If escaping the corporate cube farm, living free, earning more, and living life on your terms appeals to you, then you should keep reading. Human efforts’ organizing and mass production humbly began as Henry Ford’s big idea. Henry Ford is the father of mass production and the concept of expendable employees. His legacy created our modern-day cube farms. In public schools, we are prepared to be domestic animals herded into cubes, exploited, and put out to pasture with our best years behind us. We buy into this vast, unthinkable life compromise for the promise of:
- Marginal economic security – now
- Rapidly eroded retirement dollars – later.
- Ailing health and ongoing doctor visits, because you lacked a purposeful life that reduces your pasture time1!!!
- And, when you FINALLY have the most complimentary time, you’ll mainly see your friends at their funerals (seated or lying down).
There are only three endings to this story:
- You like cubes and will make yourself indispensable2 because you love them. (Happy Cow)
- You want a paycheck – not interested in climbing or growing. (Dispensable Cow)
- You hate cubes, want to see more of your most complimentary time now, and produce income that supports your life outside the cube farm. (Divergent Cow)
If you are #3, diverge with me from the cube farm philosophy, and escape the malodorous stench of office-politic cow pies, big brother policy cattle prods, and straight-jackets constricting our creative and innovative minds. If you’re like me, your cube walls are closing in fast, and you have a Morgan Freeman – Shawshank Redemption moment where you hear yourself say, “Get busy livin’ or get busy dyin’!” Morgan chose life, and so should you. Life away from the cube farm. Here are some helpful tips to avoid the slaughterhouse or a lackluster stay in the “Life-Interrupted-Pasture Zone”:
#1 Compelling
There’s only one way off the cube farm: Under a dark, sewage storm cloud of self-doubt, fear, naysayers, and deprogramming after years of telling yourself – get a job and hang on for dear life. To endure this constant barrage of escape-derailers, light must be so powerful that it eclipses the pain of change, circumstances, and anything that can make you turn back. You need a compelling vision that is WORTH enduring the dynamic changes your body, mind, and priorities must undergo to break out and stay out of the cube farm. For some people, it’s creating new technology, feeding the hungry, starting an enterprise, or improving someone’s life! This vision2 has to grab you by the short hair, look you in the eye, and say, “Ride or Die,” and you agree wholeheartedly!
#2 Bridging
As you plan your exit, you must BUILD a bridge that takes you to your happy place. When you think about most bridges, you have a roadway, support underneath, and an excellent reason to get to the other side, right? In this scenario, your compelling vision is your good reason. What you have to figure out are the roadway and support pillars.
Roadway
This is all about what you have or can quickly get if you are resourceful. Based on your existing skills, knowledge, net worth, and network, how could all these things fit together and form a bridge you are willing to cross over after leaving the cube farm? And, when will this bridge be viable? For example, you are a killer graphic designer working for the firm “Douche Bag, Inc. or DBI” and you decide you need to work remotely, see the world, and do creative work that DBI won’t allow you to do. You hit your college network, call in favors/friends, Google flex opportunities, and create a solid bridge to carry your existing financial obligations without depleting your savings/company retirement. This means creating and borrowing all the resources you need to support this weighty decision. This bridge can be as simple as setting yourself up as an independent contractor4 up to an S/C corporation.
Support Pillars
You don’t possess these things but need a safe roadway. They represent all of the additional resources you need after carefully reviewing your “Haves” versus “Have Nots.” For example, most escaped cows don’t have a strong enough business or social network to provide additional/initial income-generating opportunities, housing, advice, introductions, and so on. Back to the graphics designer. This could mean realizing they need to set up a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) but don’t know how to do it. Or doesn’t know how to market their services on social media. As the old X File saying goes, “The Truth is Out There.” Because I transitioned off the cube farm in 2005 and got pulled back in 2011, I had to learn how to be in business, and engage in trial and error before coming to the realization what I lacked were exposure and connections with those already in my happy place or in need of me being in my happy place with them. Here’s where the rubber hits the road. It’s not enough to escape the cube farm. It is imperative that you achieve financial viability that trumps ever going back.
#3 Sustaining
Most business or entrepreneurial attempts fail in 7 years or less. This can feel like a deal breaker or show stopper, but it’s genuinely no riskier than having a job that can be remade, moved, or removed at any time! And the new economy has tons of individuals to corporations looking to extend flexible opportunities, mentor new business owners, and get you engaged in the business of never needing to go back to the cube farm – again. It starts with making valuable connections with people in your career field5 and those who need your skills. This means MAKING time to MEET new people who you CAN HELP and CAN HELP. This move further strengthens your bridge while opening up your happy place for business, so you never have to return to the cube farm ever again. Many of my business opportunities come through people I already know, have done business with before, or know someone who knows me. As I plan my great escape, I will be shoring up my bridge one more time, and this time for good.
Good luck and Godspeed!
