The Escape Manifesto

Escape The City is a community-focused business built around a simple concept: that there is more to life than doing unfulfilling work in big corporate companies. The online platform is designed to help corporate professionals find exciting jobs, start their own businesses, and go on big adventures.

THE BOOK BEHIND THE MOVEMENT - LIFE IS SHORT; YOU ONLY HAVE ONE CHANCE TO LIVE A GREAT ONE. BE BRAVE AND START SOMETHING YOU LOVE.
Does this sound familiar... You tick all the right boxes; school, university, corporate career. You have a sensible profession, a fancy job title, proud parents, decent salary, pricey holidays...but there's a nagging feeling that something isn't quite right? A realisation that you're not completely fulfilled? Surely you should be as happy as Larry - are you being ungrateful? HELL NO. You want a different life - no spreadsheets, no commute, no late nights at the office. But if not that...then what? That is exactly what Escape The City are here to do - show you what other options are open to you.

Escape The City is a community based website built around a simple concept: there is more to life than doing unfulfilling work in big corporate companies. The online platform is designed to help corporate professionals find exciting jobs, start their own businesses, and go on big adventures. The Escape Manifesto is here to support, inspire and encourage us all to make big and brave transitions in our lives.

Examines the reasons why so many people are unsatisfied with the corporate world
Explores the alternatives and the common barriers to achieving your dreams
Advice and support for making the transition to something new and developing a strategy for work and life
Contains tons of real-life examples of people who have made the leap

The Escape Manifesto x
Introduction 1
PART ONE - PRE-ESCAPE 9
1 The Travelator 11
Why does this world not work for so many of us? 15
We are our jobs 16
The emperor's new clothes 17
Politics and bullshit 18
Autonomy, mastery, purpose 19
Warning - your health may suff er 22
Corporate creativity is an oxymoron 23
Institutions and leaders are failing us 25
Why do so many of us tread this path? 27
We have been taught to be cogs 28
We make semi-conscious decisions 29
The trap of the high achievers 31
We don't defi ne success for ourselves 33
Most careers advice is so awful 35
2 Thoughts and Blockers 37
Unhelpful thoughts 39
"I should be grateful for this job" 40
"I am safe in my current job" 41
"I might damage my career" 42
"I don't have the right network" 43
"I don't have the right skills" 44
"I need to have it all fi gured out" 46
Common blockers 49
We are looking for an instruction manual 50
We are infl uenced by other people 51
We love feeling comfortable 53
We hate feeling scared 54
We talk ourselves out of decisions 56
We are short of time and energy 58
We need money to survive 59
3 Gradual Epiphanies 63
Life epiphanies 65
Live life your way 66
Heed the call 68
Avoid living for the future 70
Realize nothing stays the same 71
Preempt the big scare or tragedy 73
Write your own obituary 74
Avoid empty "fi nd yourself" advice 75
Work epiphanies 77
Recognize the signs 78
Stop collecting qualifi cations 80
Look up the ladder 82
Accept changing is always hard 84
Choose a fi ght worth fi ghting 85
Decide that enough is enough 86
4 The Money Question 89
Think about your fi nances diff erently 93
The golden handcuff s 94
Money and happiness 95
The cycle of consumption 97
Escape begins with defi nition 100
Redefi ne personal fi nance 102
Manage your fi nances diff erently 103
Conduct a personal fi nancial audit 104
Crunch the numbers behind your escape 105
See your escape as a startup 107
Minimise costs 108
Save intelligently 110
Earn creatively 112
Avoid debt (or pay it down) 114
Build assets, question liabilities 115
Invest in yourself, not stuff 117
5 Evolution Not Revolution 121
Pre-decision 123
Fight the fear 124
Enforce limits, push back 126
Get better at listening 128
Stop reading, start acting 130
Post-decision 133
Don't quit just yet 134
Just start (but start small) 136
Test towards the way that works 138Create a checklist 140
Cultivate partners-in-crime 141
Reframe the risk 143
Resign (carefully) 144
Don't expect a bunch of roses 146
PART TWO - POST-ESCAPE 151
6 Find an Exciting Job 153
Work is changing 155
Get clear on your decision criteria 157
Forget passions, what can you off er? 159
Get your head around "skills" 161
Hunt people not jobs 165
Tell a good story 167
Own your online presence 168
Hunt diff erently 169
Interview diff erently 172
7 Adventure 175
Escape the Matrix 177
Get perspective 178
Confront adversity 179
Plan, don't plan 180
Adventure diff erently 184
8 Start Your Own Business 191
Why start a business? 193
Scratch your own itch 195
Ideas are cheap, execution counts 198
Bin the business plan 199
Funding your startup 201
Make meaning 207
Defi ne success 209
Get going with what you've got 211
Prepare yourself for the ride 213
9 There is No Guidebook 217
Commit 219
Trust the process 220
Fight fear 222
Don't waste your time 224
Reject norms 226
Have an impact 228
Prepare for the mountain 230
Ignore cynics 232
Develop three traits 233
A Final Word 236
Footnotes 239
Recommended Escape Resources 243
Escapees To Take Inspiration From 248
About Escape the City 258
Acknowledgements 259
Index 260