I had the pleasure of meeting Lydia Lee of Screw the Cubicle a week ago at Changi Airport in Singapore. For those of you who have not heard of Lydia, she is a freedom-based lifestyle and business coach who left a well-paying but unfulfilling cubicle job in Canada to start her own coaching and consulting business. She now lives in Bali, and helps people monetise their skills into a business that is meaningful to them.
We spoke about a lot of things, from Gorden Ramsey to vegan pizzas in Berlin to doing what you love, but here are some of the takeaways of our conversation that you’ll find most useful (unless vegan pizza in Berlin interests you, in that case you should check out Sfizy Veg):
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Need help with your business? Get an intern with Start Me Up.
Lydia had three interns helping her out with everything from graphic design to copy writing to videography. She recommends Start Me Up, a site that matches young people with startups in emerging startup hubs like Bali.
Corporate to Transitional job to Doing what you love
After Lydia left her well-paying corporate job in Canada, she began doing what she calls a “transitional job”. She started a small company providing the same services she used to with her last job.
After 6 months, Lydia still felt like this was not right for her and she began questioning her life decisions. She started a blog chronicling her struggles and the changes she went through, and slowly her blog became popular. Because she was so passionate about giving advice to readers who wrote in, some of them then offered to pay for consulting sessions. This became the start of running Screw the Cubicle, a business she is passionate about.
The power of understanding your fears and having support
It might sound really obvious for some to “just go and do it”, but often what’s preventing some people from leaving the cubicle or starting a business is the fear of what will happen if they were to fail or whatever the belief is. Coaches like Lydia help you dig deeper into understanding your fears and provide the support you need.
Trying to earn easy money vs Doing something you are passionate about
Instead of making everything a “hack” to make money easy, why not do something you are passionate about? Even Tim Ferris works 10 hours a day (not 4!), and he is doing something he is passionate about. Lydia pointed out that the first few years of running a business is hard, and you’ll often end up working longer hours than you used to. So, if the only reason you’re running your business is to earn a quick buck, then your interest will diminish when the going gets tough.
Interested in learning more about Lydia? Watch her videos on YouTube.