I heard a statistic on the radio the other day that caught my attention.  During the game, the ball will only be in motion for somewhere between 12 and 14 minutes.   So what is going on for the other 9 plus hours?  First we have the pregame show which is 5 hours long.  Then there is the game itself divided by multiple $3 million dollar 30 second commercials.  And who can forget the half time show.  There’s another 30 minutes.  And for good measure there’s another 30 minutes tacked on to the programming calendar just in case.  The fact that they haven’t needed it in 46 years doesn’t stop network executives from planning for the inevitable (Just in case your DVR stops before the end of the game).  Last year 111 million people watched the Super Bowl making it the single most watched television program in history.  Over 1/3 of Americans spend almost the equivalent a working day each year watching this single event.

Yes – anyone who loves football will counter “but it’s the Superbowl!”.  It’s almost un-American not to watch it.  Much like the world cup in the rest of the world.  It’s not quite the event that the cricket world cup is in certain parts of the world, but for those of us in North America, it is “the” sporting event of the year.  Getting back to my 12 to 14 minute statistic, the Superbowl has been stretched into something deliberately intended to suck up your attention for the purpose of advertising.   I don’t remember how long the Superbowl was on TV in the 1960s by I’m guessing it was far less than nine and a half hours.  It’s just one more example of how things in today’s society expand based on someone else’s agenda. Am I going to watch the Superbowl?  Yes.  Am I going to do on the network’s timeline?  No thanks to our DVR.  I’m hoping to get through the whole game in about an hour.  If you are going to escape the 9 to 5,  you have to be able to set your own agenda.

If you are still getting used to that Kindle you got for Christmas, here is your chance to practice downloading books.  For anyone planning their escape from the 9 to 5 or just anyone at all,  there is a must read book - The Flinch.  It’s absolutely free, but I’m sure you will find it has immense value in your life.   The Flinch is about that fear based reaction that all of us have when faced with situations that we are afraid of.  What would be a 2 minute conversation for most people is dissected in great deal, giving a new level of clarity to the seemingly unchangeable reactions we have to our world.  If you have hit the wall, are looking for alternatives, or just want a good read, The Flinch lets you explore how you deal with the world, and is destined to change it in the process.

While Marc was looking for a job along with 13% of America that year, he also got to spend a lot of time working on his personal hobby: a food blog called NoRecipes.com.  His site sounds like a food contradiction, but it is really about the traditions, techniques and ingredients of a particular dish and not an exact combination of measurements.   “I met lots of interesting folks through the blog including some people who made a living off their blogs and related lines of business. As my blog grew I felt like Id finally found that dream job. The problem was, it was still too early and having lived off savings in New York City for nearly a year, I decided to take a full time job towards the end of the year”.

Last year he reached the point where he was turning down food writing and photography gigs because there simple wasn’t enough hours in the day to do the regular 9 to 5 and take on all the leads he had gotten through the blog. “The time felt right, I quit my job, and there are no regrets so far”.  It was a tough leap of faith given he still wasn’t getting enough business to pay all the bills, but Marc says, “it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made”.

Marc thinks escaping a 9 to 5 is less about taking classes or reading books and more about finding that passion that drives you to do whatever it takes to make it work.  He now enjoys the freedom to work from where ever he is in the world.  His food blog has taken him all over the world and has spawned a second web site http://wanderingcook.com.  Marc is engaging in what he calls a “delicious adventure, tasting his way around the world”.   Anthony Bourdain may have some competition on the horizon.

One of Marc’s challenges in escaping the 9 to 5 is that he doesn’t see himself as a salesman.  ”I’ve never enjoyed sales, but part of freelancing is selling your services. One of the things I’ve learned is that leads come from the most unexpected places”. As a writer he often get pitched products and services to try by marketing agencies. They’re often cookie cutter press releases and can become tiresome. One day he got a little fed up with the generic pitches and tried pitching the services back at the agency that sent the email. That email turned into a paying gig.

Marc cautions potential escapees to not sell themselves short.  This was a tough lesson for him when he first left the corporate world.  ”When I first started out I was up till 3am every morning because I took every job that came my way regardless of how low the wage was”. It didn’t leave me much time to enjoy his new found freedom and it took time and focus away from projects that actually paid a descent wage. “It’s hard to say no to work especially at first, but it’s important to know when to start saying no”.

Marc summarizes his approach to life  as “seizing the day”  (even if it is an overused phrase).  ”So many of us spend days that turn into months that turn into years at jobs we’re not passionate about dreaming about someday going off on our own. During that time, life happens and we can never quite get to a place where we’re comfortable leaving a stable job to follow a dream. I think the key to leaving a 9 to 5 is to stop chasing the dream and start living it. It may be hard at first, the obstacles may even seem unsurmoutable, but if you dedicate yourself to it, and live for today, tomorrow always seems to work itself out”.  Sounds like a perfect recipe to me.

Check out Marc’s adventures at:

http://norecipes.com
http://wanderingcook.com
Twitter: @norecipes

They say that a plan never survives the battlefield, but starting with no plan is a sure path to disaster.  If you have a plan – great.  If not,  it’s always best to try and follow someone who has already done it.  Sharing your plans, past or present, is a great way to get help, or help others along the path.

This year we plan to feature even more escapees and their stories.  If you would like to be one of them, please fill out our survey form and we may feature your escape story this year.  escapeesurvey

The irony is that space is in fact the gift that we as entrepreneurs most need.   We need space for our various creative endeavors to grow into.  Without space we are constantly faced with having to move things around or running into walls.  If you have ever transplanted plants, they get to a point where they can’t grow any more in their container and will die if left there.  Entrepreneurs are much the same way.  We need need space for our ideas to grow into.   In many ways, the gifts we are given are similar to the activities that make up our 9 to 5 lives.  They are determined by others and destined to take up your time.  Even with the best intention, that XBox 360, or copy of the Hangover 2 is time away from other things.  This is not intended to be a cynical view of Christmas presents.  Some of the best Christmas presents are made with popcycle sticks, crayons and finger paints.  These are true gifts because they are acts of creation and they enhance our world without being distractions.

If you want to give someone the ultimate gift for Christmas, or whatever holiday you are celebrating this season, give them the gift of space.  Get rid of the clutter and make room for art to happen.  Whether they are current or future Escapees from the 9 to 5, everyone needs space in their life to grow.

She went to undergraduate school at the University of Rochester and graduate school at the University of Virginia. Upon graduation, her goal was executive engineering management. “There was a visiting professor from IBM at UVA and he convinced me that IBM would be an excellent place to start my career”.  In her years at IBM, she worked in three locations developing products from financial software to multi-processor computer systems to components.

“Upon reflection, my years at IBM were well worth it.  I gained expertise in a wide range of business functions. Still, a few moments at IBM made it clear that IBM was not the company for me.”  The first was when she worked for an executive manager in the midst of accelerating his corporate career through extreme political maneuverings. Cynthia knew she was more of a performance oriented person, and far less of an office politician.  This was the game to be played for big company success and she couldn’t see herself engaging in such extreme politics.

Next, there was a series of human resource meetings; one was the annual salary survey and the other retirement planning. She just couldn’t figure it out. The salary meeting showed compensations were less than the market averages. At the same time, the retirement planning meeting showed after working for the company for 30 years, the pension would only provide a small percentage of the funds needed to maintain an employee’s standard of living.  “I remember thinking, if you get paid less than average then how can you save enough to make up the difference by retirement?”

The final straw was when her product line was re-organized under a new division. As the person responsible for strategic product planning and representing the product line with the new division, it was clear that the new division had no interest in her group. “My group was unwanted and placed on hold until its fate could be determined.  I knew the group would be disbanded. It was only a matter of time.”

At that point, she knew this couldn’t be her career direction. It didn’t make sense and it wasn’t compatible with her talents and personality.

“I convinced eight other IBMers to join me in a new venture.  The key architect and I spent more than six months contacting companies and flying around the country looking for funding.”  The team knew digital video, a hot commodity as it was the early days of the MPEG technology.  Cynthia contacted the President of Micron Computer and one day received a phone call from him. He told her that although Micron wasn’t interested, he had mentioned our proposal to the president of another tech company, and they were interested. “Here was the chance occurrence that got us the deal. I’ve learned how fortuitous happenings can have a big impact on success, which is why networking is so important to start-ups.”

“A few lessons stand out in my mind about this effort. One was how much every person contacted placed on what the team had done.  Everyone wanted to know what successful products in the market place specific team members had worked on and how they had contributed to the product’s success.  This was beyond listing professional accomplishments; it was about being part of a winning team.  A second lesson was the emphasis on the make-up of the team. I had put together the right team with management, marketing and engineering experience in the advent of an emerging technology.  It was beginner’s luck.”

Eventually the startup settled Cynthia back into role of an employee as General Manager for an established corporation—a routine, mundane, 9-5 position.  She missed the challenge of creating something from nothing. So once again she headed off and co-founded another venture. This time it was a fabless semiconductor company producing low-cost components.  A strategic partnership with a recent technology IPO and a darling of Wall Street launched this start-up. This start-up only lasted 18 months. It was an enlightening failure.

The demise was caused by another emerging technology. This new one promised to be the end-all technical advance. The market stalled as customers waited to see how the new technology would pan out. Customers put their orders on hold or canceled them, and investors lost interest. Unfortunately, they had waited to raise more funding until they reached a critical milestone. They had even turned down funding. The start-up ran out of money.

“In retrospect, one of my big lessons was to never fight the trend. Instead, embrace the trend and find the opportunity within it.” Next lesson was a start-up can never have too much money. Nothing about a start-up goes according to plan. The extra funds will help the company make the necessary transition change because no start-up gets the product right the first time.  Unfortunately, a start-up doesn’t know what and when that transition will take place and can’t be budgeted for in advance. In the early stage of a start-up, funding is a never ending process. Another painful lesson is they were too focused on the product development and should have put more effort into the marketing sooner.

Afterwards Cynthia spent a brief stint as a consultant as a subject matter expert in the very technology that collapsed the previous venture. Soon the market heated up as the promise of the end-all technology faded. The older technology became hot once again.  She founded a bootstrapped company offering a software product version of the technology from the previous start-up. “We actually started with the code base from the failed company and got customers to pay for the remaining product development.” Yet another lesson is that smart and talented people fail because of circumstances beyond their control. We would all like to believe that we are in complete control of our destiny. “The reality is we only control about one-third, another one-third is controlled by the competitors and the remaining is simply a matter of luck.”

Next, Cynthia wanted a short break from start-ups and briefly went to work for a large company. “I thought of it as more of a working vacation.  What was I thinking? I found it was impossible to go back. Yes, it was a vacation, but it was utterly uninteresting. I found it difficult to get up in the morning and be the least bit enthusiastic about work.  I had no tolerance for the work environment anymore.” It was clear that the path of entrepreneur was the only path for her. And to this day, she continues on with her ventures and helps others with their ventures.

“With each and every venture, I continue to learn new lessons.  I continue to make mistakes.  I bring my experience and knowledge to each, but more importantly, it’s my outlook that has changed from the first one. Every new venture will be a different situation, everything will and can go wrong, but it’s just a situation to be managed.  I’ve learned failure is okay. It’s quite liberating once you no longer have a fear of failing; when you learn the consequences are mostly in your mind.  It lets you try new things. If you aren’t worried about failure, you can focus on success. “

One could say that Cynthia has escaped the 9 to 5 job, which by the word “job” means working for someone else. However, that does not mean that she has a short work week or is less stressed. “In fact, I work all the time. My laptop is almost always with me. It never leaves my side. The difference is I define myself by what I do and like what I do. And so opening up my laptop at odd times and in strange places doesn’t seem unnatural. I can’t imagine what entrepreneurs did before mobility gave us the ability to work from anywhere at any time.  The more impact an individual has on the bottom line and success of a company, the more pressure there is on them to perform.  Entrepreneurship is not a relaxing life style. It is more like living La Vida Loca.”

——

Cynthia Kocialski is the founder of three tech start-ups companies. In the past 15 years, she has been involved in dozens of start-ups. Cynthia writes the Start-up Entrepreneurs’ Blog www.cynthiakocialski.com Cynthia has written the book, “Out of the Classroom Lessons in Success: How to Prosper Without Being at the Top of the Class.” The book serves up tips, insight, and wisdom to enable young adults and parents of kids to know what it will take to forge a successful career, no matter what their academic achievement.

Most people see cruises for their ambiance, fine dining and exotic destinations.  I look at them a little differently for a couple of reasons.  First, I own a travel agency.  Back in the day we were the first exclusively online cruise agency.   I did the occasional seminar, was featured on the front page of “Prodigy”  and showed up in the New York Times travel section for free a couple times.    Through a combination of choice and circumstances we faded into the digital landscape as the mega travel agencies took the internet.  We still do a fair amount of business, and as such I take a couple cruises every year.  Cruising as much as I do,  my opinion is slightly jaded.   When I would go on cruises, sometimes I will skip ports and I probably spend more time in my cabin than most people.  I once wrote an entire system spec on a cruise ship.  People look at you a little strangely when you tell them you wrote a technical document on a cruise. For a long time I thought I looked at cruises the way I do because I take them so much.  Lately I’m thinking there’s more to it than frequency of travel.

In many ways, cruises are to vacations the same way 9-5 jobs are to work.  There are lots of things to do, and for the most part they have been scripted by someone else.  Now the first time you see napkin folding or participate in an acupuncture demonstration it’s kind of interesting.  After you have seen them a few times, they have all the appeal of a weekly staff meeting.   All you have to do is look at your outlook , I mean cruise calendar, and you know what is on the agenda for the day.   Making the switch from 5 days of 9 to 5 structure to 5 days without any structure can actually be a challenge for some people.  Cruises substitute a structure of common tasks and activities for a structure of uncommon tasks and activities (or so they seem unless you’ve done them a couple dozen times).  Once you get past the novelty factor breakfast, activity, activity,activity,lunch, activity,activity,activity,dinner looks pretty much the same whether you are in corporate america or sailing in the Caribbean.

Much the same way I try to self determine my work life, I also try to self determine my vacation life.  I think that once you can recognize the structures that are imposed on you, you can start to break free of them.    Sometimes you can’t see how your day controls you at work, but you might be able to see it while you are on vacation.

So what does this have to do with escaping the 9 to 5?  One of the biggest challenges in trying to make a major life change like replacing your job is moving away from the habits that are part of your current day to day routine.  Enter a major snow storm and regular daily activities like checking emails, watching TV and even showering disappear.  Daily activities are quickly replaced with things like finding water, waiting in gas lines, and trying to stay warm.   So having survived almost 2 weeks without internet or phone access, what does that mean for the long term?  Rather than letting those previous activities fill back into their usual place, I’m trying to plug other things into those time slots.  Granted I’m still dealing with cleanup, but it’s a start.  If you are stuck thinking you can’t do without TV or the internet, you can.  Higher priorities will push them to the backburner in the blink of an eye – or a snowstorm as the case may be.  It’s too bad that we often wait until a disaster strikes before we look at our priorities.  Whatever gets you headed in the right direction just remember that short of survival, how you spend your time is up to you.  Make the most of it.

Two years ago he launched Noisy Planet (www.noisyplanet.net) — an online showcase and music career development service for independent recording artists.  Kevin hopes Noisy Planet will encourage musicians to make more art and will share their stories with the world.  Each artist gets a personalized URL and marketing postcards to promote their music.  Noisy Planet also works with pre-digital musicians who may need analog to digital conversion services.  Now Kevin couldn’t be more satisfied with his lifestyle.  ”Running a company that operates on the cutting edge of the new music industry model has fulfilled my dream of helping talented musicians worldwide to get more out of their music careers”. And while he does need to be available during some normal business hours for conference calls with strategic partners, his operations truly run 24/7.  ”On one hand, that means I can always find work to do day or night. On the flip side, I can choose when and where I want to focus on my business.”

Today Kevin can run Noisy Planet from his Lake Tahoe home early in the morning.  Then he can take off for a few hours of skiing untracked powder during winter months, or hiking and fishing during the summer.  Then he can return to work in the evening or any other time he is inspired.  ”I’m more productive and I have a much greater sense of fulfillment”.   Noisy Planet was recently named “Best Music Business Website 2009″ by the Independent Music Awards run by the publishers of the Musicians Atlas.  ”Smashing my alarm clock is benefiting recording artists everywhere!”

http://www.noisyplanet.net

http://www.mynoisyplanet.com
http://www.twitter.com/noisyplanet
http://www.myspace.com/noisy_planet