It has been three years since I left corporate. The journey since was extremely satisfying, yet very risky and demanding. The freedom of doing what I want whenever I want wherever I want is something irreplaceable. Traveling, building my own product, answering to no one has such addictive euphoria. But it all comes with a great price. It was financially draining.

After months of honest self-assessment, I made a decision which surprised even me: return to corporate. Not to ride the corporate ladder again, but to fund my escape from it - once and for all.

Why I’m Stepping Back

During my solopreneur journey I burned through a lot of cash. Yes, I have savings, but burning through money to sustain a freedom-first lifestyle while building and marketing a product can be very expensive. Staying in Istanbul for a several months then off to Cairo for a couple and keeping on the move is very refreshing and exotic. It kept my creative juices flowing as I kept writing code on the go. The lifestyle is unbeatable and is something corporate life can never offer.

On the other hand, reality hit my pocket hard, and my product requires proper investment to market and scale in order to sustain this lifestyle I was funding purely through savings. This is the main reason why I decided to step back and focus on funding my product for a while without the constant financial anxiety. I believe this is a win-win situation as my end goal of escaping corporate has never and will never change.

What This Temporary Phase Means

I know exactly what I’m stepping into. Corporate life is not new to me and I know what I’m giving up. The freedom to answer to no one, replaced by all the bureaucracy corporate entails. The endless, meaningless meetings that end up nowhere. The ego driven chain of command that never achieves tangible results. Everything I escaped, I’m walking back into willingly. However this time I know exactly what I’m getting into, and I’m ready for it!

This time it’s different. I feel much more mature and honestly, I care less about the hierarchical cockfights and seniority rank flashing. In fact, I can see clearly through all the political corporate dances, and honestly I blame myself for ever playing that stupid game back in the day. Today, I watch all this and giggle silently as I watch corporate circus unfold.

But here is why it’s worth it. The stable, consistent income and the ability to fund my project properly are enough reason to come back. More importantly is the mental space I have now to reassess other parts of my life, my family and personal relationships, my next major goals and milestones. This more relaxed mental state can give me the mental stability I need to step back and evaluate what has been done right, what has been done wrong, reassess, plan and execute accordingly without being pressured by time or money.

The Bigger Picture: Playing the Long Game

Pondering this major transition felt painful at first. I kept thinking to myself “Am I giving up my dream?”, “Is this a reality check?”, “Is this defeat?”. The more I kept thinking negatively about it the more I spiraled into deeper discouraging thoughts. It took sometime for those dark thoughts to clear, and then slowly a more brighter picture started to rise and crystalize in my head as I finally realized this is not defeat, and I’m not changing my ethos. This is strategic. I’m planning for the long game. With every paycheck I leap closer to my dream goal.

Moreover, the experience I’m getting myself exposed to during this temporary corporate state will only strengthen my resolve to exit permanently. This temporary nature has a purpose, a timeline and an exit criteria. Every chapter in life is either a new lesson learnt or an old experience remanifesting. This is one of those chapters where it feels like “Been there, done that, now let’s make sure this never happens again!”.