Coming out... of the cubicle

This is big news. Almost as big as the unveiling of Superman as Clark Kent. Or maybe Spiderman as Peter Parker. OK maybe not. Before I left my job with a Fortune 50 company, I wanted to keep under the radar a bit about my entrepreneurial aspirations. I made sure to keep things separate from the company, never using company resources to do my side things, and never doing anything that would be considered a conflict of interest with the company. But just to be sure, I wanted to do more of a don't ask don't tell thing.

Now, with my new company, I've been pretty transparent with my intentions. I work 3 days a week, with the other days giving me a chance to work on outside ventures. So now, I've decided to come of the cubicle so to speak. One friend of mine asked me how that would benefit me... I think it's cool for a couple reasons. It'll make me a little more real to the readers of this blog. And second, I might be able to get some valuable contacts or advice from the people here now that I can disclose the things I'm working on.

In the next post or two, I'll disclose the company I worked for and where I work now. And if I get brave enough, I'll even post what projects I'm working on! Thanks all for keeping up with the Corporatepreneur blog all these years. I'm really looking forward to this next phase!

Coming out... of the cubicle

Figuring out everything that's wrong with me - surprise!

As I was winding down my time at my big corporation, I figured I'd take advantage of my medical benefits while I had them. I was also trying to figure out what my new years resolutions were, so I figured I'd be data based in my resolutions.

I had a few things I was concerned about, things that most Americans were concerned about. These things included my weight, cholesterol, and salt intake. I went and got a physical with a full workup. Everything was fine, except the cholesterol might've been a little high, so they wanted to do some follow-up. I asked my doctor about salt intake, and he said if you're not feeling your fingers swell up, that means your body is taking care of it fine.

The follow up on the cholesterol came back everything was fine. So OK, what do I need to set my New Years resolution to fix? Looking at myself in the mirror, I figured I had some room for improvement on my weight. So I went to the fitness center and asked for a body fat measurement. The lady gave me a thing to hold, and it measured 18%. OK, there's a number I can work on reducing. The only data point I knew about body fat was Shaquille O'Neal in his prime was 4%. I looked on the wall, where there was a poster of body fat percentages and what they meant. 18% correlated to moderately lean. The fitness lady said "Hmm, that's very good." So nothing to fix here I guess.

The company also offers counseling as a benefit, and people recommended I go see one before making a huge decision like this. I also wanted to work on this issue of mine where I'd never want to start anything. So I went to see a counselor. After a few sessions, I realized I knew and had thought of everything he was asking me about. Was I financially ready? Was I emotionally ready? Recall I had blogged earlier about all the fears I had and how I overcame them. He wasn't really helping with the "never starting anything" issue, so I figured it was something that everyone had issues with and I needed to get over myself. So, no issues here.

So after a physical, body fat measurement, and counseling session, I came to the conclusion: THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH ME. The data said so. Sure, I can eat better and gain a bit more muscle and be a more efficient worker. But the way I am now shouldn't stop me from doing anything. I needed to stop thinking there was something with me and using that as an excuse for anything.

Figuring out everything that's wrong with me - surprise!

My goal, reward, and punishment for the next month or so

Goal: From now until 3/27, not counting two weeks in there where I'm on vacation, I will book 15 hours per week of focused, concentrated work on business ideas. I recently discovered slimtimer.com which allows you to time yourself and tag what the time was used for.

Reward: My baseball team, the Milwaukee Brewers, play in my current city, Cincinnati, on OPENING DAY 3/31. A friend with season tickets gave me the chance to buy 2 tickets, which I've purchased. If I make it, I will go to opening day. As a twist, I will treat the 2nd ticket to a friend who's been a peer mentor for me in the entrepreneurship world. This will not only get me motivated to complete this, but he will also be motivated to help me!

Punishment: I will sell or give away the tickets and donate $50 to a charity of a team I hate. I'm thinking New York Yankees right now, I'll hafta do some research on that.

Thanks again to Neville for providing the inspiration for this type of goal setting!

My goal, reward, and punishment for the next month or so

A major announcement

Hello everyone. I'm happy to announce that I've joined the ranks of the people who've taken the plunge. Last week, I resigned from the Fortune 50 company I've worked at for 10 years. Originally, I was going to go cold turkey into entrepreneurship, but I got a great opportunity to work part time as a consultant while doing entrepreneurial ventures on the side.

More to come. Thanks to all who read this blog (should we call it "Preneur" now?) for your advice and support. It's a little surreal to me after reading about everyone else doing it, that I've done it myself.

A major announcement