How to Escape the City

HOW TO ESCAPE

THE CITY

WHY

ARE

YOU

HERE?

who

we are at

our core

who

we are at

our core

VALUES(GIVE US MEANING)

DREAMS(GIVE US HOPE)

GOALS(GIVE US MOMENTUM)

RELATIONSHIPS(GIVE US CONNECTION)

who

we are

paid to be

in our jobs

who

we are

paid to be

in our jobs

SHOW UP

BOSS‟S GOALS

COMPANY

OBJECTIVES

who

we are at

our core

who

we are

paid to be

in our jobs

who

we are at

our core

who

we are

paid to be

in our jobs

“WHAT‟S THE POINT?”

BORED

LETHARGIC

FRUSTRATED

"The opposite of depression

is not happiness, but vitality,

and it was vitality that seemed to seep

away from me in that moment.”

- Andrew Solomon

who

we are at

our core

VALUES(GIVE US MEANING)

DREAMS(GIVE US HOPE)

GOALS(GIVE US MOMENTUM)

RELATIONSHIPS(GIVE US CONNECTION)

YOU

ARE

NOT

CRAZY.

YOU

ARE

NOT

ALONE.

YOU

ARE

IN THE

RIGHT PLACE.

HOW DO YOU FIND YOUR

PASSION, AND WHERE DO YOU

START?

YOU WANT TO QUIT, BUT HOW WILL YOU LIVE?

WHO‟S STOPPING YOU?

HOW DO YOU FIND YOUR

PASSION, AND WHERE DO YOU

START?

FOCUS ON

COMPETENCE

1. Competence comes from interest.

2. Mastery takes time.

3. Values evolve.

The bookstore exercise

FIND YOUR

HEROES

1. Who makes you jealous?

2. Who are you in your parallel life?

3. Acknowledge your invisible army.

COMPETENCE +

VALUES =

PASSION

“To know what a good decision looks like, we first need

to determine the criteria for what constitutes a good

decision.”

- Rob Archer

Exploration

Discipline

Freedom

Security

Prestige

Flexibility

Excellence

Teamwork

Collaboration

Transparency

Authenticity

Autonomy

Creativity

Independence

Self-expression

Harmony

Democracy

CRAFT

EXPERIMENTS

“Stop trying to find your one true self.”

“Question, then act.”

“Look for small wins rather than untested leaps.”

“Build a new network.”

1. Let go of the customer mindset.

2. Brainstorm what you might like to supply.

3. Test demand.

4. Reach out to people at appealing companies.

5. Get to know them without any expectation

YOU WANT TO QUIT, BUT HOW WILL YOU LIVE?

“To state the obvious, personal finance is personal. Just

as you shouldn‟t let anyone else determine your goals

and values, you should also seek to maintain control over

your own financial priorities. More than almost any other

aspect of identity, if you don‟t have clarity of purpose over

how you view the role of money in your life, you‟ll likely

end up going along with what other people do.”

- Chris Guillebeau – The Art of Non-Conformity

CONDUCT A

PERSONAL

FINANCE AUDIT

INCOME (REVENUE)

EXPENSES (COSTS)

INVESTMENTS (ASSETS)

DEBT (LIABILITIES)

CRUNCH THE

NUMBERS

BEHIND YOUR

ESCAPE

A. THE MINIMUM YOU CAN LIVE ON PER MONTH

(DURING YOUR ESCAPE)

B. HOW MANY MONTHS YOU THINK YOU‟LL NEED

TO LIVE ON IT FOR (THE HIT)

C. YOUR IDEAL RECURRING INCOME AFTER THE

TRANSITION (POST-ESCAPE)

D. YOUR TOTAL ESCAPE FUND (YOUR PRE-

ESCAPE SAVINGS)

A. THE MINIMUM YOU CAN LIVE ON PER MONTH

(DURING YOUR ESCAPE)

B. HOW MANY MONTHS YOU THINK YOU‟LL NEED

TO LIVE ON IT FOR (THE HIT)

C. YOUR IDEAL RECURRING INCOME AFTER THE

TRANSITION (POST-ESCAPE)

D. YOUR TOTAL ESCAPE FUND (YOUR PRE-

ESCAPE SAVINGS)

A. THE MINIMUM YOU CAN LIVE ON PER MONTH

(DURING YOUR ESCAPE)

X

B. HOW MANY MONTHS YOU THINK YOU‟LL NEED

TO LIVE ON IT FOR (THE HIT)

{INFLATE BY AT LEAST 25% AS INSURANCE}

C. YOUR IDEAL RECURRING INCOME AFTER THE

TRANSITION (POST-ESCAPE)

D. YOUR TOTAL ESCAPE FUND (YOUR PRE-

ESCAPE SAVINGS)

SEE YOUR

ESCAPE AS A

STARTUP

1. KEEP YOUR COSTS AS LOW AS POSSIBLE

WHILST YOU‟RE FINDING THE WAY THAT WORKS.

2. GET SOMEONE TO PAY YOU FOR SOMETHING

(ANYTHING) WHILE YOU FIGURE THINGS OUT.

3. KNOW WHAT YOUR MONTHLY BURN-RATE IS

(THEREFORE KNOW HOW MANY “MONTHS-TILL-

DEATH” YOU HAVE).

4. PLACE SMALL BETS AND TEST TOWARDS THE

WAY THAT WORKS (RATHER THAN GUESSING OR

PLANNING YOUR WAY THROUGH UNCERTAINTY).

MINIIMISE

COSTS &

SAVE

INTELLIGENTLY

1. BUDGET

2. STRIP BACK

3. GIVE YOURSELF A DAY OFF

4. AVOID BRANDS

5. HUNT FOR DISCOUNTS

6. AVOID PUBLIC TRANSPORT

7. AVOID TAKING CASH OUT

8. MAKE YOUR OWN LUNCH

9. SAVE UP FOR NIGHTS OUT

10. DEAL WITH RENT

11. MOVE ABROAD

“PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS TO SAVE NEVER SEEMED

TO WORK OUT AS I COULD NEVER FIGURE OUT AN

EASY WAY TO TRACK HOW MUCH MONEY I HAD AT

ANY GIVEN POINT IN THE MONTH (GIVEN DIRECT

DEBITS). HOWEVER, I KNEW I NEEDED TO MAKE

THIS HAPPEN. THE ANSWER, I FOUND, WAS TO

HAVE THREE ACCOUNTS INSTEAD OF JUST ONE.”

- DOM JACKMAN, ESC CO-FOUNDER, OCT 2009

ACCOUNT A: FIXED COSTS

ACCOUNT B: MONTHLY BUDGET

ACCOUNT C: WHERE THE REST OF YOUR SALARY

GOES

EARN

CREATIVELY

PART-TIME WORK:

Strikingly

Odesk

Elance

Crowdspring

RENT STUFF OUT:

Airbnb

SELL STUFF:

Ebay

WHO‟S STOPPING YOU?

THE OTHER

VOICES

“You are never alone in the room whenever you are

making a big decision.”

- Timothy Butler, Getting Unstuck

1. Who are the other voices in the room with you?

2. What are they saying?

3. What would your best self say back to them?

MALADAPTIVE

SCHEMAS

“Schemas are belief systems we have built about the

world.”

- Reinventing Your Life

1. Approval-seeking: “Excessive emphasis on gaining approval,

recognition, or attention from other people, or fitting in, at the

expense of developing a secure and true sense of self.”

2. Unrelenting standards: “The underlying belief that one must

strive to meet very high internalized standards of behavior and

performance, usually to avoid criticism. Typically results in

feelings of pressure or difficulty slowing down; and in

hypercriticalness toward oneself and others.”

3. Punitiveness: “The belief that people should be harshly

punished for making mistakes”

[JEFFREY YOUNG, PHD – „REINVENTING YOUR LIFE‟]

HANK

TOOLS

1. Do a digital detoxor microadventure

(http://www.alastairhumphreys.com/category/microadve

nture/)

2. Date yourself: make time to read

3. Get a coach: Charly Cox, Phil Bolton

REVIEW

HOW DO YOU FIND YOUR

PASSION, AND WHERE DO YOU

START?

YOU WANT TO QUIT, BUT HOW WILL YOU LIVE?

WHO‟S STOPPING YOU?