Eric is a brilliant example of someone using deep, committed spiritual practice as the foundation of his freetirement.
He quit his corporate job around 3 months ago to go all in on his own business and never looked back.
He’s developed his writing beautifully, so here’s his story in his own words:
“My life before spirituality can be summed up into 3 words:
In April of 2020, a combination of bad habits—and a bad reaction to some medication—sent me down some conspiracy theory rabbit holes. I experienced 5 sleepless nights, which ignited a manic episode. That led to an 8-day stay in a psychiatric hospital, followed by 5 months of intense apathy and depression. I’d wish this on no-one.
It felt as though I was riding a train I knew I didn't want to be on, with no knowledge of how to step off.
Even once I’d found that knowledge, I still lacked the courage I needed to move on. I was in great resistance to the reality of my life. And the worst part was the damage I was unconsciously causing to myself and the ones I loved.
It's difficult to summarize what I've learned, discovered and realized since then about the reality of who I am—both at the relative and absolute levels. And I'm extremely grateful for the difficulty of describing this because it shows me I've ingrained an important realization on the path of spirituality: any labels or descriptions of a thing are not really the thing. Words themselves are additional layers to reality—we move away from the thing when the words begin.
But, for my brother and coach Dan, I’ll gladly make the attempt here:
On the absolute (or nondual) level, I am the seer, watcher or witness to whatever is going on in the moment. Call it space, call it god, call it awareness (again, all words) but whatever it is, that's who I am.
And even more profound, it's who I've always been—in this life and past lives.
On the relative level, I am the combination of every single moment of life the vessel of my body and mind have encountered since the day I came into the world.
But I do believe our DNA and ancestors play a role in the foundation of who we are. And I've realized that the foundation for me in the relative world is compassion, curiosity and quiet confidence. I'm rediscovering that this has always been there as I continue to walk down this path.
My curiosity led me to starting a personal brand. I'd always imagined throughout my life the possibility of impacting the world through ideas alone. I'd also always questioned the corporate structure—where rules and guidelines created by the few are to be followed by the many, "or else". This never made sense to me.
I didn't have a specific goal when I started my personal brand, and I still don't—I’m still figuring it out. Despite that, I picked up on the raw power and potential in this business model early on. Objectively, the online creator economy is one of the greatest shifts of power and influence in human history. And seeing this was enough for me to commit to stepping into the arena instead of continuing to watch from the stands.
My self-knowledge has influenced my personal brand in unique ways, three in particular:
First, I'm a networker and relationship builder by trait—it's a habit I've always had, and something I've enhanced since the beginning of my "professional career". This helped me to connect and build relationships with people early on in my personal branding journey. These are relationships I still hold and nurture today (I talk once a week with a buddy of mine I met through X—he lives in Jamaica. We jam on life, the digital economy, philosophy, etc).
Second, my ability to connect. I connect people for a living (currently running a six-figure recruiting business). I've also always been able to connect the dots of life, seeing how different things interweave within each other.
But this new world is a double-edged sword, and I've been able to zoom out from the typical "grow at all costs, become a content machine, find your niche" mentality (which I would’ve fallen prey to before my spiritual journey).
That mentality always felt rushed to me. Too many people's outer worlds can outpace their inner worlds with that "grow at all costs" mentality. I'm grateful that my knowledge has allowed me to play my own game.
Lastly, I've always known you have to give before you get, and the creator economy is part of that game. I happily invest in other creators' services. It allows me to get to know other creators and future leaders more intimately, and benefit from their specialities in a deeper way. I also relish contributing to the sustainment of this new economy. Money is a large part of creators being able to push this new world forward—I'm a happy supporter in that regard.
I began my own journey as a creator around May of 2023. As I progressed, I felt that I was becoming someone that wouldn't be able to stand working in corporate. It became more and more of a psychological nightmare for me. Knowing a paycheck was coming made me comfortable and complacent in all other areas of life. I was drained at both the beginning and the end of the day because I was pouring my skills and energy into a structure I didn't create. Meanwhile, I was watching other people bypass all of that and build businesses, brands and freedom online.
In terms of feeling confident to take the leap, I attribute it to two things:
First, you have to go on the mental journey of taking the leap before you go on the actual journey. I had a good 11 months of the mental journey. 11 months of frameworks, mindsets, systems, habits and visions I'd consumed from the ones paving the way.
Second, you have to see an opportunity worth taking a strategic risk on. You can't just quit your job without a plan or perspective. But you also can't let resistance hold you back if there's an opportunity in front of you. "I'm not ready" or "I might fail" will always be true. You just have to be ready and willing enough, with logical next steps in mind and a rough framework of a plan.
For me, I found that risk with someone I tried to recruit to my last company. He was starting a business and asked if I wanted to be #2 and grow it with him. It was in a space that was in my wheelhouse. I’d realized the power of content for a brand that'd help us build out the business. I had perspective on tools to help along the way like Notion and ChatGPT, as well as people I'd met online that could be resources for various parts of our business.
On paper, it was two dudes with computers with 10k in the bank account. But in my mind and being, it was "the opportunity I'd always been waiting and preparing for". So I took it. And it was the best decision of my life.”
Follow Eric on X to see where his journey takes him next.