You Didn't Quit Corporate Just to Burn Out Again

For Father’s Day, I loaded my octogenarian dad into the Jeep, shifted into four-wheel drive, and rumbled into the mountains to fish a secluded reservoir. We didn’t catch a thing—but that wasn’t the point.

He loved being in the backcountry. I loved being with him.

You know what I didn’t do while sitting in the sun, sipping a beer, and casting my orange rooster-tail into the lake? Think about work. Not once. I didn’t even think about thinking about work.

After a weekend of alpine adventures, I came back to my desk Monday morning feeling recharged. That’s when it hit me—this is exactly why I became an independent consultant.

More than being my own boss, it’s about building a life I didn’t constantly need a vacation from.

What pulled you away from the lure of a stable job? Was it:

• The freedom to travel and work from anywhere, like that riverside VRBO in Estes Park? (Highly recommended for a work retreat!)
• Being around to pull wiggly teeth as your kids grow up?
• Training for that marathon, instead of spending 10 hours a week in traffic, inching along the freeway as you develop hypertension and lower back pain?
• Taking more than two vacations a year, without spending them tethered to your phone in case your boss emails a last-minute “urgent” request?

Self-employment comes with real challenges—so don’t cheat yourself out of the rewards. If you don’t actively plan to enjoy your freedom, it quietly disappears. Because work is never finished.

There's always another email to send, website page to tweak, or LinkedIn post to obsess over.

I know your business isn’t exactly where you want it to be. Mine isn’t either. And maybe it never will be, because success is a moving target—the more we achieve, the higher we raise the bar.

Block the calendar. Plan the trip. Lace up the running shoes. Pull the wiggly tooth. It’ll not only recharge you—it’ll remind you why you’re doing all this in the first place.