The Plunge Project — A Social Experiment in the Making Continues (Part 2)
Taking a plunge requires stepping away from relatively high levels of predictability and certainty. When was the last time you did something really brave? Took a plunge? What measures did you put in place to help navigate your way through the pathway of uncertainty?
Departing the Corporate World
Ten days have passed since Anders Røpke handed in his badge and left his comfortable and secure corporate position to launch his own company. After taking the first plunge into the big unknown (read article 1 here if you missed it), Anders is now settling into his new routine.
He has totally re-mapped his day and week, allowing him to savour and enjoy newly reconquered physical and mental spaces, especially the quality and quantity of time spent with his family. Read on to learn more about Anders brave but well-planned free fall into the macrocosm of Entrepreneurship.
[Update on Project Progress]
Our Project is accelerating now. Bank accounts, company registration, tax numbers, administration tools, website, email accounts, you name it. We took a Trello board and did a brainstorm as the single first thing Monday morning. Then we worked our way out of these administrative project creativity killing tasks. Closing them one by one. Execution at its finest.
[Developments — the Good and the Challenging]
Now I am cycling to work. I noticed that taking my bike to work is actually less stressful than a car ride across the city. That means I show up in my new office ready to work, with kind of a plan in my head for what to do. Because while biking the pieces come together and I structure the day. I would call this a great starting point for making my day and planning anti-fragile. I know what to do and I have the upper hand in terms of handling unexpected things that I need to solve, but didn’t plan for.
I guess structure is the key here. We are using Trello in the team for both sharing tasks, but also for having a common location to put tasks we come across, but need to address at another time. That actually works and prevents me from forgetting stuff.
Going forward I need to be disciplined about getting all my tasks onto the team backlog. The reward in this getting shit done, feeling the power of execution.
[Feelings, Emotions and Visualisation]
I am feeling more awake. Energy levels are on the rise, still going strong. Didn’t get sick, depressed or unmotivated after leaving my corporate job. Actually the opposite. So when I show up in office for my work day, I look forward to it. Can this really be a real work? In the evening I have even more energy, and could continue to work. The learning is to balance my performance. I can easily go into “bootcamp mode”, but then I would not last the lifetime of my company. So what I get here is that my previous occupation took my daytime away. Now it’s my new company, that used to take up time in the evening and during the nights. Things have changed and now I can work all day on my project, go home and be with my family.
Going forward I need to keep the computer shut in the evening. It is just so exciting times, so it is hard to balance my performance 100%. But I am getting there. What I did was to remove my new company´s email addresses from my phone and only synchronise with my laptop. That way I do not get distracted by work, when in my private family zone. Furthermore I have removed Facebook, Messenger and Linkedin apps from my phone. Those apps just took so much of my time.
It comes as a surprise to me that I am not feeling more scared about the whole thing here. But I guess it is because I have done my homework. Here on the other side of leaving the corporate life, I can confirm that the grass is currently more green. I know tough times will come, as tough times have been going on in the past. My point here is that I am present, now. Look Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now, it has a point.
What I have learned here is to start enjoying myself and this adventure. So many positive things to focus on and feeling that the amount of time I put into the project just accelerates our progress. When I look back on the first couple of working days in my new company, then I get a feeling of doing great and really getting things to move faster.
Going forward I will revisit the Disciplined Entrepreneurship model, the modified business canvas provided by Mike McCausland (my fellow Bootcamp 4 friend) and then adding a good portion of real life market intelligence to all of this. It is very positive to have a structure in place for your project, even when your project is still a bit fluffy. The structure in the execution part of my plunge here is what prevents me from being scared of the big adventures ahead.
[Growth of Network]
Network is growing, following an update I posted on Linkedin and this Plunge Project. Potential customers, new partnerships and ventures will start from this. It is a true pleasure to have time to respond and to get involved. People think of me while being in their own network. I really appreciate that and the feeling of having an extended network available.
[How the Community has been of Support]
The MIT Community has been a support in this for sure. Being contacted by fellow Bootcampers showing their support is a great feeling. Also the fact that people take their time to reach out to me is something I really appreciate. Project-wise I need to follow up on a few connections here. Luciano Da Silveira Araujo in Brazil with his Elio Tecnologia Ltda agri-insights (agri-info-imaging company via drones and satellites) is a great inspiration to my project. And I also need to discuss a few robotics issues with Spencer Walker-Fooks, my Aussie friend currently living in Oxford. On the mental side on doing this I would like to keep in contact with a lot of people from Bootcamp 4. I know I can just reach out.
Am I an old Entrepreneur?
No! Just turned 38 last Friday. And I must admit this is the best birthday I have had since late 2000’s. I have had a kind of a age-crisis from turning 28 and going forward. Really not feeling like getting celebrated.
What I have learned is that I am now in place in my life where I would like to be. I did choose this by myself and I did create the setting for this by myself. Of course with a lot of support from my family and friends. But again, I called the shot here. What that gives me is actually a feeling of being exactly where I would like to be. It’s a new venture, even an adventure. And I like being part of it. It is my ship and I get to decide where we go.
‘The Plunge Project’ was created to capture and share one man’s account of the realities of transitioning from the working in the Corporate world to becoming a full-time Entrepreneur. We invite you to travel alongside us as Anders’ journey unfolds over the next two months. Maybe you are currently in the same position as Anders? Or you have dreams of ‘taking the plunge’ or know someone who does? Follow www.infinityfoundry.com/theplunge
