Table of Contents
2 years after quitting the corporate rate race, here’s how things stand
On 16th August 2021, I quit my corporate career as a Senior Staff Engineer at Samsung India, to go on my own.
I said good bye to the cushy 9-5 world for a life of creative, calendar and financial freedom.
I had been a typical corporate slave for more than 11 years at that point.
(Some background about the why and how in this post from 2 years ago - On a New Adventure)
My Biggest Lesson
The biggest lesson I’ve learned over the last 2 years is that freedom is what we crave the most as humans.
We say we want money, fame, power. We crave pleasure and run away from pain.
We say we want to be happy (whatever that means)
But what we truly want is freedom.
We are hunter-gatherer beings evolved to live in the free jungle.
We are meant to hunt for food when the sun rises, and to sing, dance and celebrate with our tribe when it sets.
We want to do the least that needs to be done for survival, and then we want the freedom to play.
Chasing imagined realities like financial stability and generational wealth is not part of our true nature.
We are free animals being forced to live in artificial societal constraints.
And I don’t mind that. I quite enjoy the comforts that come with living in a civilized world.
But I don’t discount the fact that deep down inside, our spirit, still craves that freedom of the savannah.
And I acknowledge that we can only truly ever be happy when we’re free.
Free from the fake rules society forces us to live by.
A line from one of my favorite movies Fight Club fits well here -
"Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate, so we can buy shit we don't need.”
Might I add - “To impress people that don’t matter”
Money is a poor metric to measure quality of life.
Freedom is what really matters.
The freedom to pursue your creativity, and to make a living on your own terms, without artificial bounds like daily status meetings, monthly sprint plans and quarterly performance reviews.
A quote from one my favorite books “The Psycology of Money” sums it up well -
“The highest form of wealth is the ability to wake up every morning and say - I can do whatever I want today.
…The ability to do what you want, when you want, with who you want, for as long as you want, is priceless. It is the highest dividend money pays.”
This is money’s only goal - To give us the freedom we so desperately crave.
2 years ago, I set out on an adventure to figure out a way to make just enough money so that I can have this freedom for myself.
Let’s see how things stand with each aspect of my life -
Financial Health
- I didn’t need the kind of money I was making in my last job. I knew I could make do with way less.
- That’s why I saved up a 2 year runway.
- That runway is still intact, it has grown and shrunk over the last 2 years. But roughly, it’s still the same. My income from my various projects has matched up to my living expenses so far.
- If all my income sources stop right now, I can easily survive for the next 2 years. That’s re-assuring.
- I mainly earn via my SaaS startup, my newsletter, community , e-books, courses and some consulting and coaching. (More details of what I do on my now page.)
- Software as a service (SaaS) is the most beautiful business model in the world. I co-founded a SaaS startup with a friend last year. It’s doing alright these days. The profits will soon overshoot both of our last drawn salaries. 😄
So I’m in good financial shape. But my goal is not to make more and more money, this is only 1 aspect of my life, I don’t want to make it the most important aspect.
Physical Health
- I am in the best shape of my life💪
- I’ve lost 12 KGs in the last 1 year and I feel way more fitter, stronger, energetic than I have ever felt before.
- I play Tennis, I swim, I walk a lot, and I recently started strength training. I watch what I eat, more proteins, fewer carbs.
- This has happened because I’m able to take out more time for my health than I used to before.
- I know I’m not the fittest guy around, and it will take a while for me to get there, but I’m definitely moving in that direction.
- Direction over Speed. Always!
Mental Health
- I feel happy and content with my life 😀
- There have been tough periods where my income was uncertain, I had to work with clients I didn’t like, and do work I was not fulfilled by.
- When this happened, I quit those gigs, fired those clients and pivoted to other ideas.
- I think this is the freedom I enjoy the most - the freedom to pivot when I know something isn’t working - financially or emotionally.
- I’m learning to deal with the uncertainty of income that comes with being an entrepreneur. Learning to be more calm with it.
- I love journaling and meditation. And now I’m also starting to study some spiritual texts. I want to pursue the larger questions of life. It will be a long journey, so I think this is a good time to start.
Overall my happiness levels are right up there. Though I’m training myself to stay level headed in good times and bad.
Relationships
- I love the time I get to spend with my family now - my wife, my son, my parents and my parents in law.
- My wife is my rock of support - emotionally, financially as well as spiritually. She always has been, and always will be. ❤️
- I’m spending tons of quality time with my son. I love the role I’m able to play in his education and growth. This wouldn’t have been possible if I was working a regular 9-5.
- Me, my wife, son and my parents live together in our home. I work from here as well, so I get to spend loads of time with my parents and my son.
- My son will never be 8 again, and my parents will never be 60 again, I feel truly blessed to get to spend so much quality time with them.
Final Word
- Things are going great.
- I’m going to keep this going.
- I know I am privileged, I wrote about my privileges 2 years ago, and it stands true even today.
- It may sound easy, but this path isn’t for everyone. Read this section from 2 years ago to see if this is the right move for you or not.
- It is hard, but mostly in the mind. If you can stay calm, and take enough shots, then you can succeed. The most successful entrepreneurs aren’t the smartest or the most hard working, they’ve just taken a ton more shots at this than anyone else.
I don’t regret any aspect of this decision at all. I may have seen ups and downs my journey so far, and I will keep seeing them in the future as well.
But I’ve never felt as alive as I feel right now.
I’ve never felt as free as I feel right now.
And I’ve never felt as fulfilled as I feel right now.
I feel like a hunter-gatherer in the 21st century 😀
Thank you for reading.
Ayush 🙏
Further Reading -
I also posted an update on Twitter/X -
Written by
Eternally Curious. Writing, Learning, Building in Public. Writing about Ideas + Inspiration + Insights for Indie creators 🎨| Simple tips to make 10X Decisions in Business and Life 😇 | Creator Economy FTW 💸 | Product Manager
