When I moved from the Midwest to the Mountain West I had a work gig lined up: a contractor arrangement with the employer I was leaving because of the move. But soon after the move, and before the new arrangement was to begin, I got news that the gig went sideways. Uh oh?
In the following days and weeks, I did three things: (1) formed my own company, which was necessary to take advantage of the gig; (2) started aggressively networking; (3) began looking for employment opportunities in my industry.
The number of jobs in my industry in my new city was smaller than that in my old city. That wasn’t a surprise. But the scale of how many fewer jobs was. I secured some interviews, but nothing came through. The Missus warned me that it was a bad idea to dress as a clown for the interviews. I probably should have listened.
Opportunity knocks
And time passed. My gig continued on and became less compromised. And then I got contacted out of the blue by one of the people I’d networked with (whom I’ll call Pat, so as to protect the wholly innocent). Pat asked if I’d be interested in doing work for Pat’s organization on an ongoing basis. But Pat needed to know if I still planned to find full-time employment, in which case I’d probably not be the right guy, seeing as I might need to stop doing work for Pat in short order. So I had a choice to make: (1) pursue full-time employment, the only work arrangement I’d ever known, or (2) take a leap and forego looking full-time employment for the foreseeable future. I lept.
What, me worry?
The funny thing about this experience is that my FIRE-influenced reactions to each event differed completely from what I think my pre-FIRE-influenced reactions would have been. Whereas I’d previously have been a huge ball of stress upon discovering that the work gig went sideways, I instead wasn’t overly concerned. I felt confident that things would work themselves out. Similarly, upon fully appreciating the disparity in employment opportunities between my old cities, I’d likely have been nervously wringing my hands. I am, Dear Reader, a major-league hand wringer. Instead, I found the situation disappointing but not alarming. And would I previously have taken the leap required to do work for Pat? Probably not.
To date, things have turned out at least pretty well. I’ve brought in enough revenue to cover our expenses and save money in investment accounts. I also have learned a bit about what it’s like to form and run my own business, which brings the things about which I am ignorant down from ∞ to ∞ – 1. I also work fewer hours, have no commute, and can take care of many homefront things during the day. While my work can be stressful, I find it less so than when I was an employee. I also find that I have way more time to focus on myself and my family, my current priorities, and the “what’s next” question. So, in the aggregate, while our income is down since moving, my happiness level is higher. That’s a good tradeoff for me. And it’s one that before discovering FIRE I don’t think would have been.
Whether you work for ‘da man or for yourself, you should always engage in monkey business.
