The Sacrifice for Time Freedom | #22

The Sacrifice for Time Freedom

No. 22 — read time 3 minutes
Welcome to The Soloist, a weekly newsletter where I provide timeless insights and actionable ideas for the sovereign entrepreneur.

Earlier this week I was a guest on a podcast. The host and interviewer asked me a question I hadn't really thought about before — “Looking back, do you think it was worth it to give up a career in tech for the calmer life of writing online?"

Before I tell you my answer, I need to rewind a bit and let you in on the backstory.

In my previous life, I was a startup guy building companies from ground zero.

At my most recent company, an electric aviation startup, I found myself in the South of France on a business development trip meeting with government officials to explain our technology. For a long time, selling technology was my zone of genius. I loved everything about it and could sell to anyone. Celebrities, government officials, institutional investors, you name it — if I was passionate about a piece of technology I was involved in, I could sell it to anyone.

On one of those business development trips, my colleague, an American expat living in France, and I were having lunch at a small bistro near the municipal building where we just spent an hour trying to win over the Mayor’s staff. Over a glass of Rosé she shared that she was considering pulling back on her business now that her kids were entering middle school age. Her rationale was that when the kids were younger, it was easier to hire help and focus on her business. But now with the kids were getting older, she wanted to spend more time with them.

I commended her courage. This is someone with a distinguished career in both the public and private sector and a long track-record of success. Leaving that behind to spend more time with her kids was a bold statement about her life priorities.

But are middle school years too late?

In middle school I cared more about spending time with my friends than with mom and dad.

Becoming a father 2.5 years ago made me come to grips with a question I didn't think much about when I was a bachelor.

What would it take for me to step off the hamster-wheel of building and growing startups?

Would I ever find something else I could be more passionate about?

The answer to those questions became clear when I checked back into the hotel later that evening. Exhausted from a day of meetings, my phone rang. It was my wife and little girl, just waking up on the East Coast of the U.S. But instead of being fully present with my daughter on FaceTime, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d rather be back home with them than talking on a video call.

I needed to recalibrate my life. I didn’t know how at the time, but I just knew I needed to spend more time with her now, while she still looks up to her mother and me as her heroes, not when she’s 12.

And so when the podcaster asked me how I knew it was time to leave my previous life behind, the answer was obvious.

Do some people from my former life scratch their heads and wonder why I left startup world to write online full-time? Probably.

Do some people who knew me before laugh at what I'm doing and cringe when they see me post online regularly? Maybe.

Do I care? Not a chance.

Because this new life has afforded me something stock options and high-priced dinners with dignitaries could never — freedom of time with my daughter, not at some point in the future, but now.

And as I've said before about the Time Value of Time, an hour today is worth more than an hour in a decade.

Till next week,

-Tom

P.S. Whenever you're ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:

1. If you're looking for help growing an audience online book a slot here.

2. I’m putting together a course on how to network online to grow faster. If you’re interested sign up here.

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