How to Create Freedom in Life: Why Quitting Your Job Isn't the Only Path
To people watching from the outside, I would seem to be living a dream life with the ultimate freedom these past few years. Escaping the cold London winter and working from tropical islands, traveling between metropolises for meetings and conferences, leading a global team and growing my career while stocking up on Vitamin D and pursuing my passion for freediving.
What a dream.
While dream life usually looks slightly different from the outside, the post-COVID world has undoubtedly granted us some mechanisms providing more freedom than those in the old world. I thought about “freedom” a lot as I experiment with the nomadic lifestyle and explore this idea of working seasonally in a non-seasonal job. This article collects some of my thoughts on the freedom of life including reflections from being a “digital nomad in leadership” the last three years.
The “Quit Your Job To Gain Freedom” Scam
I can't help but chuckle when Instagram occasionally serves up those “Do you want to live your best life and have freedom? Become XYZ today” stories. I want to reply, “but I am already living my best life and have freedom WITH my job!” Most of these posts are either trying to sell you a course, or get you into a scheme that is most likely a scam. They often encourage people to “quit your corporate job today and follow your dream”. I wonder, how many people who took this advice ended up realising that their life was no freer than before, and that they were just contributing to someone else’s dream of freedom.
There is no such thing as absolute freedom anyway. We live in a world where there are always some sort of constraints. Arguably it is with the constraints that life becomes more interesting. Imagine you wake up tomorrow and all the obstacles and problems are gone - you have absolutely everything you ever want and need, and there will be no constraints or difficulty in your life ever again! How boring would life be?! We want some challenges to make life interesting, but not too many that it becomes miserable. Is it too much to ask? ;)
This of course is not to deny the legitimacy in cases where quitting a job does make sense. Rather, I want to propose a potentially controversial idea, -
Maybe you don’t have to quit your corporate job to create a life with freedom and happiness?
What Is True Freedom?
The most important question to answer in the quest for freedom is, “What does freedom mean to you?”.
It takes knowing ourselves deeply to have a clear idea of what constraints we don’t mind living with, what constraints we want to be free from, and in what order of priority. Therefore, for different people freedom might mean different things, including but not limited to:
Flexibility of the time and location of work
Ability to decide how much work and what kind of work to take on
Possibility to take a long break or work seasonally
Free from office politics, and competitions for raises and promotions
Authority to make important decisions about the work, such as defining what good quality looks like
Ownership of what you create
Add your own definition of freedom to the list and order them by importance. This should be an introspective and enlightening exercise, and it is the first step for working out how to create more freedom in your (work) life.
For me, I don’t mind “having a boss” and “working for somebody else”. In fact, I find working for a charismatic leader one of the most enjoyable factors characterising a good job. You learn so much from observing how they communicate and handle situations, you improve the quality of your output by iterating it with their constructive feedback, you draw inspiration from both their professional calibre and personal pursuits, and hey they might become your mentors and friends who you enjoy having philosophical chats over some wine and tapas! So this “quit your job so you don’t have to work for anyone else” argument is simply not that appealing to me.
Among the social media accounts selling “freedom”, many of them are influencers, small business owners and freelancers. They might not be working a salaried job in a corporate environment and take pride in “being their own boss”. The reality is as long as they are still working, i.e. providing products or services in exchange for money, they still have people that they answer to, whether they are your customers, clients, students, or sponsors.
There is also a cost to hustling. Always having to look for the next client, the next project, the next sponsor. Some people love the thrill of the challenge, in which case it’s great for them. Others, including me, prefer to have a steady income stream and be able to make financial plans (such as investing in hobbies and personal growth, saving for rainy day funds and retirement, buying a house, or paying for children’s schooling, etc) more easily. Besides the financial stability, we should also consider the use of what’s probably the most valuable resource - your time and energy. This is what we call opportunity cost in Economics. When I am not engaged in my primary work, I much prefer to spend the spare time and energy on passion projects or restorative activities rather than searching for the next paying client.
The Secret to Creating Freedom in Life
Several threads came to mind when I ponder over creating freedom in life:
Important characteristics of a job
Value Creation and Bargaining Power
Financial Freedom
Your unique path and equation for happiness
Mindfulness and discipline
There are certain characteristics of a job that significantly impact how much freedom you might get, depending on the nature of the job. Having a boss or managing a team doesn’t necessarily translate to lack of freedom, but if you work in a position that involves time sensitive tasks (less flexibility in working hours) and in-person attendance (less flexibility in location), this could significantly limit your options for remote working, especially across different timezones. On the other hand, in a company where remote working and flexible schedule is the norm, and with a boss that trusts you to complete your work to the highest quality without micromanagement, you can have a lot of freedom even if you are in a corporate job. And with that, you have a stable income, structured work, a system that supports your career development, and flexibility to be where you want to be so that you can spend more of your free time doing the things you love with the people you like. Isn’t this the freedom that most people seek?
There is something else that influencers don’t teach you about freedom:
The more value you provide, the more scarce your skills/ products/expertise, the greater your bargaining power, and the more freedom you can earn. So identify which skills are the best candidates for you and invest in honing them today because your future self will be grateful for it. However, bear in mind that in the corporate world value creation isn’t just about accumulating valuable skills. It’s about understanding what the organisation needs and delivering it in a way that aligns with their goals.
People often see the enviable side of my life, where I hold a leadership position remotely and work flexibly while I train as a freediving athlete in paradise. However, they don’t see the consistent effort and dedication behind the scenes. They don’t see the countless evenings and weekends I spent striving to elevate the quality of my output since the very beginning of my career. They don’t see the years I volunteered and worked for free to accumulate experience as an analytics consultant. Coming from a non-English speaking country with no presentation training in school and university, my starting point was lower than many of my English, American and European peers. So to go “above and beyond” to achieve excellence, I often sacrifice sleep, personal time and social life, dedicating extra hours to make up for the skill gap. Attending the numerous conferences, knowledge-sharing sessions and networking events in my own time to continue learning and sharpening my analytical skills. These efforts, accumulated over years, have led me to where I am today.
Financial freedom instills confidence and unlocks opportunities. With financial stability, you gain the courage to take risks, pursue your passions, explore new ventures, invest in personal growth, or simply enjoy life on your own terms. I take pride in getting sponsorships from top freediving brands, but I also enjoy being able to invest in my freediving pursuit from my own pocket and not having to “sell my soul” to brands that I don’t feel connected with just because I need funding. Create financial freedom by learning how to manage money. Differentiate between investing and speculating. Understand the risk and reward tradeoff. Learn to save, and learn to spend money smartly - sometimes spending money does bring your more freedom, whether it’s in the short term (freeing yourself from repetitive and low-value tasks by using technology or human resources) or long term (investing in your knowledge, skills, personal development, and mental & physical health). Make money work hard for you by allocating capitals that’s available to you - savings, assets, investments, however small they are. Have a comprehensive view about the true cost and return of your investment. Cash return is not the only measure of successful investment. Liquidity, risks, and maintenance effort are some of the key aspects of investments that you should consider, especially when planning for a life with freedom.
Consider what you truly enjoy doing. What would you do if money is not a problem? I used to think this question was pointless when I had little money. Even though I still don’t have a ton of money today, I now see more value in this thought experiment because the answer can actually provide some guiding principles for your daily activities and decision-making. Even if you don’t have unlimited money, having a clear idea of what you would do if you didn't need to work for money can help you take steps toward those activities now. You might realise that you don't need unlimited funds to create a life of freedom, pursue passion and find happiness.
Dare to be creative and original. The easiest path often appears to be the one everyone else is taking. Just because you don't see others exploring different routes doesn't mean they don't exist. Never assume. Dare to dream and explore. If you have ideas, the only way to know if they work for you is to try them out. Begin by reflecting on your current life. If you are questioning whether it’s the life you truly want, it’s time to envision the life you desire and start making small experiments towards it.
I was getting real close to burnout in my consulting job pre-COVID. At the time, I was seriously considering taking a gap year off work, but didn’t know what I would do and wasn’t sure if a year without income was the best solution for burnout. “Working season” was a concept that I only heard about in real seasonal industry such as ski resorts or diving centres. I work in the technology and life sciences industries, which do not have typical seasons. The most I had seen for seasonality was our French colleagues taking long breaks in the summer months because our clients in the pharma companies take long summer breaks to enjoy the weather. I didn’t plan this intentionally but after a couple of long trips where I worked remotely, I realised that I had started treating my work life seasonally too. The months at home in London are my highly focused growth periods. This is the time when I dedicate much of my free time to professional growth, immersing myself in learning, thinking, networking, innovating, testing idea, and soliciting feedback. I push boundaries, explore new tools, develop new skills, sign up for courses, digest new knowledge, create frameworks, and consolidate my thinking in writing. When I go on a trip, I continue to work effectively but use my time outside of work to recharge and engage on personal challenges such as sports and arts. This seasonal approach helps me achieve harmony and balance in life - a healthier and more sustainable equilibrium. It keeps me motivated and energised about work, prevents burnout, and incentivises me to be more productive and efficient by focusing on what really matters. These two seasons are reminiscent of a Chinese saying about sharpening the axe and chopping the wood. Imagine me shopping for the best axe every London season, spending evenings sharpening it, and then going to a remote island to chop wood effectively.
Lastly, it takes mindfulness and discipline to prevent ourselves from becoming slaves of our work or ambition. Flexible job, financial stability, and skills to create value are necessary but not sufficient conditions to freedom if you do not have the mindfulness and discipline to take control of how much you allow work to consume your time and headspace. Balance is key to a harmonious life, and mindfulness will help you gain more awareness of any imbalance so that you can take actions to restore it.
Define Your Equation of Freedom
The bottom line is, the closer you are to your heart and know what’s important, and the more capable you are of creating, providing, and loving, the more freedom you will have.
Everyone's circumstances are different: different definitions of freedom, preferences for stability and comfort, and desires and priorities in life. Only you can decide the right configuration of life and equation of freedom for yourself. You might not know it from the start, but it will become clearer as you experiment and learn. It may also change and evolve over time.
It’s a very personal journey. It’s hard. It’s serendipitous. It takes hard work and luck. I am still in the middle of my own journey of experimentation and definitely still have a long way to go. I don’t want to be the person who shuts down possibilities for myself before even trying, and you shouldn’t either!
Say yes to adventures, and you might just be pleasantly surprised where you end up!
