What if you change a Mercedes for a bicycle?
WOW, this car is amazing!”, I said. Then the operations manager insisted: “Go for a ride, drive it!”, and of course I went; Mercedes is indeed a great car to drive.
The sun was shining bright, and once I hit the city’s main avenue — really tall and beautiful pine trees everywhere, I opened the car window.
I had synced one of my favorite songs in the car’s Bluetooth system and it was playing loud. Enjoying the wind and the whole vibe, I felt like a star. I’ve never had a car as great as that one; what a ride, what a day…
This was the first time I drove a Mercedes, and it was mine!
I was living in an European capital, driving an incredible car, and enjoying the perks of a good and stable contract before my thirties! Sounds good, doesn’t it ? What a promising executive career I had right in my hands!
Indeed I felt very happy to share videos of my drive and to tell people how great my life was at the time. In fact, most of my friends were far from having ‘this amount of success’. But deep inside, I knew something was missing in me. I was not living according to my values.
I was unhappy at work, I didn’t like the way the company I was working at treated some employees, I didn’t like to define success in a way that I didn’t believe success was — expensive cars, expensive suits, expensive restaurants, bragging about how afraid to be fired the new guy became when I put him under pressure in that meeting, all that lack of empathy, you know? I was sick of it. I was sick of it all.
I lived in inner conflict for some years because in theory I thought that I had everything any guy at my age would want at a professional level.
How could I feel bad?
Why not fight for another promotion, get a raise, and a Jaguar to drive to work? I felt doomed to repeat my days.
I knew that this wasn’t happiness for me, and having to go to the office every day and interact with my superiors, I was sure that I didn’t want to become like them.
Eventually, I reached the breaking point and decided I had to change. But how does one change from the only industry they know well and accepts all the uncertainty that comes with leaving a very stable job?
Well, I did a very basic plan:
- I defined what was professional success for me, and found that staying in that industry kept me far away from my goal. I’ve always been an entrepreneur (in spirit, at least), I have always loved to help people, and definitely stability and money weren’t my drivers.
- I defined my personal burn rate and deadline to leave my job — if I didn’t find something else to do until there.
- I made a list of industries, companies, and businesses that I would like to work with/in or to build from scratch.
- I scheduled meetings with a great amount of people from those companies, especially with founders and co-founders of interesting startups — they were much more open to meet and encouraging than I expected! Some of them were in my shoes before, they said.
- I started to talk (execute the plan) openly with some trusted people in the ecosystem about my willingness to change from my industry and did periodic follow-ups those I knew could point something interesting to me.
After some months of anxiety and internal conflict, it happened.
A CEO/Founder I’ve reached out to was interested in opening an office in the city I lived in, and asked for my help to find the local team.
In 3–4 weeks I received a proposal to be part of the core team and launch the business. The offer included less salary, less stability, no fancy restaurants, no Mercedes, but after all those were not my drivers. I was part of the team launching a startup incubator in a new city (and country) and had the possibility to create as many businesses as I wanted, as soon as I delivered results. I was thrilled!
I may say that I’ve never been as fulfilled going to the office by foot or by bicycle. I am now sure that I am helping other people to create their businesses and to change their lives while reshaping some markets for the better. I have a real impact and I am reminded of that every day.
As I am writing, I am in my early 30s and feel sorry that for some people from my generation money equals success.
In my 20s I thought that I had two options: either to go for an executive multinational career or to become a business founder and get rich. It didn’t happen. Most of the time with most of the people, it doesn’t happen.
Yes, I think you have to dream big, I’ve also read lots of successful people’s books, but let me be as honest as possible with you: I’m not saying to you that money doesn’t matter, it does. And this article does not tell you how to become rich nor how to be a multimillionaire startup founder, I’m not there (yet). But most of us are overwhelmed by successful people examples, thinking that this or that model is exactly what we must/need/want to achieve.
My goal here is simple: to show you through my own experience, that you can live a happier and more fulfilling professional life, being a ‘normal person’ and making a really simple plan, without having to change yourself dramatically in a way that could be impossible. And also to tell you that you don’t have to give up any material pleasure, but sometimes we are pursuing something that is not exactly what we want.
Take care of yourself and check how you feel in your current situation, adopt a ‘bird’s eye view’ of your life and career, and start to move in the direction you want, always creating and activating your network.
Start executing today.
After all, I’ve just stopped judging others and saying that those who drive an expensive car are superficial et. al., and I also stopped denying the cool things that money can buy.
Looking after yourself is the most important thing you can do. Be my guest and decide where you want to be and what is a success for you — just for you. Listen to your inner voice and get some comfortable shoes.
It’s your life to live, enjoy the ride.
