Ep #115 “How to Build a Non-Corporate Lifestyle” with Brian Gallagher
Listen to Episode #115
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About Brian
Brian is a Corporate American turned Global Citizen. After a career in finance, several years as a fitness studio owner, and giving away 99% of my belongings, I left the traditional path to see the world and live life on my own terms. I’ve created Simple Man Guide, a personal brand dedicated to helping others leave the corporate world behind, simplify their lives, and regain power over their most precious asset - time. Currently in Amsterdam.
Connect with Brian
Simple Man Guide / LinkedIn / Instagram
Quotes
“To get people started by figuring out what you truly are interested in, what your experiences have been, and and where your interest lies. I call it ‘Find your intersection’. Your skills, your interest, your experience sprinkled in with some people you know and some network thing.”
"if it's something deep inside that you don't like about that field (in freelance), it's gonna kind of resurface in another way. So if I went off and did accounting, it would be miserable. I'd be in the same position. I'd have more free time maybe and maybe I'd get paid a little differently, but the same feelings would come up.”
Takeaways from the interview
What would it look like if you left your job tomorrow? How prepared would you be?
What do think about doing on a regular basis?
How are dependent are you on a salary from your job?
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Transcript of Episode #115
All right, welcome in the metaphors podcast. Got a great desk guest today, Brian Gallagher. Brian, it's great to have you in with us. Thanks for having me. All right. Happy to be here. Yeah. So my guests don't know, which is really interesting. I mean, clearly you're you have a clear American accent, but you are coming from Amsterdam. Yes, sir. That's a first for me. So that's good. I
think I've interviewed somebody in England. So I don't want to say that it's my first year of interview, but just for my guests. You know, what's it like to live abroad?
I mean, I like it. It's nice learning a new culture and being acclimated to a new culture a little colder and Amsterdam that I would have chosen otherwise, I'm here because my girlfriend got a job here about eight months ago or nine months ago. Now.
The process to get a visa, or like, on the way to residency was was pretty straightforward. Here in the Netherlands, it's easy for Americans, it was even easier for me because I have a partner the European so
what i in terms of like getting set up that way. Pretty simple. I mean, everything is everything is really straightforward here in the Netherlands, and everything works the way it should, I mean, definitely have gotten the countries where I've gone to countries where like, things just don't happen the way that I guess as Americans, we expect them to happen.
But the Netherlands is not like that. Everything is super efficient. Everything's on time, everything works. Everything is pretty fast moving and intuitive.
And the bet probably one of the best things or the easiest ways to acclimate or that has made it the easiest to acclimate was that everyone in Amsterdam speaks English, like literally everyone. Oh, yeah. There's no urgency to learn Dutch.
And I may if I wasn't trying to learn Italian at the same time because of my girlfriend. So trying to do two languages at once and, and picking up another before I learned hers probably wouldn't make her to
focus on Italian that may be tough after that, but yeah, it's been good man. It's a nice change. I always wanted to live abroad, it was kind of one of my bucket list items to live abroad somewhere for at least six months. So kind of checking that off the checking the boxes on that one, so I'm happy. Yeah, that's great, man. And, I mean, obviously, I don't know the culture very well. But there's some of the Dutch friends they rub it in your face that they got to be this pretty good. At the World Cup. No, actually, none of them have. I'm surprised that one of my one of my buddies is the huge soccer fan. I used to work for this massive Instagram account that's purely focused on soccer. 433. It's got like 50 million Instagram followers. He used to work there. And now he didn't didn't say anything to me. I haven't seen him yet. So maybe that's why we actually got back. We got back from the states that morning. So I didn't even watch the game. I was exhausted. I couldn't I couldn't stay awake.
Not going to work. Yeah. Well, I mean, I just imagined as American, you know, you know, and you lived in New York. So I mean, the Boston Red Sox and Yankees. I mean, when your team beats the other team, you tend to let the other you're invested. If you got a friend who's a fan the other team for sure. You let him have him? Yeah. Let him have it. I'm the Phillies fan. Just just to Oh, Philadelphia. Yeah, I didn't. I didn't. That was like the first question. A lot of people asked me to like go from Philly going to become a master Yankees fan. I'm like, No, I will not. Yeah. Downtown teams. Yeah. There you go, man. Yeah, we've had a tough loss. recently. So yeah, but I won't hit on that.
So yeah, I mean, I guess we're really want to just dive in your story. Brian, what
did you grew up in Philly? Because that kind of you're about about 15 minutes outside the city? Yeah. Outside the city. Okay. And how would you describe your upbringing,
I would describe my upbringing as
middle class kind of worker, blue collar community. All my family kind of fell into that fell into that kind of category. I grew up in, I would say, what we didn't have in money we had I had in support and love. Like, I feel everything that I did, I felt incredibly supported. And you don't I guess you kind of you kind of take that for granted until you talk to people that didn't have that or had ever had, like, rougher relationships with their parents. Like I just did not have that. So I'm very fortunate. And I could even say privileged coming from that situation. Anyone that even though that talking about money? Yeah, that's just such an important thing as a kid and you don't realize it until you're older until you come across people that didn't really have that. So I would describe my childhood is like, wonderful. I had a fantastic childhood. So I feel incredibly lucky. Yeah, that's great.
Man, I want to give too much away to my listeners. But you know, if you could you check out more about Brian at simple man guide.com A lot of his stories, his story is leaving the corporate world and how to do that. And he coaches people to help lead that and kind of, you know, go off on their own. So what was your so you said your parents are pretty loving, supporting what how are they in the midst of that transition when you left a very stable job.
The first the first two I got let go for my jobs just to kind of throw that out there too. So there's a little bit of a shocker. I wasn't expecting it. But luckily for me, I was already planning my escape. So I had, I had a fitness studio in the works that my my business partner and I were getting up and running. And the decision came that one of us had to leave our jobs to kind of get the studio in a place where it was ready for our grand opening, which was going to be April. And I was going to I was going to leave my job on March 3, after my my boat my annual bonus checks that I knew that day. And about 10 days before that I got let go. So that made the decision for us really easy. It was like I was already going to go anyway, I was older, I had more money saved, it was like, Okay, I'll do it. I gotta let go. My first two calls. Were first was to my girlfriend, my then girlfriend. And the second was to my mom, and just the just the nervousness that came through when talking to my mom and I knew if I knew it'd be worse than I got to my dad, because it's just like, it was it was just the way you don't work. How are you going to make money? My dad's like, well, how are you going to pay rent, like just total, almost panic. And I was even though I was kind of shocked or surprised that it was coming a little bit. I actually said to a colleague that day, I was like, My review is later this afternoon. I'm like, I'm I'm 75% sure I'm gonna get let go today. And she was like, Yeah, me too. And we both got let go. So really weird. Wow. Yeah. But I was I already had a plan in place, I felt totally comfortable with where I was, with my with my next move, where I was financially, everything kind of fell into place, we had just signed the lease for our studio six days before. It was like everything, every sign pointing to like, it's not gonna get any better than this. This is your time to go like, just do it and feel comfortable with it. But but talking to your parents, and with the first instinct for them, it's like, well, how are you going to pay for shit? Or sorry, I don't know if I can tell you
how you're gonna pay for stuff. It's like, I got it all figured out. Like I feel pretty comfortable. But the panic I heard when I when I first told that it was it was it was very loud. So was there a process of like, hey, coming there
kind of their fears a little bit? No telling them. I mean, because I had a, I had a well paying job. I mean, I was leaving a pretty high paying job. I worked in investment banking for nine years, I was a, I was a vice president in the firm. And so I was leaving a pretty well paying job. And I knew that going into what I was going into running a fitness studio was going to be a pretty big pay cut and ended up being probably a little worse than I expected. But it worked. I was I was prepared financially. And once I was able to
express that, that I had thought through all this stuff, right? It wasn't just like, hey, I was leaving no plan and just instant panic. On my end.
I was pretty calm as I was going through it. And I think after they realized, like, I had a plan, I had money. And then once people started to see like, their business I was running that I then I left for it all kind of made sense. Like I was I've been fascinated or passionate about fitness since I was a teenager. It was actually what I really wanted to do.
As I was kind of deciding, first of all deciding whether or not to go to college and then second deciding on what I wanted to focus on when I got to college. Fitness always like front of mind for me. But for for reasons that I mean, like money reasons for other people that were telling me like, hey, it's not as you're gonna struggle to make money. I wanted to go to the physical therapy. I thought that'd be a little better. I had people telling me like, well, a great, you're going to be taping ankles for the rest of your life. It was like man, and as a 17 year old. Yeah, listening to all that from from 35 year olds, 40 year olds, 50 year old parents, family members, parents or friends. It's like, it's really hard for a 17 year old to kind of duck. You know what I mean? So I was just like, yeah, maybe they're all right. And I chose my major based on just kind of an offhand suggestion from my dad. And yeah, that's how I ended up on their career path. I was always like, nerdy No, not much thought me just because I don't know
didn't know, I just had no idea. And there's so much emphasis put on
that decision about what you're going to study? And what do you want to be when you grow up? And if I thought about that now, it's like, I would not have placed so much emphasis on that decision. I mean, everything worked out really well. And I have no complaints, no regrets. But the, that decision does not affect your entire life. And you can change it, it doesn't. Yeah, it doesn't mean because you chose one path that you are cemented there for the rest of your life like that. It was just something that I didn't, I didn't grasp as a teenager. And I don't know, I don't know if many people did, I'm sure some people were like, Okay, I really want to study this, I want to do this, maybe some people have done that. I was not one of them, was just like, you should major in this. And I was like, okay.
So, I mean, now looking back, I mean, now being a 3540 year old guy.
What would filter 4242? So yeah, I mean, being that guy now. Like what filter? Would you have, like, look like listen to that advice? Because I mean, I think I similarly had similar advice, and you kind of their fears kind of get put on to us, like you got a safe route. You got to you got to only do that what you know, brings security and and now what how would you look at it? How would you get kind of like, discern for yourself? What Yeah, what makes sense. I would be curious to know, like, like I said, I have no regrets. Everything worked out really well. And I'm happy with where I'm at and what I did and what I've learned. But if I were telling this to someone who was me at 18 now it's like pay attention, pay attention more to what you enjoy doing. What do you like doing? Because I think there there's a couple of things there. So, so sometimes, like what you really enjoy doing is not going to be considered like an easily employable route. Right. So I was just talking to somebody yesterday who chose English because she enjoyed English classes and was like, yeah, it's a little more of a less kind of their more difficult employable route. Except if you want to be a teacher or an academia or something or writing. Other than that, it's it's it's probably difficult to find a job. But the other but the other thing i i would love to know how things would have worked out for me on the other end is because if you are choosing, I firmly believe that if you are choosing a career path purely for money, you will tire of it, I don't know when you will tire of it there, it's 100% certainty, you will tire it tire of it, either you'll be prepared to make a move, or you'll just suffer until it's time to retire. And that's kind of the two the two paths that you have if you choose to career purely for money. Now on the other hand, now that might be financially safe. On the other hand, if you choose something that you enjoy, you have the opportunity, at least the potential to be the best at whatever you choose to do. Like for instance, you if I went into physical therapy or whatever fitness related, if the passion or the curiosity or the interests or the or the desire to do that activity or that career field, you will have like an unlimited amount of energy to kind of explore different avenues within that field. And you could stumble upon something that you will be the best at that will make you a lot of money or fulfill you whatever, whatever you deem is kind of your measurement for success. I think if you choose a career path purely for money, you don't have that other element you don't I'm not gonna sit around and try to be the best in accounting. I just didn't hate I didn't like it. I hated it. Yeah, it was like I couldn't sit around and like read accounting stuff in my free time. Whereas if I chose something in fitness or whatever area related to that I would have more of a desire to spend more time learning and kind of exploring where I just think you lose that if you choose a path purely for money. Yeah. So I mean for my listeners out there who are probably like you, they're in that nine to five grind it out like God chose this for the wrong reasons. And they're thinking about their exit you know, what's probably step one, to really kind of get that ball rolling. I mean, you kind of hit on like things you excited about what's next something else? Yeah. i for i would think I personally think it's securing the finances, securing your making sure your spending is in check. Making sure you have a goal to at least have six months of savings in the bank in cash.
And figuring out or at least having, having an idea of people you could reach out to and this is a kind of bucket these last two
Under like, your, your failsafe, your, your, your, your like eject button, like a network of people that you can reach out to, to get another job if you need to, if your money runs out, what you're trying to do doesn't work.
And kind of and focusing on that, because I think if you if you can make the unknown, like less unknown, like, hey, what am I going to do, if this runs out, it's just kind of eases your mind a bit. And if you're making, if you're, if you're focused purely on like, not running out of money, you're not in the right mindset to kind of build a new business or whatever it is you choose to do, or a new service or make a new product, whatever it is you want to do, you're just not in the best mindset to do that you're operating out of a fear position, which is not going to be best for you to kind of be productive in that in that area. So I think those are kind of the top ones, figuring out what you want to do is probably a pretty difficult exercise and one that
one that I didn't do. So I often have like, ways to help people, run through some exercises to at least get them started or get them pointed in the right direction. To figure out what you truly are interested in what your experience, what your experiences have been, and where your interests lie. So I, I call it like find your intersection, your skills, your interests, your experience, sprinkled in with some people, you know, and some networking will get you a good starting point as to what you can do. And I often try to get people to think
outside of anything corporate related, because usually what I'll experience is like, somebody has been in a job for 10 years, and you ask them what they wanted to do next. And it's like, I just, I'm going to do X, whatever it is. I keep saying accounting or finance because that's what I worked in. But it's like project management and or whatever it is engineering. So like, I just want to do that. But in a freelance capacity, I was like, Okay, that'll get you more time and might get you the money that you want that you're used to now, but if you're not, if it's something deep inside that you don't like about that field, it's going to kind of resurface in another way, you're just I like to think of it as like, you're just jumping from one frying pan to another. So if I did, if I went off and did accounting, I was like, this would be miserable, I would fall, I'd be in the same position, I'd have more free time, maybe and maybe I'd get paid a little differently, but the same feelings would come up. So it's really focusing on on
what you what you like to do first, and I try to have people if they can, if it's feasible to let themselves kind of like breathe a little bit after if they leave their job if they get let go. Because it allows your mind to expand a little bit and think of other things and not just think purely within I like to think of it, you're in this corporate box. And if you don't do anything to get out of it, you're gonna think you're only opportunities are within that, which is just not just not true. I mean, some people have made like, complete jumps into completely different things afterwards. I mean, I'm one of them. So I know it's possible to do. But that's kind of where I would, where I would start money would be number one for sure. Yeah, so I think you made a good point there like to get yourself in that clear headspace where you can think creatively about what you would do you probably need that cushion, that six month cushion, for sure. So I mean, I'd say six months is usually the minimum I recommend, because that's, that's for people that are
that are kind of like, are comfortable with risk. Now, if you have people that are a little more risk averse, I usually recommend even more. Because it's very difficult to get something started, where you're at a point where you're you can replace a salary in six months. I mean, depending on what level you are, if you're working for 1012 years, and you're in a high paying field, like it's a pretty high hurdle, like expectations to have to think you're going to come out and start a new business. Yeah, not related to what you were doing and have it making six figures in six months it gets it's possible but it's it's not likely. It's not very likely. Yeah. So it's almost like yeah, first pullback on your expectations. Yeah, plan for Yeah, have that cushion because it's interesting is as I studied stress and anxiety, how that shuts off the problem solving part of your brain the creativity part of your brain. So like if you want new things to come like studying hard if you're worried about you know, finances, you're you're basically in like, you're in survival mode. It's like you don't have to survive and that's all that's all you're thinking of. It's like there's no room for anything else in there. Like literally nothing. Yeah, I feel like I kind of stumbled upon what I'm doing now. By doing that very thing, just kind of letting myself go and do what I enjoy doing and
and that's how I
Got into my coaching now I was I was, after we, after I left my job as I got let go of my job and we opened the Fitness Studio, the the fitness studio, we had to close after four years, we shut it down, just was not not not enough to support two men in New York City just just wasn't, wasn't enough money. So it didn't make sense to keep it open as much as we loved it. After that, I felt like I didn't really want to be in New York anymore. Like I had no, I had nothing tying me there. So I was like, Screw it, I'm just gonna go travel a little bit.
And I got rid of all my stuff, I let my apartment lease run out. And I basically just hit the road with a couple of backpacks. And my only objective was to go find really cool spaces to work out outside, whatever country I was in. And I've thought about that almost every day. And after I started kind of sharing the content, people were asking me questions and less about the fitness more about my lifestyle and like what I was doing for work and all that stuff. And that's when I really started to like, think about, well, man I can I can help people kind of figure this stuff out. It took me 11 years to do it. But now I have the I have the benefit of hindsight. And I can help people do it in a lot less time. Because I really wish that the things that I teach people and review with people, I really wish I had that framework in my head when I went into my job, because it's much easier to have that plan. And I think people should always have like a Plan B something brewing in their head, you know, because if you get too complacent in a corporate job, I mean, you're literally two words away from not having that job. So yeah, it makes least have something that you're doing. And it's the kind of things that I wish I had gone into this job with in my head. And that's
what I like to help people do. And I can help them condense that timeframe from 11 years to maybe one or two based on their depending on your financial situation. Like they come to me with $50,000 in debt, of course. So you're a lot further away from leaving your job than somebody who's got $100,000 in the bank like, right. situation. Right. So I you know, back up a little bit, I think this is really interesting.
Just because I know you created a plan for people where it's almost like they feel more confident where failure isn't as part of the equation. Alright, but I do want to back up and just like how important was it the failing? Or maybe you don't see as a failure, but the how it didn't work out with the fitness studio? And what do you learn from that and really helped you in the next kind of, you know, next 11 years of your life? I think it's a great question. I think that there's a couple of things that really stood out for me there. One of them was I was so excited to work for myself in a field that I loved.
That there was some things that I kind of ignored, or didn't really see, I don't really recall exactly. But one of them was just like the the there was no freedom. There was no I had to be and what I mean by that was like had to be in New York City. I couldn't go anywhere else. It was me and my business partner. So basically, it was like, Hey, man, I'm gonna go on vacation for five days, so that you had to make sure the other guy was there. We were owner operators, like we didn't, we didn't go hire staff of 10 people to run this for us, we would have shut down in six weeks, if that were the case, we were able to keep ourselves up because we taught most of the classes. And so
that was one thing. Like I was always beholden to basically the schedule of other people and the end the location of where I was that that brick and mortar store. Yeah, so that was one. And the other one was it. Yeah, just really figuring out kind of related to that figuring out what you what you want. And if you're in a position where you can kind of plan for this without an abrupt end, like mine felt abrupt because I got let go. But I had been planning for it. But I think I was just so excited to get out and have something that was going to be my own. And I don't I don't I don't suggest that people should shy away from that they have something exciting if there's a couple things that are less than ideal, like being tied to New York City was less than ideal for me. But the chance to operate a business on my own with a good friend of mine and in an area of field that I loved. Like, I would never I wouldn't change anything about it.
Except of course that we had 10 More studios and it was maybe still open but
I truly love that. That was like the one thing I didn't want to end it was like I saw that being my last thing but it didn't work out. Yeah. So I think just just thinking about what it is you want day to day like where do you want to be? Where do you want to live? What do you want to be doing? How do you want to spend your time and really focusing on what what those answers are for you and it will
wasn't an exercise that I did. And so now again, having the benefit of hindsight I can, I can help other people do that. So at least if they're choosing what it is they want to do,
they can kind of put as many restrictions on it as they want and or take as many restrictions off as they want. So they're not tied to a location, if they're not. They're not in meetings, if they don't want to be in meetings, they're not working with corporations, if they don't want to work with corporations, like there's a lot of things that people can think through that they can basically create your job, your ideal role. And that's, that's kind of what I say, like, let's help you create your ideal work, like you are creating it yourself. And you're going to, I'm going to help you get a job of a job that you love without interviewing cover letters or resumes. Like that's kind of what I what I say. And
so you're going to create the job, you're going to create the job, we're going to create the job ourselves for you like, so why not get as specific as you want? With what you're going to create? Yeah. So I just thought that'd be a really good point, because you hit it well, like sometimes you just gotta take the leap, and figure it out. And like you learn about yourself. Like, like you said, it's not really failure. But I think so many people aren't willing to take the leap because they're afraid it's not going to work out perfectly. And of course, it's not right. rarely ever, rarely anything does. It's like, after after that, and the easy way that I think about this is like,
if I think back to when I was 22, or 23, and just starting out corporate, my corporate work in my career. If someone had told me okay, at 42, you're going to be single in an apartment in Amsterdam, running your own business from anywhere you want in the world. I didn't like you. You're you're not there's Yeah, I'm gonna be Yeah, 100 I'm gonna be I'm gonna be a senior director of j&j running this counting department. I mean, that's, that's, and nothing, nothing goes to plan. It's like, you can you can set yourself in a direction. But there's very, there's very few times where I think it's going to plan out exactly as you it's going to play out exactly as you planned. So right, embrace the idea that you're not going to just do this one thing, and that things are going to change. And you're going to have to make some adjustments along the way. So yeah. So what are some of the obstacles that lie a lot of your clients are coming up against when they do? You know, I keep using take the leap? Because that's the name of your program. So I hope I've given you a plug. But that's what it is. It really is taking the leap. Right? Yeah.
So it tells me, I'm sitting in front of a light or window. I was hoping that was going to keep it light enough for me this whole time. If it's too dark, let me know. And I can get a light over here. I don't know if you show video for the podcast. I do a little bit but you shouldn't. I think you should. Okay. Yeah. So the obstacles as I as I view them. And I've, as I've heard other people kind of say, and as I look at the questions and the things that we go through within the program, it's it always comes down to these three. For me, if I can make them as simple as possible, it's money, work, meaning what what am I going to do? And fear? What am I? What's going to happen? I don't know. I don't know where this is going to end up? What if it fails? Like those are the top three? Or if I had to bucket everything, specifically into into small into larger groups, that would be those straight money work and fear mindset? I usually say.
Because
being
having a payroll paycheck disruption
is a pretty scary thing. For anybody, no matter if you've been working for a couple years or 15 years, like I actually my aunt who works in a corporate job, she's going to be 60 next year. She's afraid of her. She's got she got money, enough money to retire. And she's afraid because she doesn't know what she's going to do without the regular bi weekly bank account top up. She's just so she's just so paralyzed by that thought that she won't. She's not ready to leave yet. I'm trying to get her into leaving and I think I think she will soon I'll have her listen to this, like Nancy, you can retire.
Well, it is one of the more addicting things on the planet. Right. And is it sounds? Yeah, it is. It really is. And it's like, getting people off of that is very difficult to do. And I mean, it was difficult for me at first too. And it's like when you were running a studio and there were some months where we were able to split $7,000 between the two of us and there are other months where we we lost three we're like shit what to do this month. I mean, it's like you can you can tell based on what season it is how you're how the studio is going to do. So. There were months where we didn't take anything home either and
it's a scary thing. It's like what am I going to do but if you're if you're planned if you have a proper, kind of like financial outlook in place
You know that your spending isn't check, you are not you're not spending money. I say stupidly, but that's not the right way in a distracting way where you're spending on things you don't need. I mean, there's really, the key there, I think, is to boil it down to the essentials to make your runway as long as you can make it. That's the way I look at it. So it's expenses that are not going to add anything to your life or that you don't bet are not necessities when you're in that situation, I think helps.
And just having that cushion in place, in cash, in case anything I say I keep saying in cash, because people ask me all the time, like, When should I start investing, and I I'm very adamant about like, I have like an order of operations, you know, if you have debt paid off, if and then like, and like non mortgage debt, it's very, it's a very tall order to have someone say, okay, pay off your mortgage before investing doesn't make any sense. Pay off your high your high cost debts, if you had any of that student loans, I would suggest to
save six months of cash,
it may be more a few if you've if you were kind of a little, a little more averse to risk, and then start investing. Because I mean, if you're if you have your if you if you are out of a job, right, you are working, you're building something on your own.
And you have $50,000, to your name, to last you for say let's say you have to last you a year, if your expenses are roughly 4000 bucks a month, which is not terribly high. I mean, if you're in New York City, it's probably pretty average.
So you have a year if your money is invested in and and exposed to market volatility, and you haven't period like COVID, where your savings dropped by 50% in six months, that's going to panic people like to no and so that's what I recommend, like look at least three to six months where it's just cash. Yeah, you get beat up on inflation, but it's not nearly as bad as losing 50% of your money in a in a bad market job. Yeah, that's kind of my my take on that. But getting your getting your that savings cushion just gives you options, like options give you confidence, like if you don't have options, then it's like, you feel like you're making decisions out of fear necessity.
So well, I'm kind of curious, Brian, what was the hardest lifestyle change for you?
The hardest lifestyle change.
I mean, probably probably stability, a little a little more stability. I mean, and again, I came I was in a I was in a well paying job. So it was hard. It was hard to leave that. And I guess the the idea of I mean, I bought a lot of things that I didn't need, and I was into a little more into things that I didn't really, I didn't really need to, to have a happy day or happy life. Yeah. So like, being it being at a point where it's just like, yes, spend money on anything like it doesn't matter was a little was kind of
switching away from that is, is tough, because you really want to be conservative with when you when you first leave a job like that and being just being more aware of what you're spending. But I don't look at that as a bad thing. Now, like I, I live a very simple life, and it's on purpose. Like I realized, like, a long time ago that there was just things I didn't need, or I didn't want. And it has made my life a lot simpler. And that's the way I like it. I mean, I don't want I don't want a house here and a house there and different cars and other stuff just like I just want to I just want I want flexibility. I want to be able to go somewhere
at the drop of a hat and, and go enjoy my time somewhere else. And I realized that I wasn't able to do that.
I wasn't able to do that anyway, because of the job I had. So it was like, Okay, I'm willing to give that trade up. Because, again, I took a career. I took the career path purely for money. So I grew tired of it. I just it come. It came in about
probably my early, probably 3031 years, I started to feel like, I gotta do something because I was seeing guys that were 10 years ahead of me and I knew I didn't want that lifestyle. It just Yeah, I didn't it was just like, it wasn't bad. It wasn't bad for them. I mean, they they were okay with it. I just didn't I didn't care for it for me. So yeah, I knew I had to make a move at some point. Yeah, it's interesting. Because I think you you're hitting on a point whether people leave their job or not, I think you've got principles there of like, hey, take stock of what you really don't need, you know, like and then really think back what do you actually really want you know, in life and you I mean, that's that's great at the end of day is like, I want to go somewhere where I had the flexibility to drop the hat. I mean, that's just great. That's just what gives me life. That's what gets me excited about what I'm doing. Yeah.
Yeah, I mean, so I mean a little bit of a social
question because I don't know how much studying like you talked about guys 10 years ahead of you because I've kind of in the same way of like, I think it is more of the generation ahead of us but yeah, what have you kind of studied about the midlife crisis? And all right. It's got interesting Give me Give me one second. I'm gonna grab a light give me Yeah, I got to say you got really dark. Dark Give me one second yeah
oh yeah, there you go. Sorry looking like a floating head. I know it looks like an album cover was actually pretty cool.
So midlife crisis that is. I mean, me, me. I can only I can speak from my my kind of thoughts.
Because you're combating it in my mind. Like you're you were creating an active plan to combat the midlife crisis, which is probably less and less of our generation, but it was full on. Yeah, you know, I would say with baby boomers and Oh, for sure. I mean, for sure. I mean,
I feel like, I don't know, I don't know what we can sit. I mean, we're, I'm in middle age. I would. There's no argument there. How old are you, by the way? 3737. So I feel like I'm in middle age. I don't feel like I'm at a crisis point yet. But there are things that I'm very I'm much more attuned to now, I would say that.
Mortality is, is one for sure. It's like, looking at looking at your time in a much more scrutinized way and just not willing to put up with things that don't bring me joy. It's just, I don't I don't consider that. Like, I don't know if that's a I don't know if that's
like a result of the crisis of a crisis mindset. I don't know. I didn't really feel anything when I turned 40. Like nothing that was like an existential crisis. For me, it was like, okay, I'm okay. I, I felt good. I was actually a 40, I was probably my best shape I've ever been in my entire life.
And I was having a pretty good time I was traveling around, I felt pretty good.
I think, probably, as I get into, I would imagine, as I get into late 40s, that would change a bit. But I think the way like you, you mentioned combating it, I think is just being very intentional with what you want. And really, yeah, really making sure you're spending your time doing what you want to do it and, and I go back to the I go back to work, because so much of my time was spent doing that in my 30s, my early 30s. Particularly because that's when I was still in my corporate career. And just thinking about the percentage of my waking hours that were geared towards something that I didn't enjoy doing. So whether that's actually working, whether it's commuting to work in getting ready to go to work, coming home and decompressing from work, stressing about work, because you're literally one email away from your weekend getting ruined. It's like the amount of my waking hours that were dedicated to that. I would say the amount of my my waking energy, right mental physical, it was just so huge. And I was like, Man, I just, I don't know if this is the best way to spend like the best years of my life. And I don't want to wait. I don't want to wait to do the things I want to do until I'm 60 When my prime. My prime physical years are behind me. Now, I don't think that 660 is still, I think, a young like able bodied person and still can do everything you want to do. Because of my debt. My dad is in his early 60s, I got a couple uncles that are retired that are 60. And they're still able to do everything they want to do. I just didn't want to I didn't want to wait that long. I just didn't want to wait until that. So figuring out a way where I could have a little balance between
between work between enjoyment between flexibility and freedom. It was just time for me to kind of figure out a way to to make that work for me now and not wait until I was
65 or whatever? Yeah, most people retire at. So I think that helps combat the midlife crisis feeling because your, your more of your time is yours. I wonder if that's that's a good? I wonder if that
how that affects the percentage of men that are, say 40 to 50
or 55? How that affects their view of if they're going through a midlife crisis? I'm so curious, like, if you're in it, if you're, if you're in a career that you find fulfilling, or you're in a job that you're not totally happy with, like, Yeah, I wonder if that changes the
kind of the mindset, whether it's just crisis or not crisis? You know, I wonder if that if that has any bearing on it, I would think I would kind of think it almost has to.
Because there I'm sure there is this feeling of like, the clock is ticking away, like, either I'm just going to let it tick or I'm going to try to fight it or do something to change something, you know. Yeah. And most of them, and that's, I think the I guess the big issue with midlife crisis, most guys end up choosing the destructive thing.
Like, like, what, like drinking too much? Yeah. Fair on their wife. Yeah, buying something that they can't afford. Right. sports car? Yeah. You know, so. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, obviously, their degrees to that, right. Are they blow up? Yeah, just blow up their life. I'm done with this. Like, yeah, yeah, get divorced. Go be single get Yeah, I'm sure. I mean, there's, there's definitely a lot of that behavior that you see, especially with people that are a little a little ahead of you. Yeah, yeah. So I think there's something we really like what you're hitting on is like, there's something that we're missing before that happens. Right, that is just a symptom of something before that. And I think it is some of the questions that you're answering.
So yeah, I think that's just a good plug for for, you know, Brian, you just kind of, you know, tell us about your brand and what you're doing. Simple, man. guide.com for those one, check that out. But yeah, Brian, I just would love to Yep. And just share with a lot of what you're doing right now. Yeah, sure. So I my my whole goal or mission is to help people find work they enjoy and stop doing work. They don't like, yeah, help them understand that there are options that that they can choose between and that they can create for themselves. And I, I have a coaching program geared exclusively to that it's a four month mastermind, where there is some there are some one on one calls to go through specific aspects of that transition, like I talked about earlier, like work money, mindset things to work through those kinds of roadblocks. To help you come up with answers. There's, there's a group component to it with access to anyone else that's in a group at the same time, there's a digital course involved too, which kind of creates the provides the structure, like for instance, if we're talking about money, which I often do, number one, step number one, it's like, okay, when you when you sign up, right, you're gonna go complete these modules in the course, when you're done the modules, set up a one on one call with me, we'll go through your financial plan, boom, done and move on to the next thing.
And it's a four month thing where you're where we're working together, to get you to get you in the position where you feel comfortable and ready to leave and have something the goal at the end is to have something that you are building when you when you are done the program like So you started building something when you were done in the program. Wow, that's great. And so where can people find you Brian?
Simple, man. guide.com is my website to Gu ID simple man guide. Instagram, also simple man guide and you can find me on LinkedIn under Brian D. Gallagher. Awesome. Well, Brian, appreciate you coming on, man. It's been a blast talking to you. Yeah. Thanks so much, Cartwright. I appreciate it man.
