Mitch Whiting’s Post

Every single year of my corporate career (without fail) I did 1 thing without an ounce of shame. Use every single day of PTO I had earned. Notice how I said "I had earned" instead of "I was given?" You aren't given PTO. You already earned it. It's a part of your compensation! When a manager ridicules their team for taking time off, it's like making fun of them for picking up their paycheck. We all worry so much about what everyone at the office thinks. But 20 years from now, the only people that will remember that you worked late are your kids. As we look back at our lives and careers, one thing will become clear: That no other success can compensate for failure in the home. -David McKay I don't get PTO as an entrepreneur. But time is more valuable than money. So I take more days off than I ever did when I was still being paid to take time off. Money is the thing we want so we can buy more time to do what we love with the people we love. But we can't actually buy time. Time doesn't work like that. When you sacrifice meaning for success, you get neither. How you spend your time is how you show your love. -Richie Norton

Many people who have an intimate look into what my professional life has been like since moving to Utah 6 years ago seem to struggle with why I see it as the most successful in my career. I have experienced multiple layoffs, long unplanned sabbaticals, and clients who churned faster than anticipated. I wanted to share an excerpt from The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss for those who haven’t read it that hopefully explains why (most of) this is by design: ——— What separates the New Rich (NR), characterized by options, from the Deferrers (D), those who save it all for the end only to find that life has passed them by? The New Rich can be separated from the crowd based on their goals, which reflect very distinct priorities and life philosophies… D → To work for yourself. NR → To have others work for you. D → To work when you want to. NR → To prevent work for work’s sake, and to 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐦 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐦 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 (minimum effective load). D → To retire early or young. NR → To distribute recovery periods and adventures (mini-retirements) throughout life on a regular basis and recognize that inactivity is not the goal. 𝐃𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 is. D → To buy all the things you want to have. NR → To do all the things you want to do, and be all the things you want to be. D → To be the boss instead of the employee, to be in charge. NR → To be neither the boss nor the employee, but the owner. D → To make a ton of money. NR → To make a ton of money with specific reasons and defined dreams to chase, timelines and steps included. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫? D → To have more. NR → To have more quality and less clutter. … 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, or just shuffling papers, banging on a keyboard, and coming home to a drunken existence on the weekends? D → To reach the big pay-off, whether IPO, acquisition, retirement, or other pot of gold. NR → To think big but ensure payday comes every day; 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭, big payday second. D → To have freedom from doing that which you dislike. NR → To have freedom from doing that which you dislike, but also the freedom and resolve to pursue your dreams 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤’𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐞 (W4W). ——— All of this stands in stark contrast to the prevailing American ideology of 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐯𝐞 → 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 → 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞, and it is best to make no apologies for chasing life-long liberation from that. And while I am proud of my discipline and luck in each of these areas, my hope is to other inspire others to find ways to practice it at any life stage or income bracket. (Kudos to Shane Lykins for investing in the camper van even when it didn’t quite pencil out.) Enduring a corporate gig is much less a threat to all this than it was just 5 years ago—but it’s still a threat. Happy Friday, ya’ll! 🎉

Remember when we all said we'd circle back in the New Year... well it's here 😑 As a solopreneur, most of my "circle backs" were to myself, but I'm more excited than ever to get back to work and circle back this year. Is it because I have two sugar fueled toddlers home from daycare, and I'm moonlighting as the hardest job of stay at home parent? Yes. Is it because I love what I do these days? Also yes... Since I launched Peak in the fall, I've helped individuals advocate for themselves and earn $580,000 more in first year compensation, better titles, more vacation days, earlier access to insurance, higher equity stakes, and more. Some wins from this year include: 💰 A $152,000 first year offer improvement, which allowed my client to pursue a new chapter in her career  👩👦 💪 Salary improvements for two single parents, helping to support their families   👨💼 Stability and compensation improvement for contract workers shifting into full-time roles   🏈 Coached recently laid off individuals through their next move, and encouraged them to go after the pay they deserve; one client boosted their offer by 30%, and another got back to work at a great role in just weeks. The #1 thing I hear from clients is "I discovered you at just the right time". Most of my circle backs efforts are focused on increasing serendipity through visibility on platforms like LinkedIn, blog collaborations, and speakerships. What are you excited to circle back on within your professional or personal life?

I saw at interesting conversation thread and I thought to share here. Not necessarily to educate but to inspire reflections. Why do employees get mad when they are laid off for the business to thrive? After all the companies don't get mad when employees leave for a profitable venture? Here’s the response that got me interested: "1- tenure isn’t worth jackshit-nobody cares how long or how loyal you’ve been, in some respects it can work against you 2- be careful about sharing any health concerns-it could be used against you. When folks ask how you are the koolaid answer is “great!” 3- go quietly into the night-you won’t be missed 24 hours later you won’t even exist-you have no real friends at work 4- get what you feel you can-in my case I am asking to get laid off so I can get the severance, retirement gives me nothing but what I’ve put." #copied Yes. I have my opinion on this, but today, let's tone it down. I would love to hear yours.

A few clients have asked me why I take the last two weeks of the year off. And its a good question. It reminded me of a workshop I hosted the other week for my favorite community of independent consultants, The Upside. The workshop was titled "Craft a More Intentional Path for Your Consultancy" and it was all about how to build a business that works for you. It was about understanding your needs and what makes you happy in your life. From there, the goal is to build a business that works for YOU, not anyone else. Because what is the point of having all this freedom and power if you aren't going to customize your business for your own needs? And when I first started designing my business, I thought about all the structures and systems that didn't work for me when I worked in corporate life. And I remembered that I never felt like I had any time to enjoy the holiday season. I also felt like I didn't want to have to choose between going on an actual vacation and spending my PTO to take off time around the holidays. I wanted time at the end of the year to help my mother prepare for Christmas dinner, to make latkes with my father for Chanukah, to reflect on my year, and to reset before the next year. So I take the last two weeks off so I can focus on me and my needs since I inherently spend the rest of my year focused on serving others. And as I expand and hire others to work with me in the business, I'll encourage them to do the same. I'd rather we do without those two weeks of revenue and pay ourselves in time, which is really the most precious currency. If you could design your own business, what structures or changes would you make? How would you design your time off? P.s. This is a photo of me and my sister enjoying the NYC Botanical Garden's Holiday Train Show during the time I took off before and after the US Thanksgiving holiday. She doesn't live in NY so being able to spend time in-person was an opportunity I'm glad I didn't miss. #careercoach #goalsetting #independentconsultants

Five years together and still going strong with The Newhouse Sheridan Group at Merrill Lynch/ Bank of America. 🎉 What I’ve learned in the past five years of my career: 1. You matter regardless of how big your company is. Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re just a number and that you’re easily replaceable. When you get into that mindset, it affects the way you see yourself and the work that you do. I think you should always see yourself as a valuable member of your team/company because when you believe that you and your contributions matter, others will see it too. 2. Don’t bring your bad day to work. Your negativity outside of work could affect your productivity and dictate your attitude. If you can’t leave it at home, take the day off. 3. Plan your vacations, take your PTO and use your sick time. If you need it, use it. If you want to, do it. I find that a lot of people save their PTO until they absolutely have to use it or they’d lose it. In my opinion, it could hurt the team and you could burn yourself out. Also, this is the youngest you’ll ever be. Don’t take that for granted. 4. Don’t be afraid to ask for more. Ask for more pay if you believe you deserve it, ask for more support when you need it, ask for more time off or to go leave when you’re overwhelmed, and ask for more help or advice if don’t know what to do. It really doesn’t hurt to ask and it lets your superiors know what you need. 5. Find a mentor and build a strong support system with your colleagues and one outside of work with friends and family. It’s important to have people who can advocate for you and understand what you’re going through professionally and personally. One person cannot be your all in all. Have multiple people on your side. 6. Make friends and network. The greatest benefit, in my opinion, a company can provide is bringing people together and support one another in their career growth. Don’t just go to work to work. You’ll be amazed how many great people you’d meet just by saying hello. Most of my friends are from previous jobs throughout my working life. 7. Find your purpose and what you’re passionate about. For me, work is so much more fun when I get to geek out on a topic. As an introvert, I don’t talk much but when I love what I’ve been doing or someone asks me a question that I’ve learned through work, I get so excited and I can’t wait to tell everyone.

What is Time off?? This week marks the first time in over 5 years I have felt able to take some official time off work... what do I do? Building a business is tough, it's the first thing I think of in the morning, last thing I think of at night. I usually see a day off as a chance to be more productive and get more work done. Weekends, Family Holidays, Social events are almost always over shadowed with guilt for taking that time off and wonder of what I could have achieved if I didn't take that time off! This summer I have promised myself 2 weeks off. I have worked ridiculous hours over the last 3 months to be able to be in a position where NOTHING needs doing for a couple of weeks. I have finally achieved it! Years of longing for time off, and working hard to be able to afford time off has led to this moment. Today was the first day, my partner in work, children at my mums for the day. Bliss... I thought! I genuinely haven't known what to do with myself all day!? How do I enjoy myself? How do I not do some extra work? How do I 'enjoy' this time off I've longer for? How did my day end up going?? I went to the gym for 9am, abit later than normal. Then found myself doing jobs around the house before returning to the office at home to complete some work (that didn't need doing) before picking the kids up 🤷♂️ This leaves me with questions... Do I enjoy my work so much that I don't mind working? Have I worked so much, so hard, for so long that I've forgotten how to relax? Do I need to make changes to my work/life balance? Running a business is difficult and often lonely. I'd love to know other people's views/ experiences. Business owners, teachers, leaders or any successful people... how do you manage? What are your rules around time off?

Humble brag incoming: This year I've scheduled and am enjoying an August and September wind-down: -Spending more time with family -Preparing for the imminent baby arrival -Deliberately working out 7 days a week -Just enjoying the best weather of the year I say all this as encouragement to those that might not know what they're working for or what they want out of their life- work balance. The answer is that you can get whatever you want as long as you're willing to take the trade-offs. I've tried to be clear about those trade-offs, including, but not limited to: -making less money -idle time -being around your family more -traveling for work -not having job security more than 30 days in advance -having to find a way to piece together multiple opportunities -determining where healthcare comes from -managing your own finances/ taxes/ 401k

The perfect work life is one that offers: 1/ Enough challenge to be interesting. 2/ Enough ease to be enjoyable. 3/ Enough camaraderie to be nourishing. 4/ Enough solitude to be productive. 5/ Enough hours at work to get the job done. 6/ Enough leisure to feel refreshed. 7/ Enough contribution to feel needed. 8/ Enough silliness to have fun. 9/ Enough money to pay the bills... and then some. PS: Even the best jobs have trade-offs. #work #life #tradeoffs From the book — “Your Money or Your Life” by Vicki Robin.

Negotiating Roles February 15th marks the 3-year anniversary of my wife’s return to the workforce after 22 years as a stay-at-home mom. While she received no monetary compensation for the blood, sweat, and tears she poured into our home (and 3 sons) over those 22 years, the value she provided was (and continues to be) incalculable. The way we structured our lives and the roles we both played weren’t an accident, they were negotiated. The negotiation began when we were just dating. Discussions surrounding what we each thought the future we wanted looked like were at the forefront. No topic was left unexplored; the number of children we’d each like (we didn’t agree), how those children would be raised, where we wanted to put down roots, and how the house would “run” were all hashed out. By the time we were married and children started to arrive, we knew what are assignments were. Our roles have evolved over the years. The kids don’t need as much “hands on” support as they used to. They also are at an age where they can contribute to the operations of the household. Household “jobs” that were once solely my wife’s responsibility have been redistributed to my sons and I. Now that everyone is working a full-time job, it’s all hands on deck to make sure all the work gets done at home. Which jobs are accomplished by whom are negotiated. What is non-negotiable? The fact that the work must be done. The same is true for professional roles. While you may begin a job with an employer based on a job description, that is rarely the limit of the work you’ll do. Conscientious teammates will shoulder additional duties and responsibilities to ensure the success of the team. Interactions with adjacent departments or business units will ebb and flow, settling in a rhythm for how the work will get done. These roles are negotiated, whether consciously or subconsciously. How do you negotiate roles with those around you? How do you pick up additional tasks that aren’t in “your lane” and how do you tactfully bypass tasks that are better suited for someone else? We navigate these interactions daily, but likely rarely think about how. Take a few minutes when you have some spare time and do just that. If you do, I think you will find that being deliberate in your roles will have a profound impact on your life.