To Gain Freedom, You Need a Safety Net

When I talk to people about moving to career freedom and becoming a free spirit, I sometimes get the question: "Does this mea
I should give up my job and move to Montana?" Or people ask: "Should I quit my job to start a business?"

Imagine that you decide to walk across a room on a high wire. You probably have no desire to do this, but suppose you believed there was a secure net under you. You can fall anytime, with no harm done. Would you be more comfortable taking the risk? Would you have fun dancing on the wire, perhaps trying out some daring moves?

Or think of driving down a narrow driveway, with a steep drop-off on one side. With a guard rail in place, you can drive faster than you would otherwise.

When you are contemplating a life change, I recommend moving very, very slowly. Ask lots of questions. Do your research, and then do more research. Take trial steps and weigh the consequences. And, most important, create your safety net.

Recently I attended a teleclass about business start-ups. One caller told us, "I sold all my possessions and moved two thousand miles, to a city where I knew nobody. In just a few months, I had a profitable business, a great place to live, and some wonderful new friends." Fortunately the class leader intervened: "I want to give you full credit for making that move," he said, "but not everyone can, or should, do that." He was right.

In her book, The Cinderella Complex, Colette Dowling describes a fortyish woman who takes a leave of absence from her teaching job to seek a career as a film director in Los Angeles. To make ends meet, the woman sells her house and takes a day job as a tax preparer. Months later, she realizes she hates her day job more than she ever hated her teaching job. She also realizes that she needs twenty years to become a film director, and she will be sixty when she gets her first job. Los Angeles is a city of youth. The woman returned to her teaching job.

A long time ago, I read a similar story about a physician who sold a partnership in a thriving practice to try an acting career in New York. He too returned, but was forced to accept a lesser role in the medical community.

What happened? By not investigating thoroughly and by cutting out their safety nets, these people actually lost freedom. "But maybe they were glad they had experimented, even if they lost," you might say.

We'll never know. Psychologists teach us about a phenomenon called cognitive dissonance, or buyers' remorse. When we've invested heavily and taken risks, we avoid admitting we have made a mistake, especially when we are not in a position to reverse the circumstances. We try to find reasons to justify our decision: "I don't really hate the house, do I?" I recommend creating the safety net early, before embarking on the risky adventure, if at all possible. Marianne consulted me about starting a business. I asked how long she could survive on her savings. "A year," she replied. "Maybe a little longer."

"Some businesses take awhile to get off the ground," I reminded her. "You may need more than a year. Or you may discover you hate the business, or some uncontrollable event has made your business obsolete or unmarketable."

"I thought about all that," said Marianne, "and I can always take a job at X Company. I've worked there before and they said they will make a place for me."

"I would plan the other way around," I said to Marianne. "Operate from a position of strength. Take the day job, or part-time job, first. Imagine, six months down the road, that you fear the business is growing too slowly. You may have a personal emergency that calls for cash. Now you're in a one-down, weak position. You really need a job.

"Better," I continued, "to take a job right at the start of your business. If your profits soar, you are in a very strong position to bid farewell to your day job. You can use the extra cash to grow your business faster, have some fun or save for the next crisis. In other words, you will be free."

Sometimes you have no choice. If you are laid off, or otherwise unable to continue your career, you may have to find a way to start a business or move to a new city before you can get a safety net in place. Ideally, you can plan a net before you encounter a crisis, but that is not always possible. People do get taken by surprise. I know people who were astonished to find themselves too burned out to continue their careers. Some even fought the evidence. In those circumstances, safety nets may have to be custom-made, using more than a little creativity. But they can, and should, be found.

In summary, safety net allows you to find freedom, and more important, keep freedom. Design a safety net before you choreograph the high-wire act, and you will honor your commitment to be a free spirit.