[Closed] Downshifting - Leaving the Rat Race

As of February I will be working 1.5 days a week as a consultant IT trainer for charities.

I plan on chilling, riding my bikes, doing stuff around the house, brewing beer, doing courses, playing guitar etc

Working for charities is something that has occurred to me and I do use my skills pro bono for one charity in particular. The issue with working exclusively for a charity is the question of job security - I am a little wary on this point after delivering excellently in two contracts for a twelve-month period but then finding it very difficult indeed to get another contract role - even with two superb customer recommendations...

I worked my way up to a senior role because I thought that's what I wanted, within 12 months I hated the role, people, company etc, I couldn't relax people who had my phone number would call me day or night no matter what the time. When a role came up further down the chain I jumped at it & effectively demoted myself. It was the perfect solution for me, I kept my pension & favourable T&C's. I still don't "love" going to work like some people seem to, for me it's a means to an end, but I'm much happier & have a much better life for it. The plan now is to be mortgage free ASAP, sell the house & bugger off in my camper to follow the sun round Europe.

Some people seem to thrive on work & the rat race, others just don't, life is for living & enjoying not working day in day out till you finally drop down.

A good guide is will you lie on your deathbed and think that was a life well spent?

I survived exactly 8 months in the corporate rat race, I've never regretted leaving that life for this one. We don't have much money, but we don't have many big worries either, I get lots of time with my daughter, and I do something I love every day. We'll never have a big house or fancy car, we might never afford a foreign holiday again, but those things don't really matter.

A good guide is will you lie on your deathbed and think that was a life well spent?

Work wise - largely no! I do make life better for those who work for me - I lead teams and take all those responsibilities including pastoral responsibilities very seriously. I have had consistently good feedback from my team members. Most of them stay in consistent contact even after we stop working together.

I worked my way up to a senior role because I thought that's what I wanted, within 12 months I hated the role

I've been in increasingly senior roles for the last 10 years. The awkward level of management just beneath the board and exposed to all the corporate politics (a game I don't play). Increasingly I wonder if I'm burnt out...

Jamj1974.
Do you have children who are financially dependent on you?
Mortgage & wife?
Would you be happy on less money?

Yes there is another way, there are lots of other ways. Are you brave enough to try them? I ask myself the same questions from time to time, there must be more to life than this. You end up thinking about some utopian job working in a bar in Ibiza or living off grid in a teepee in Wales? But then you'd lose lots of the comforts you currently enjoy, could you live without those comforts?

I guess it's up to you if the trade-off from a job you don't like is a lifestyle outside work that you like - if the job pays for a standard of living you enjoy. Even if you have a job you love, there will always be bits that aren't fun - for me, it's doing the accounts.

It doesn't matter what you do, as long as you make a change, act now, before the rat race sucks you back in and you die a long lingering death..

Ok...the last bit may be a bit dramatic 🙂 but action is your friend..wish you the best of luck!

Sounds like you are a very conscientious person caught between a rock and a hard place (the boardroom and those you manage).
Going solo/independent is one option people increasingly take - you are still working for the man, but you can tell the man to do one as long as you have a range of clients and good sales channel.
I wish you luck anyhow, it sounds like your burnt out in the short term, but if you've never enjoyed it, well like others have said, make longer term plans to do something else and try to enjoy 60-80 percent of your working life.

Work three days myself, spend days off in the gym, riding bike, climbing and in the local with a pint and a cob. Don't crave stuff, happy with what iv'e got, we ain't here long, working is a mugs game and i plan to knock the three days on the head in a couple of years, going to live the good life in sunny Wales.
It would probably be a big lifestyle change for you by the sound of it, just contemplating it is the first step. Good luck, the best of your life starts here.

I'm constantly asking myself 'is this it?'

I'd love to come up with some alternative solutions

I just don't know what I could do

Try not to stress it too much bud, Serendipity finds you most the time.

I like this article from the inventor of gmail:

[url= http://paulbuchheit.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/serendipity-finds-you.html ]Serendipity finds you[/url] .

I just don't know what I could do

Not to hijack the thread, but I have come to a similar conclusion recently, search threads started by me for further info.

Had a month off work to consider my future, very similar in terms of stress, responsibility and wondering what I am doing in life.

I return to work tomorrow morning, much calmer.

My working life in my current role and employer is now very near its end.

I'll have left one way or another in the next 3 months.

Looking forward to firstly having the spring off, never been out of work ever.
Then look for some short term temporary / contract work.

Will change my lifestyle, as the current situation is just not worth the hassle and stress etc.

I sympathise, current working life is crap for most people. I have similar thoughts on a daily basis but cannot afford to scale back my earrings too much....obviously I could give up the car, bikes, holidays etc but I like them!
In the end I decided it was London and the South East I didn't like, in fact any town or city come to think of it is crap by my reckoning!

I have kept my job (in the South as I like the money) but live in Wales now. We have total privacy, no neighbours, space, quiet, slower pace of life etc....bliss.

Obviously commuting is a pain and I have to rent a room with a colleague close to work but it's worth it. I feel so much better and can accept that my hard work pays for something that I simply couldn't get or afford in the South East (I'm on an average salary in the NHS), I no longer resent working just to pay through the nose for a pokey two up/two down terrace in a crap area all for the supposed prestige or advantages of living in the South....of which I can't think of any!

If you're not ready to fully commit to chucking it all in maybe try what I've done, I feel semi retired and my mates (who still think London is the centre of the universe) take the piss but I couldn't care less, we're happy.
One of my colleagues did an even more extreme example and lives on the Isle of Harris (I think?, somewhere up there anyway!) and is also loving it....I say go for it!

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Middle management as a function within the corporate environment does not exist to make people happy or to satisfy their desire to make the world a better place!
It's a graveyard for ambitious people who aren't good enough to get to the top...
Corporate organisations bring many benefits to society along the lines of providing jobs and providing services that small organisations simply couldn't but they're not designed to make their workers happy...

Speaking from bitter experience, do remember that stress is a choice - you choose your reaction to the situation, and you can do an awful lot about that...

Many years ago I noticed that self-employed people never talked about being stressed - busy, but never stressed and I reckon it's because they feel more in control of the work they do, who they work with and how they go about it.

After being 'managed out' of a corporate role in 2011 without actually knowing quite what I'd done wrong (manager telling lies to HR in front of me) I resolved never to go back into a perm role.

I went contracting and am now fully self-employed. The work is hard, you have a load of admin to do re HMRC and there's no safety net but you'll be amazed at the kind of day rate you can ask for and still come in cheaper than a perm person.

I also like to make the world a more pleasant place and as a contractor, you're often helping people out with a problem they can't resolve with their current resource - so if you choose to you can position it in your head as helping people out.

You have more control over the work you choose to do, who you work with, and how you do your work. You can focus simply on getting the job done, much less politics and admin, if your client is an idiot you just shrug and think of the money, unlike when your boss is an idiot, they have power over you and it often ruins peoples lives.

Jobs for life are over, I think increasingly even perm roles are going to get more and more scarce as companies seek to cut costs in the face of a stagnant global economy and (in the West) the reduced productivity and burden of an ageing population.

Go independent, earn more, have more flexibility, work hard and enjoy it 🙂

Good luck fella! I'm in a massive rut at work but can't find the energy to fight it. Hope it works out for you.

I'll bookmark this. I'm a couple of rungs below the OP in my world (3steps from CEO) and have just embarked on a career change into a key role in one if the business's biggest and most ambitious projects.

I love what I do now more than what I did (lawyer) but it comes at a price - I'll be away all this coming week, so miss out on five days of family time. My view is that if the share options come good in 3 years, I can pay down the mortgage by a material amount (poss 100%) and then pick and choose what I do.

Good luck OP. Sounds like you need a goal and then a plan.

MUst be the time of year for it.

I am becoming increasingly disheartened with my current role.

This morning i had a long lie on account of getting in at 3am....

By midday when i woke up i had an email from some middle management fella in the middle east asking why i hadnt responded to a clients non operational emergency email from 8am this morning.

- apparently "- its sunday, its mid day and ive just woke up " is not an adaquate answer. I shall be bringing this to the attention of my direct manager in the morning as its a joke.

If it was a real emergency and my phone was ringing then thats fine , ill deal with it but if it as so urgent you sent it by email....well it wasnt urgent at all...

My exit strategy goal is formed , i have a wedding to get through first and then as someone said above , i may never afford another foreign holiday again 😉 but the idea of returning to field Engineer is appealing to me as i seem to get a heap more problems and not alot more money - and still end up in the field for being a technical advisor.

Hopefully by the end of the month, we will become financially secure and debt free. Thankfully then we can give up our jobs which neither of us enjoy, sell the house we are in, move and become our own bosses.
Funnily enough though this will also involve us moving to Wales! (Must be a running theme on here).
The job I'm in has run its course, I can't see much future in the print industry and to be honest I've lost complete interest in the trade.
The Mrs wants a change as well, I think we'll work together as we make a great team. Fingers crossed for a great new start in 2015

Jamj1974.
Do you have children who are financially dependent on you?
Mortgage & wife?
Would you be happy on less money?

Children yes. Wife works full time so is financially independent.

Yes there is another way, there are lots of other ways. Are you brave enough to try them?

This is what I need to find - the other ways!

You end up thinking about some utopian job working in a bar in Ibiza or living off grid in a teepee in Wales?

Probably thinking of something more grounded than that! 🙂

But then you'd lose lots of the comforts you currently enjoy, could you live without those comforts?

I can live without the premium, expensive car, foreign holidays and many of the treats like eating out, more costly clothes and stuff for sure.

It's a graveyard for ambitious people who aren't good enough to get to the top...

Pretty good at what I do - but this above is probably a fair statement. To be fair I've never applied for a board role in a business.

I'm a couple of rungs below the OP in my world (3steps from CEO)

went contracting and am now fully self-employed. The work is hard, you have a load of admin to do re HMRC and there's no safety net but you'll be amazed at the kind of day rate you can ask for and still come in cheaper than a perm person.

Did this for twelve months but work seemed to dry up and just gone back to perm.

Sounds like you are a very conscientious person caught between a rock and a hard place (the boardroom and those you manage).

I would like to think I am conscientious and often the unreasonable treatment of others is something I have to ameliorate.

Going solo/independent is one option people increasingly take - you are still working for the man, but you can tell the man to do one as long as you have a range of clients and good sales channel.

It's the sales/opportunity management bit I seem rubbish at.

if you've never enjoyed it, well like others have said, make longer term plans to do something else and try to enjoy 60-80 percent of your working life.

I did enjoy it for a while but organisations seem to be getting more cutthroat, less reasonable and frankly losing integrity in terms of how they treat people.

Got laid off from a south-east job I really enjoyed; big team and lots of (international) travel in late 2008. Size-figure salary etc, got a decent pay-off.

Didn't work for 15 months, although was looking but wife a contractor and with the payoff we didn't suffer.

Contracted for 2 years and then my parents offered us their place (old mill) as it'd got too much, so we sold up and moved into the Scottish Borders.

Didn't work for a year and then spent a year (banging my head against the wall) working for the NHS, but only 6 miles away. Now working back in the private sector, again 15 mins away.

We have a lovely house (and huge outbuildings), an acre plot and access to many acres (estate next door). Ride 2-3 times per week, including night-riding; and only 35 mins from Glentress.

And today I was trail-building in the hills nearby 🙂

Get yr passport.

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Build your profile

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Make yr applications

See you in 5 years. Tell us how you feel then 🙂

Got laid off from a south-east job I really enjoyed; big team and lots of (international) travel in late 2008. Size-figure salary etc, got a decent pay-off.

Didn't work for 15 months, although was looking but wife a contractor and with the payoff we didn't suffer.

Contracted for 2 years and then my parents offered us their place (old mill) as it'd got too much, so we sold up and moved into the Scottish Borders.

Didn't work for a year and then spent a year (banging my head against the wall) working for the NHS, but only 6 miles away. Now working back in the private sector, again 15 mins away.

We have a lovely house (and huge outbuildings), an acre plot and access to many acres (estate next door). Ride 2-3 times per week, including night-riding; and only 35 mins from Glentress.

And today I was trail-building in the hills nearby

Sounds like eventually things came together for you after a bad break. I have had some reasonable salaries, but have never really pushed for more money so in reality haven't had the cash or a large enough payout to build a safety net. In truth, I probably should have been more prudent.

Get yr passport.

Google helpx

Pay the small fee to register.

Build your profile

Browse hosts.

Make yr applications

See you in 5 years. Tell us how you feel then

Family would probably get in the way...! 🙂

Hopefully by the end of the month, we will become financially secure and debt free. Thankfully then we can give up our jobs which neither of us enjoy, sell the house we are in, move and become our own bosses.
Funnily enough though this will also involve us moving to Wales! (Must be a running theme on here).
The job I'm in has run its course, I can't see much future in the print industry and to be honest I've lost complete interest in the trade.
The Mrs wants a change as well, I think we'll work together as we make a great team. Fingers crossed for a great new start in 2015

Best of luck to you. Wish you every success in your change!

You will only ever really regret the things you [i]don't[/i] do.
There is only failure in not trying.

good luck!

family would probably get in the way

Oops, sorry I should have reader deeper into the comments. In a good situation a family would not 'get in the way' but would be supportive of your happiness as you support theirs, and of course, nipping off all over the world for many years would be selfish in the extreme. But a shorter journey, a shorter placement, might well be just the ticket to allow you to 'breathe' and discover 'just what is it that I would like to do'?

A life spent doing anything else is surely the wrong thing.

I can't say more than Alan Watts says, and he says it so simply:

That's really good Malvern Rider. Thanks for posting something which is food for thought!

Many years ago I noticed that self-employed people never talked about being stressed - busy, but never stressed and I reckon it's because they feel more in control of the work they do, who they work with and how they go about it.

This^ find your niche and get paid for doing it, I wouldn't last 5 min in a corporate/spreadsheet/PowerPoint/line manager/motivational poster/company car envy/office politics world.
Life is too short to do a job you hate so that you end up resenting every Monday morning.

went contracting and am now fully self-employed. The work is hard, you have a load of admin to do re HMRC and there's no safety net but you'll be amazed at the kind of day rate you can ask for and still come in cheaper than a perm person.
Did this for twelve months but work seemed to dry up and just gone back to perm.

Not sure the work did just dry up... you say later on you're not so good at the sales/opportunity management bit. This is probably because if you've been perm at high level corporate all your career, you've never had to seek out the work - so your skills are undeveloped. The solution is therefore easy, learn how to sell yourself - if your average salesperson can sell, so you can you.
It's about deciding what your proposition is to potential clients, communicating that clearly to everyone, making sure everyone knows you're available for work, keeping in touch with people and most of all, creating the opportunities by spotting problems people have that you can solve, and developing the skill of spotting opportunities and turning them into work. This might mean working outside your core skill set and comfort zone at times but these opportunities merely expand your skill set and comfort zone and make you an even better proposition long term.

And remember, most of all, if people like working with you and you're fundamentally competent, you'll be ok...

not read everything..... (normal STW point of view)

I left a full time easy going UK job in the psudo civil service about 3 years ago (nearly to the week)

It all went a bit tits up with the emigrating with the now ex thing but I'm now a consultant in what I used to do, I do a different project every month, I meet loads of interesting people, the stress is better stress than the corporate shit. I've just taken a month out come back to the UK and Europe, dome some meetings, met all the other software distributors and got reinvigorated. I'm currently doing about 3 days/week and things are sort of good. I'm glad to be out of the corporate, I'm glad some issues are finally worked out to a conclusion. Am I happier, probably, is it better? Maybe.

Making a big change needs more than just the change, is there something else that is an issue, is there another problem that work is covering. If so change won't fix it but it will expose it. Take time to make sure you understand your situation and what is the problem and what is just a symptom.

find your niche and get paid for doing it, I wouldn't last 5 min in a corporate/spreadsheet/PowerPoint/line manager/motivational poster/company car envy/office politics world.

I think my niche is people... It may not come across in my STW forum posts, but I am a people person and I enjoy helping individuals with their problems. I find it really rewarding. I think counselling is something I could do well.

It's a good niche but counselling might not be the best thing.

For me the best bit of my job is the people stuff, I just need others to hand over the technical stuff too. I at least then don't have to deal with either the real issues or emotions 🙂

Making a big change needs more than just the change, is there something else that is an issue, is there another problem that work is covering. If so change won't fix it but it will expose it. Take time to make sure you understand your situation and what is the problem and what is just a symptom.

I have thought about things a hell of a lot for a long time and I think I know what you are driving at.

thats good, just checking do we know each other?

I may be posting from the shitty end of things but it's stuff I wish I'd really thought of a while ago.

just checking do we know each other?

I don't think we do Mike - occasionally replied to each other's posts on here but that's it.

thats Ok then....

take it as general advice but it's one of the most important things I have learned in the last few years.

Drive a cab 2 nights a week. Other than that I'm a house husband, drop kids of and pick them up. Do housework, make dinner, ride bike.

Life's great. Never been happier. Don't earn much and dont care. No desire for a 'career' whatsoever.

Good luck fella! I'm in a massive rut at work but can't find the energy to fight it. Hope it works out for you.

Hmmmm. I've just accepted a promotion, and should be happy. But I'm not. I've got a terrible feeling I've just deepened the rut. The really frustrating thing is that this is the easiest way I could have 'gone up a rung', in a company and department I know well. The main issue is that HR and my director took so bloody long to get their ducks in a row and announce everything that I am nowhere near recruiting my replacement yet. The guy who is leaving had a three month notice period FFS.

Now I am looking down the barrel of doing two jobs for at least 2-3 months. We have a particularly vindictive senior manager who is in a position to help, but won't. She regards being put through the wringer as some kind of rite of passage. Our director wants me to ask her to take some of the pressure off, but I don't think it is worth the long term hassle.

Thing is, I know I can do the job given a fair run at it. My current boss is pretty ok, but has only been there a year. I know I have carried him a bit with many things. As a result of this I know that if I was inheriting a team with me still in it, I would absolutely piss it. That sounds arrogant, but it is the way it is.

Now, I feel the whole success/failure thing is basically dependent on me getting a really good person recruited fast. It is bringing me to the point of snapping, but I think I am just about managing it. For now.

That's my story. I think it says something fundamentally sad about my work, workplace and colleagues that I am acutely stressed and unhappy about what should be a good thing. Maybe it says something about me, I don't know.

All I can really say to the OP and anyone else out there who feels so worked up is that there are countless others out there who feel exactly as you do. The majority of jobs are shit. Most people don't love their work. It becomes a cost-benefit calculation for each person.

All power to you with whatever groove people find but please don't all move to Wales!Sadly we need more corporate bullshit here and the jobs it brings not any number of people making bespoke furniture or artisan bread/food that no-one wants or can afford.

All power to you with whatever groove people find but please don't all move to Wales!Sadly we need more corporate bullshit here and the jobs it brings not any number of people making bespoke furniture or artisan bread/food that no-one wants or can afford.

😀

That's actually very funny in a subversive way.

Now I am looking down the barrel of doing two jobs for at least 2-3 months. We have a particularly vindictive senior manager who is in a position to help, but won't. She regards being put through the wringer as some kind of rite of passage. Our director wants me to ask her to take some of the pressure off, but I don't think it is worth the long term hassle.

I could have written that bit myself in previous roles... I hope you get a new person in soon and life gets a bit simpler.

Not sure the work did just dry up... you say later on you're not so good at the sales/opportunity management bit. This is probably because if you've been perm at high level corporate all your career, you've never had to seek out the work - so your skills are undeveloped. The solution is therefore easy, learn how to sell yourself - if your average salesperson can sell, so you can you.
It's about deciding what your proposition is to potential clients, communicating that clearly to everyone, making sure everyone knows you're available for work, keeping in touch with people and most of all, creating the opportunities by spotting problems people have that you can solve, and developing the skill of spotting opportunities and turning them into work. This might mean working outside your core skill set and comfort zone at times but these opportunities merely expand your skill set and comfort zone and make you an even better proposition long term.

I think you are bang on the money. Would you have any recommendations in terms of resources, articles, tools?

Cheers,

J

I think you are bang on the money. Would you have any recommendations in terms of resources, articles, tools?

Cheers,

J

PM me and we can have a chat. Email in profile.

Do you have any friends/trustable colleagues who've gone self-employed who can share their experience with you? I can talk you through my experience. IME new business comes less from 'selling' and more from leveraging and building on your reputation for being good at your job, being client-focused and being reliable and just good to work with. Personal recommendation goes a very long way as it reduces the risk for a client of ending up with a lousy supplier.

Linked In is the best online network for keeping in touch with people.

There's plenty of contractor forums where you can get advice from experienced people. There'll be loads of people willing to offer advice on new business generation.

If you know any friendly accountants, speak to them about the costs you'll have to pay for and the taxes you'll pay. Ltd company and you'll pay less tax for a given income than PAYE which means you don't need as many days work as you may think to take home the same money.

If you know any friendly HR people (in-house, not recruitment sharks) have a chat with them about likely day rates. Advice from one of my best mates who's an HR Director was that there's no rule of thumb, it's what you can negotiate for yourself and supply/demand. Don't price too low though, it suggests you lack confidence.

One good client/assignment is all you need to get yourself started...

[url= http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21637355-freelance-workers-available-moments-notice-will-reshape-nature-companies-and ]The future of work - Economist article[/url]

Don't worry nipper we'll be looking to bring the tourist ££££'s in.

brooess, thank you very much! I will drop you a line tomorrow and leave you in peace tonight!

friendly HR people

Anyone else thinking that if you removed just one of those words you might just end up with a plausible scenario?

I feel lucky reading this in that I still have the chance to avoid the managerial route, I'm seriously considering applying for a position (once I complete my degree) that would be a serious pay cut in the short term and limted job security beyond 2 years (in Switzerland no less) but the opportunity to get my foot into the door of something great is too much to ignore. Not sure if I'm upshifting, sideshifting or what but I'd like to think I'd be doing something that I feel I'm making a valuable contribution to with greater job satisfaction.

I'd like to think I'd be doing something that I feel I'm making a valuable contribution to with greater job satisfaction.

Good for you. Focus on that and hang on to it! Don't let your grip loosen for anything.

In the process of doing this now. Jacked my job in back in August and am having a year off,going to spend my time riding my bike, walking, camping and generally enjoying life. Going to get the house sold and then find something new to do. What that'll be I don't know. Be interesting though. I decided life's too short to keep doing a job I was bored brainless with. Also want to move to a new area for new places to explore. Too many people just spend their whole lives in the same small area. lots more to see. It may all go wrong but if you don't try you'll never know.

@jamj1974 - if you haven't already, I'd be looking into paying for some coaching. I suspect it may help you understand what makes you tick and what the next step is.

My experience of that world has generally been very positive. Given where you find yourself in career/life terms, I think it would be a great opportunity for you to invest in yourself.

(Though its value is heavily disputed, I have found Myers Briggs and the like useful tools to help me understand my strengths and weaknesses during my career change.)

Must be a January Blues thing, but I spent all last week thinking I couldn't take a full week at work (after 2.5 weeks off for Xmas / NY). Didn't help having a stinking cold last week....

I'd love to go down to 4 days per week but still keep the same pay!

its an interesting thread, makes me think about my own life, about what I'm doing and where its going, is the destination really where I want to go. Hmmm scratching chin. don't have an answer.

is the destination really where I want to go.

I think the idea is to enjoy the journey, then it doesn't really matter where you're headed!

"I'd love to go down to 4 days per week but still keep the same pay!"

id take 4 days pro rata right now .... ill be honest , but since some of the world seems to think im on email call 24/7 that doesnt seem to be possible.....

A friend of mine packed up a corporate role, sold a small London flat for a healthy profit, moved to a little town in Scotland and bought a four bedroom house outright. He then joined the fire brigade / became a postman he seems enormously happy with the move, who can blame him. He's better off, less stressed, sees his kids more and lives near some of the best riding in the UK.

I'm jealous.

Just following the thread really as in a similar position (as said previously, something in the air/water/weather?)

Definitely something in the water. I've spent the last year evaluating life and sorting through the bullshit in my head. Got to a position now where I don't have any debt other than a relatively low mortgage (decent equity) and could happily live on half my salary and still be sole household earner, although we would need to cut back on some of the luxuries.

I'm fortunate that I have a good job, a great boss and work for a good company, but still get frustrated and never feel settled. I've come to the realisation that the issue is with me and that to be happy I need to sort myself out. Work/life balance is definitely getting addressed this year to help this.

This seems to be a pretty cathartic thread, so thought I would stick some words down and it might not help you OP, but might help me some more. Definitely 1st world problems.

I blame the internet for a lot of the unrest. Before you had a job, you went to work and your friends and family did the same. You weren't really aware of what else was out there.

Thanks to everyone who's posted - I appreciate you taking the time. It's all helpful and I will be bearing some of it very strongly in mind.

@jamj1974 - if you haven't already, I'd be looking into paying for some coaching. I suspect it may help you understand what makes you tick and what the next step is.

I've had some coaching before and it has been very useful. It's definitely in my plan for the next couple of months.

A friend of mine packed up a corporate role, sold a small London flat for a healthy profit, moved to a little town in Scotland and bought a four bedroom house outright. He then joined the fire brigade / became a postman he seems enormously happy with the move, who can blame him. He's better off, less stressed, sees his kids more

This is very appealing - but probably not realistic for me...!

and lives near some of the best riding in the UK.

This would be good but not as important as above!

Great thread. I remember a quote from somewhere which read something like:

"the greatest freedom a man can have is to be in control of his own destiny"

I remember reading that a few years back and then 6 months later quit work and went self employed as a freelancer, performing the same job but working less days and earning more money than I was in my old role, with none of the stress or corporate BS and ladder climbing that comes with being employed in a big company.

Don't regret it for a second and I still see my old work colleagues from time to time, stressed, tired and going through the motions of the 9-5 grind.

Now I'm self employed there's a different kind of pressure, there's more choices in life, a pressure to use time in a more productive and fulfilling way, working hard when I have to and taking time off whenever I can. It's a nicer kind of pressure to have though as it's all self-inflicted. If I decide to work hard and put in extra hours then I'll get paid very nicely for that. If I take some days off at short notice to go biking then I'll just go without having to okay it with the boss first.

Have read through this thread with interest as although I dont really have the most stressful job in the world - site based electrical engineer contracted to a large well-known cereal producer with a small team (3-8 depending on workload) under me - I never ever wanted to spend my days working in a factory (been there 4years now) and have spent more than enough years working away from home which is the alternative within my current company to know thats not what I want either (although I did enjoy the two years I spent in aviemore 😀 )
While I dont particularly hate my job, I just dont find any fulfillment in it and today had my final medical assessment to join the fire service (part time) which will hopefully be enough to cover our small mortgage and
bills and allow me to go self employed and let me do more of the things I want to do (Ride bikes!) I also completed my level 3 Mias mountain bike leader award last year and possibly have the opportunity of doing some guiding around our little corner of Wales. Am genuinely looking forward to where this year takes me!

Very pleased to hear that some of you have made a positive change. Brilliant stuff!

It's definitely in the air with mates when we talk, must be my age, winter blues after Xmas break, just getting over man flu, thinking not another year of the same etc. One thing I would say that working for a charity (I do) isn't always an answer, yes you do get job satisfaction seeing the benefits your work directly brings to others but it's still a place of work like any other with the pressure to make money to stay afloat and sometimes internal politics / ****s you have to work with etc like any other business. When you get to an age and see friends/family members dying, that cliche about life being too short, seize the day etc rings true. Good luck OP in your quest, hope something works out for you and don't leave it too late.

Hi brooess, I've dropped you a line.

J

Brilliant thread, thanks for starting OP.

I quit a decent paid job when I was 37, took what was supposed to be a gap year & yet to go back to anything similar 12 years later. Catalyst for me was getting my baseload costs (housing, food, car, hobbies etc) covered by sustainable passive income (rents, dividends).

Figured then if it all went tits up at least I had somewhere to live/enough to eat etc. In fact quite the reverse has happened, income has increased & costs stayed level. Bought all my bikes off here instead of new & shop wisely, few luxuries (thanks if you were the seller, they are being well used & looked after).

Good luck with whatever you decide, I have no regrets whatsoever with my decision. If I had a pound for everyone who says 'is that all you do' I'd be v happy, in fact, I still smile & have to pinch myself it's all real.

Catalyst for me was getting my baseload costs (housing, food, car, hobbies etc) covered by sustainable passive income (rents, dividends).

I would love to be in that place Poolman - passive income would be fantastic. I just don't have the capital to invest that would let me do that TBH!

but I'm sure poolman has no kids/dependents as this is when it gets 'awkward'...

What you need is 20y as a dinky couple with decent salaries. Do the maths, just about anyone can retire early if they make the "right" choices (not implying other choices are wrong per se).

I retired very early and am bored out of my mind - bad move! Beware the lure of "green grass" OP.

I retired very early and am bored out of my mind - bad move! Beware the lure of "green grass" OP.

Unless my numbers come up in the lottery - that's not going to happen! Even if they did, I'd be back to university and doing voluntary work.