Work: Find your purpose

I imagine you have a job and are considering quitting it to do something else. Something more meaningful, aligned with your values, passions, what you love doing, and what you are good at.

I will run you through several options. It's for you to pick those that resonate with you and build your plan. If you want to discuss this plan together, please contact me.

Before we go into the different options, i want to highlight four critical variables you will need to ask yourself:

  • How much do i dislike your job (not aligned with your values, not interesting, etc.)?

  • How much savings do i have?

  • Have i identified what i want to do next?

  • When quitting my job, how prepared am i to create value and charge for it?

These are four critical questions and i will help you to answer them.

“i quit my job to start my business”

This approach can be risky if you have never started a business and have little savings. I have seen folks burning their savings and then being obliged to return to the corporate world.

An exit from the corporate world is something you plan. I have exited the corporate world twice so far, so i know this well. The second exit was much better prepared than the first one because i learned from the first exit. Let me give you a few pieces of advice.

You may be in a hurry to quit your job because you cannot stand it anymore, no matter why. Although i understand the urgency, you want to take your time with the exit. Running to the exit could bring you even more trouble.

How much savings do you have?

Before you quit, you should prepare for your exit. One of the critical things to consider is the money you have to sustain yourself and your family. How much savings do you have? Look at the total amount of liquid assets. Do not include money you have but cannot use for now. Do not expect stocks or cryptocurrencies you own to increase. If you own stocks or cryptos, this is money you should be ready to lose. Next, check your monthly expenses. Forecast how many months you or your family can last without you making any revenue. It's vital to do this. Do not assume your monthly expenses will be lower. Plan roughly the same monthly expenses unless you take radical steps to lower them. You should end up with a figure. This figure is the number of months you can last without making cash. If anyone in your family is bringing revenues in, factor this in as an income. If it turns out that your partner gets revenues and this is enough to sustain the family, great.

If you start your own business, you should target to start generating revenues at least six months before the end of your savings run dry. You want to avoid ending up in a situation where you are very low on cash. It will likely be a challenging situation for you and your family. You will probably start asking other folks around you for help, impacting your autonomy. I suggest you generate cash at least six months before the end of your savings runway because it will take months to get back to the corporate world if you have to do so. You may be lucky, and your ex-employer hires you back, but that may also not be true. Risk management 101, be realistic. Don’t be too optimistic in your plan.

When People start their businesses, they often don't generate revenues initially. Don't be surprised about this. This is normal.

Do you know what you will do next?

You could have significant savings and be able to afford not working for the next three years. In that case, you may not need to worry about what you will do next.

Most People won’t be in this case, and they will have a few months to two years of savings. In this case, the best approach is to:

  • Prepare what you will do next before quitting your job

  • Pick the best exit strategy

  • Lower your expenses, if possible

I am detailing these options below.

Start an activity on the side of your job

This is the least risky option. You may not be happy with your job, but it can provide you with a safety net while you start to work on the side on something meaningful to you. I am detailing the below points in the video.

  • The least risky option

  • Allocate time

  • Have a structured approach

  • What can i do?

    • What is my passion?

    • What am i good at?

  • Explore and discover

  • Try it to de-risk

  • How to make cash from it?

    • Value creation

    • Value charging

  • Validate your value creation

  • When do i quit my job?

Discover how Sifat started a business on the side of his daily job

Sifat is in the process of transitioning from a 9 to 5 job to an activity that he loves doing, and that brings him revenue. He is the typical example of the folks starting an activity on the side of their daily job. Feel free to listen to his interview (just below).

Chris’ story: finding your “why”

Chris Notley’s story is inspiring. It took him two decades to find his why. It’s not uncommon at all. It also took me a similar time. The key point is to have access to these key tools which will help you to identify your purpose. Here in the link to Chris’ profile to contact him. Here is the video mentioned by Chris during the interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4. Enjoy the interview.

Your exit strategy

In some countries, getting dismissed by the company means that you will get unemployment benefits. It could be a way to support you financially while. There may be conditions to these unemployment benefits.

When quitting a company, consider the options available (getting fired, getting dismissed, resigning) as they can impact your social benefits. If you don’t know these options, you can search the internet and ask your co-workers or ex-co-workers (the folks who already left).

Lowering your expenses

When you make USD 7,000 a month, it may be okay to spend USD 3,000 on your rent, food, and insurance. But what about when your revenue is USD 0? Should you continue disbursing USD 3,000 a month?

You often have the option to reduce your monthly expenses to reduce the risk of running out of savings.

Let me suggest a few ideas to reduce your costs. You could reduce your expenses, especially the main ones such as rental and food. An option is to move to a place where life costs are cheaper. If you are considering doing this, check the Move Somewhere Else section of Peoplelyzer. You could move to a suburb, a rural area, or another country.

You must think outside of the box to do what you love. If you follow most folks' thinking, you will stay inside the box.

“I want to work for a non-woke organization.”

Do you have enough of walking on egg shelves at the office? Do you have enough CEI, DEI, and ESG training?

While equity and diversity are great, we cannot accept that they are explored for different purposes.

The good news is that someone is working on your needs. His name is Andrew Crapuchettes from Idaho! Andrew started RedBalloon.work, and i had the pleasure to interview him. Feel free to listen (below).

Alternative options

Get your company to hire you as a “freelancer”

Many of you don't even know that this is possible. You can get your company to hire you as a freelancer instead of being on your company's payroll. This will give you more flexibility. It also provides the company with more flexibility as well. It's an opportunity to grow your brand and take on other clients. It's also a way to softly exit the corporate structure, as being a freelancer will increase your autonomy. You manage your finances. You will declare your taxes, and some costs should be deductible. You may even be able to deduct your rent. This setup pushes you to make decisions, which is good if you plan to start your own business.

This strategy could be a good option if you are still okay with your job but are considering doing your own business. As you build the structure to be a freelancer, you will have less work to do the day you decide to no longer work for this company (client). The transition will be easier.

Work for another company

What about working for another company?

Starting a company or working as a freelancer takes work. It requires effort, and there will be moments when the situation will be challenging. If you are not ready for this or prefer to work in an office with co-workers, you may want to find another job at another company.

In the current context, i observe more and more organizations working on activities aligned with values People look for, such as respect, transparency, and honor. It does take some research to find these organizations. I am not talking about organizations that speak to you about “sustainability” or “equity” when, in reality, what they do does not have much to do with those values.

Do you want you and i to look at your current situation?

Every week, i help folks make the right decision. My approach is to let you talk, but i will ask you the most relevant questions regarding your situation. I will also provide you with a few options or actions to help you move forward.

Feel free to contact me if you want my time. I will be adding testimonials below.

Testimonials

You must read what People are saying about the support i gave them.

Patrik from Germany:

“Julien offered to do some consulting on how to align the professional situation with what one loves to do. I already had an idea and Julien really helped me to develop a path into this direction. He also pointed out milestones to verify during the journey whether the goal really aligns with my interests, which was very helpful. Julien is very much matter-of-fact and highly focused and analytical, which allowed him to have a bird’s eye view on my personal situation. I really look forward to my professional journey and would like to thank Julien for his helpful inputs!”

Michael from the UK:

“I recently had a conversation with Julien about launching my own business. He provided me with valuable advice, some of which I only would fully appreciate once I would have encountered those experiences firsthand. Despite their simplicity and apparent nature, these insights turned out to be incredibly crucial. Principles like "fail fast" were easy for me to grasp. Although I had heard this advice before, Julien managed to emphasize and drive home the point for me and likely saved me from the mistake of trying to sustain a failing idea.”