Make Your Own Lane: Avoiding “The Full Time Catch”

I quit my corporate job in November 2013. 

For the most part of 2014 and early 2015 I made a few short trips across India with my mother. I somehow got used to this independence – the freedom of not planning your travel based on long weekends and available leaves or cutting it short due to workload.

It is so much fun to plan drives and trips based on great weather outside, without any agenda, the mood of the group and you can actually extend your stay for a day or two, without affecting other’s work or business for not being in action.

Having said that, I do not quite enjoy staying away from home for too long - I actually begin to miss my routine after 2/3 days - my prayers, exercise, my walks etc. So mostly my trips in 2014 were short however they were absolutely care free – I choose my fellow passengers very carefully as I enjoy the journey just as much as I like exploring the destination.

So what is the point I am trying to drive today?

In 2015, after I executed a project for a Dubai based business owner this is his response

 

Image Source: Original Mail

 Just repeating the mail content here for clarity due to poor image resolution.

Loved your work the website is operational (Masked) pivoting to this industry.

Would you ever look at working in Dubai?

In my mind, "No please. I entertain no such thought in my mind.

Burj Khalifa and may be some desert air. That should be it. I will be done and dying to be back home."

This was my second international client.

The first client was from US based in Indonesia for work. He got almost everything done for his startup from me – Business Plan to Website; Financial Plan to leadership profile; Curriculum to blogging, Social Media Strategy to landing page, presentation deck to content review – over 25 assignments at a stretch, one after another.

He shared my details with his lawyer to be included in company documentation as COO. I was in two minds initially.

Finally I had to politely decline working with him after a certain point because the rationale is simple - Each one of us have our design of life that does not quite enable you pursue someone else’s dream, while you have one or two of your own to fulfill – Being occupied with just one entity was not my kind of dream any more. Why did I quit corporate then?

I received this correspondence from a client Egypt, in March this year. 

Image Source: Original Mail

Due to confidentiality I had to mask, critical information.

Today, I have personally supported over 70 clients across the globe, developed a virtual team of over 10 resources. I established the coaching avenue like never before with 4 quadrant pricing, outcomes driven framework and signing of results, not just the function. 

I have been able to volunteer for Training and Community initiatives, support pet projects with friends in travel, textile and beauty industry.

If I had taken up the offers from my first and second clients, the impact would be just one dimensional.

Today, location and label independence is the new normal for work. I educate my clients to be concerned about deliverables and business outcomes, not how I or how the virtual team delivers it and from where. 

Write to advocating.outcomes@gmail.com if you want to join the virtual team to learn how to execute projects independently with a beginner's guide.