A false sense of security

Today I’m going to talk about just how safe and secure is that corporate role? 

Last time I said that this is actually a great time to leave your corporate job and do something else. I know for a lot of people that’s quite challenging.

“Yes, but I’ve got security and the comfort of a regular paycheck. I’m much safer here.” you say. Well, I question that on two grounds. 

I question it on how secure it is and how safe it is. Let’s be honest, you could be made redundant tomorrow, and whether you’ve got one month, three months, or six months on your contract as notice, you’re going to be out on the streets and trying to start again.

The longer you’ve been in an organisation, the more specialised you’ve got, the older you get, and the more expensive you get. It can be really hard to start again. It’s difficult to find another corporate role, and then you might not have any choice but to do something else. 

Also, how good for you is it in this safe role? 

Sadly, too many workplaces are toxic these days. You’re under constant pressure to produce more with less. You’re constantly on call. You’re constantly being given demands and expected to absorb information and keep up with things. That gets to be really, really draining. 

If you add to that, pressure to conform and the bullying that is all too frequent, this is a really unhealthy environment for you, and it takes a toll on you physically, mentally, and emotionally.

I know from personal experience that when I left corporate I was in pretty bad shape. I was unfit. I was suffering from stress. And I’d really sort of just switched off lots of emotions as a sort of protection mechanism. That works, but when you switch off the bad stuff, you switch off the good stuff too. 

What’s more, my corporate role was so demanding that along with my family life I didn’t have any time for me, I didn’t have time for my hobbies. That’s not good for you, because you need to do stuff that fills you up and helps you grow.

So how good is this safe, comfortable corporate role after all? 

Maybe it is time to move in a different direction.

Now is the best time

Hi, Colin here, from After the Mothership. 

I help people who are stuck, frustrated in their careers to slip their corporate chain and create a life that they can feel excited about again. 

This is the first of a series of weekly videos where I’ll be covering some of the issues surrounding that sort of transition.

You know, many people think about starting up their own business and yet, we find all sorts of reasons to not actually go ahead with that. The economy’s not right, or I’ll just wait until after the elections, or all sorts of things to stop you from taking that action. 

However, there’s not really that much point in waiting for things to be ‘right’ because right now is the best time, ever, to start a business. Don’t believe me, that’s what Seth Godin says, and he knows a thing or two.

With the technology and internet we have available, you’ve got the world at your feet as a market. You’ve also got access to world class resources and tools and training as good as anybody in any multinational company. So, the external world is not the problem.

I also had cause to look at some research this week about start-ups and the ages of founders. 

Did you know the fastest growing segment of people starting businesses are people in their 50s? What’s more, the also have a higher success rate of people who have started businesses earlier in their careers. 

That’s because we have the life experience, we have the skills, the knowledge and we’ve also been there, seen it and done it. So, we’ve got a bit more resilience, and we can roll with the punches better.

Put the two things together and not only is this it the best time, ever, to start a business, it’s probably the best time for you, ever, to start a business. So, why aren’t you acting?

Well maybe it’s because you’re still not ready. I completely get that, but it’s not because the world’s not ready, believe me the world’s ready for you. In fact, they want and need you to put your business out there.

Being ready, internally, well that’s about what’s going on in your heart and in your head, and that makes it more difficult to solve. Those are some things I’ll be talking about in future weeks.