A lot of people walk away from successful careers for noble reasons. Perhaps they want to pursue volunteer activities, or do mission work, or go back to school to change careers. I have some of those same ideas in mind for when I step away, but I would be lying if I did not also mention one of my major motivations is just to leave the corporate beaurocracy behind.
The movie Office Space does a great job of poking fun at the corporate wold, and I think the enviornment depicted in the film is fairly representative of most large companies (at least the ones I’ve worked for). During one scene the main character, Peter Gibbons, tells his friends, ” Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day, filling out useless forms and listening to eight different bosses drone on about about mission statements.” well said. For those who don’t remember the movie, or have never seen it, here’s a look at the trailer.
Somwhere between my noble pursuits, and an irreverant attitude towards corporate life, lies the real answer to the question, what’s my motivation? My real motivation can be summed up in one word: freedom. I want the freedom to do what I want to do with my life without having to ask for time off to do it. Without having to worry about earning enough money to cover it. To me, that is the ultimate freedom.
When I was young I knew a guy who was friends with my high school football coach. He had “retired” at 45, and spent part of his summers every year helping out with the team. He mowed the grass on the practice fields one evening a week, and opened up the gym for summer workouts when the coach couldn’t make it.
One day I asked him if he worked and he told me no. He said he had been retired for nearly twenty years (he was in his sixties now). “Best decision I ever made. Get to spend time with my grandkids and you guys. Wife and I do a little traveling someplace warm in the winter.” If this guy was a millionaire it certainly wasn’t obvious. He drove an old truck, and I never saw him in anything other than sweatpants and t-shirts.
Someone later told me that he was in fact a millionaire. He and his wife had saved nearly everything they earned for two decades and then both walked away from their jobs in their mid-forties to care for their parents, and be more involved with their grandkids. Even at 17, I thought that was exactly who I wanted to be like in thirty years. Too bad I squandered so many opportunities during college, and immediatedly after. I’m getting a much later start than “Coach” did, but I’ll get there.
Photo by I’ll Never Grow Up
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