Escape!
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Warning: Reading this post can make you pay $9.99 for a book.
Reading this book can make you do dramatic changes in your life and turn you into an escape artist.
Proceed reading at your own risk.
Did that sound interesting enough?
You might already have noticed a small banner at the top of my blog main page and at the end of my RSS feed advertising a book called Escape 101. It’s a really good book that deserves more attention than just a small banner so I decided to spend this one post to tell you more about it.
Have you ever considered taking a long break?
I don’t mean a summer vacation.
Sure, four weeks feels long when all you’re used to is a two-day long breaks once every week. But now we’re talking about something bigger: three months, six months, or even a year away from your everyday surroundings.
According to Dan Clements and Tara Gignac, the authors of Escape 101, more than half the employees of small and mid-size companies say they long for a sabbatical. So I’m not far off if I guess the thought has crossed your mind at least once during your career. But still, only a few really take action and make their dream come true.
Making big things happen isn’t easy.
Since finishing the four-hour workweek, I have been playing with the following question: What would happen if everyone would go on to pursue the lifestyle presented in the book?
The thought kept bothering me for a while, until I started reading Escape 101 and realized that there is no way everyone would do what these books recommend. And yet, it’s not because the actual doing would be difficult. Clements will tell you that technically it really is quite easy and doesn’t require a lot of education or a lot of money.
The roadblock is inside our heads.
It’s those little voices we have learned to listen to that say things like:
What would others think of me?
Normal people wouldn’t do this!
What if I fail and lose everything I’ve worked so hard to reach?
I have to work hard and earn more money - then I can do whatever I want.
I’ll do it when I retire. It’s just 30 years, right?
You get the picture. And I’m sure that just like me, you can come up with a list of excuses far longer than it makes sense to reprint in a blog post.
It could be something we learn through our education. Or maybe it’s just natural for us to be scared of everything new and different.
That really doesn’t matter. What matters is what you do about your fears.
It’s more than just sabbaticals
Escape 101 is a book about overcoming those mental roadblocks and actually making the dream come true.
It takes a practical step by step approach to all things standing between you and your escape plan: money, time, your job, your business, your kids, and shows that none of them really are the show stoppers we make them sound like. Then it goes to share ideas on how to get the most out of your time away, and even on how to get back home once the sabbatical is over.
Reading the book got my mind flying and I was able to easily see myself spending a year looking at the world with my wife and kids a few years from now: a few months is a small village somewhere on the Japanese coast, some time seeing the world down under, and finally going to the United States to meet all the great people from the blogosphere.
But right now, that’s not one of the things on my priority list. I have other dreams to pursue first.
Taking this into account, the most surprising thing to me was that the book not only inspired me to think about the possibility of taking a sabbatical but also gave me ideas that I can use in pursuing my current dreams. Ideas on building my business, ideas on using money wisely, but most importantly ideas on looking at impossible plans and not seeing them as impossible at all!
Get the book and see for yourself
Escape 101 is available as an e-book for just $9.99, a price well worth paying if you’re considering a long escape from your current work, or if like me, you are working on making some other impossible sounding dreams come true.
If you want to spend a bit more and buy a book that you can touch and feel in your hands, you can also get the book from Amazon
Check out the book yourself and see what happens!
This marketing message is part of my participation in Mark Hayward’s Make Money Online Challenge. But rest assured: although this post is full of affiliate links, it follows my strict, non-compromising ad policy: I will never recommend you something I don’t believe in personally. No ad on the blog will ever promote products I wouldn’t buy myself.
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April 22nd, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Hi Jarkko - What a great review of Dan’s book!
Having had the opportunity to share a few emails with Dan, it is also very nice to see someone who wholeheartedly practices what he preaches.
mark’s last blog post: What Do You Have To Lose?
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Yep, you’ve made me want to buy this book! As much as I hate to read, I do enjoy reading motivational things like this and I think it could hold my attention. It’s amazing what most of us (if not all of us) dream about and how would love to see our lives but fail to act to try to make those dreams a reality because of all the reasons and then some that you’ve listed above.
Deron Sizemore’s last blog post: Not Having a Niche - The New Niche?
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:43 pm
This went to my Amazon wishlist!
I think that the most important lesson here is that there is more to life than just 9 to 5. There are so many wonderful experiences waiting for us and beautiful places to see in this world that it would be a shame to waste those opportunities. And, I think thats the essence of life, to see and experience those in fully!
I’m looking forward to read this book. And thanks Jarkko for the review!
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:39 pm
@Mark: Yeah, he’s a great guy! In fact, he contacted me some time ago when I had left a comment on your post about Tim Ferriss being a liar and sent me a copy of his book - no strings attached. I told him that if I liked the book, I’d write a post about it.
And, as you can see from the review, I did like the book. So, I wrote about it :)
@Deron: I hope this book can be one of the first steps that will make you like reading - and finally love it ;)
What you say about dreams is really true. It interesting how reading books like this one makes you get past the excuses for a while, but once you put the book down they start haunting you again…
It’s a funny thing how a simple thing like can be such an inner battle.
@Timo: Well said!
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:56 pm
Yeah, definitely true. You read something or see something that really inspires you and for a few weeks you’re really motivated and ready to take the world by storm. Then all of a sudden, it hits you like a ton of bricks… all the excuses. Really weird how the mind works.
Deron Sizemore’s last blog post: Not Having a Niche - The New Niche?
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:14 pm
I guess that’s when it’s time to pick up the next book to refuel the motivation. :)
I wish it was easier, but on the other hand - it’s good: if we manage to keep up the motivation level, we’re way ahead a big part of the competition.
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:27 pm
I’ve always been jealous of friends that went traveling after college instead of getting a job. I wanted to have financial security. That turned into buying a house, and then a wife and then kids. Not that all of that is bad but there’s plenty of time I wished I could just spend a while exploring and experiencing things. Sure I’ve had plenty of adventues but they’re generally limited to at most 2 weeks.
There could be a downside though to taking a sabatical. My friend spent a summer hiking from Mexico to Canada. He struggled with depression when he came back. He got used to living on so little and then came back to all the pressures of having so many material things and having to work so much to afford everything.
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Yep, same story here. :)
But I don’t think it means we can’t explore the world as well. I might of course still be a bit idealistic, but I imagine that kids would love doing an escape like this, too…
What you say about the downside makes a lot of sense, but does it really have to lead to depression? I mean, couldn’t getting used to living on little become something to carry on after you return home from the sabbatical? This way, the sabbatical would lead to something bigger than just a relaxing year abroad.
April 23rd, 2008 at 6:21 am
The depression is in his state of mind of where he is and where he wants to be. Life become more difficult to live for yourself when you have others depending on you. I think that, more than any other reason, will keep many people from pursuing other interest. When you become a father you become less selfish and want what seems best for your family. We believe that a good job and a secure future is what our family needs most, so we take fewer chances. I think the depression then sets in when the desire to follow dreams intersects with the reality of wanting to provide a secure future for your family. I think the only way hope can then be found is by looking past norms of society and being willing to sacrifice some of that security and see if our true hearts desire for ourselves can be woven into our family.
April 23rd, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Great discussion. Jarkko - thanks for your kind words on the book!
I think most people who have stepped out of the rat race for any extended period have experienced the challenge of re-entry.
Interestingly enough, one of the greatest struggles for me after our last sabbatical was the feeling I had that we had done our daughter a disservice by bringing her back home - that returning to a stable life and security perhaps wasn’t the best thing for our family at all. Those feelings fade, but they do give you some real food for thought.
For me, that kind of dissonance - where what you feel and think and believe is suddenly at odds with how you’re living - is, in the end, a great tool for change.
The idea that a sabbatical is more than it seems - that it’s “something bigger than just a relaxing year abroad” as Jarkko aptly puts it - was certainly a large part of our motivation for writing Escape 101. There’s this lasting effect that trickles down through your life. It’s not just about the escape, it’s about how the escape changes your perception of the rest of your life, and gives you some leverage to make the important changes.
April 26th, 2008 at 1:53 am
My friend did get past the depression and has continued to live a fairly simple life. Even a simple life in the city is much more restrictive than living in a tent and carrying everything you need on your back.