Preparing for a life without salary

It feels like shutting down your own system and restarting it shortly after. Maybe, like it happened to me, too many applications were running at the same time both in my mind and in my heart. Dramatic simplification was urging.

Preparing for such a change requires patience, great determination and of course a certain amount of savings. Equally to a trip around the world, preparation is key. Today is the first day of the next level of my professional life. I am now able to share my very personal checklist:

6 months before

1. start tracking all your expenses, even the tiniest, review your spending and understand how much is the smallest monthly amount you need

2. make sure your savings cover 24 to 36 months

3. make sure you have the buy-in and backup from your family

4. create an excel file to manage your spending. This file should include your plan for the next 24 to 36 months, your month-to-date actual + forecast until the end of the 24 / 36 months.

5. identify training needs and technical/ tooling requirements to prepare for your future profession

During employment

1. enroll for trainings (online or in school) and execute them during holidays, week ends, evenings

2. buy as many tools as possible - such as computers, licences, vehicles, etc. - as banks grant credits more easily when you show a pay slip to guarantee the credit

3. at work - decentralize activities and maximize delegation and employee empowering

4. at work - stop working overtime (this is very important to meet the required level of distance)

5. at home - cut shopping, restaurants, any other third-party service to help manage the household (reduce NOT eliminate)

6. at home - increase cooking, reading, repairing clothes and shoes (the latter gives you a great feeling of sustainability)

3 months before

1. cancel as many credit cards as possible - two if you plan an intercontinental trip, one if you plan to stay in you country

2. cancel as many subscriptions as possible, especially online subscriptions - when you work so much that you have no time to spend what you earn, you tend to subscribe to many services

3. start a diary (can be a blog or just a paper version) to write how you feel and keep you motivated during the process to get over moments of doubt

4. read books about success stories of people who made it or listen to their audio version. My favorites: The Finch Effect by Nacie Carson/ Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson/ The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

1 month before

1. reduce business travel to the least

2. take part to congresses, get together or similar related to the new profession

3. prepare farewell communication and save any contact details from your mobile phone, laptop business cards collected, etc.

4. share your thoughts with people who share your vision

I hope this helps you as it helped me getting to this first new day, serene and thrilled :-)

#Salary #Preparation #LifeChange #LeavingWork #Sharing