Dilbert told the Pointy-Haired Boss to take that job and shove it. Here’s what happened next.
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In 2019, I turned my back on 30 years of engineering in a Dilbert cube, and launched out on my own as a copywriter.
I had a few advantages: Zero debt, low expenses, a wife with a job, and a few friends who’d told me I could write well. Success was assured, right?
Two years later, what’s happened?
Learning is the easy part, UN-learning the hard part
The skills that served me well on one level of the game did NOT serve me well next level up.
A salary is an addiction not cured overnight
Oh boy, does that regular paycheque look attractive sometimes.
Fortunately, I was financially prepared for lean times.
But that didn’t make them easy on the Male Ego.
To get to the promised land, you have to go through the desert
I didn’t really know myself until I launched out on my own.
That’s where my hidden insecurities revealed themselves. And in the desert, I found there was nobody to shield me from my mistakes.
Nobody to tell me the oasis on the horizon was just a mirage.
A few awesome friends make a HUGE difference
I talk to 3 men on a regular basis.
They get the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Without them, I’d have gone back to the Dilbert Cube months ago.
I still earn a fraction of what I used to earn as an engineer.
But it’s a growing fraction. And I have a portfolio and network of extraordinary people I wouldn’t trade for anything.
No regrets. Stay tuned.
