’t happen again.

• Solid-ish assets that are making me money - or passive income if you’d rather

• I have a learner’s mindset, not overly conservative. You may think that I am crazy, but you may be the one who is taking more risk by putting all your financial eggs in one basket.

I am not being boastful about this. I am in the early phases of this journey, and want to share what I know and learn from you too.

What if I got so good at writing this newsletter that it was monetized? We’ll never know until there’s enough data out there to gauge. My hope is that this happens (and its enjoyable), so let’s see what happens. You have likely expressed interest or support, so this may help at least a few people.

Remember how I said ‘survive’ an involuntary departure from my job? I don’t want to just survive, I want to thrive. There are plenty of sites and channels out there that can inspire us to what an ideal future might look like. They can show you the end result and provide wisdom about what they’d done in the past. 

There are precious few that show you the messy middle. Intimately what they are doing, the hurdles along the way, and how they march on despite those obstacles.

I have not seen meaningful content for executing against your future, and that is what this newsletter is about. Please join me as we take this journey together. My experience tells me that every step has increased my confidence that this is doable, by people like you and me.

Thanks for joining me.

Erik