Corporate Escape Plan

Discover Jamie Atkinson's Free Facebook Community for Entrepreneurial Podcasters:https://www.facebook.com/groups/podcasting101group/

Discover Nina Cooke's Millionaire Mindset Scorecard referred to in today's episode at:http://ninacooke.co.uk/scorecard

Connect with Suraj Sodha via his website:https://www.surajsodha.com/

To discover more about Andy's work visit:https://whatwinnersdogift631.com/To follow or connect with Andy Fell check out his GiFT631 YouTube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzaGlNx1TEDUNU-cTCxUqvQConnect with Andy on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyfell631/

Discover how you can participate in Patrice Lynn's regularly-run 5 Day Brain Boss Challenge at:https://www.brainbosschallenge.com/

Learn about Roksana Hussein's practical framework for both embracing and overcoming fear that's simple enough for a child to use.Discover more from Roksana Hussein by checking out her Personal Power Boost podcast at:https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/personal-power-boost-with-roksana-hussein/id1500257488If you enjoy her show please subscribe, download and leave a rating and review.You can also find Roksana Hussein at:https://www.roksanahussein.com/

Discover more about John Clement and how he can help you grow your business at:https://www.easygrowthstrategies.com/

Josh Matthews-Morgan from Learn Your Brain joins Craig Burgess for this short and snappy Mind Mastery taster episode, a prelude to a deeper dive the host and guest take together in this specially commissioned Mind Mastery Week.

Discover Jamie Atkinson's Free Facebook Community for Entrepreneurial Podcasters:https://www.facebook.com/groups/podcasting101group/

Discover Nina Cooke's Millionaire Mindset Scroecard referred to in today's episode at:http://ninacooke.co.uk/scorecard 

Connect with Suraj Sodha via his website:https://www.surajsodha.com/

To discover more about Andy's work visit:https://whatwinnersdogift631.com/Andy's GiFT631 YouTube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzaGlNx1TEDUNU-cTCxUqvQConnect with Andy on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyfell631/ 

Discover Patrice Lynn's Brain Boss Challenge via:https://www.brainbosschallenge.com/You can also find today's guest at:patricelynn.com 

If you'd like to hear more from Roksana Hussein you can find her Personal Power Boost podcast on iTunes:https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/personal-power-boost-with-roksana-hussein/id1500257488If you enjoy her show please subscribe, download and leave a rating and review.You can also find Roksana Hussein at:https://www.roksanahussein.com/

John Clement joins Craig Burgess for this short and snappy Mind Mastery taster episode, a prelude to a deeper dive the host and guest take together in this specially commissioned Mind Mastery Week.

For Learn Your Brain's Free Master Your Mindset training for entrepreneurs visit:https://www.learnyourbrain.com/master-your-mindset/

Welcome to this coronavirus special edition of the Corporate Escape Plan featuring corporate escapee turned serial entrepreneur Reem Kharbat.  Having grown up in a Middle Eastern society that expects women not to have professional dreams or expectations, she rose through the ranks of a major telecoms to the position of Chief Financial Officer with a place on the Board of Directors.With a track record for defying norms or expectations Reem has become adept at overcoming adversity, living her life as she does today, as a serial entrepreneur.In today’s episode Reem shares her views on how safety is an illusion, how fear is dangerous and how we as Leaders have a responsibility to help minimise the dangerous ripple effects that fear causes throughout society.Reem shares the philosophy that’s helped her navigate crises and advice for others on navigating this one.Welcome to this fascinating episode where Reem also talks about her soon-to-be-released works designed to help small business owners shift their focus to an opportunity mindset in these uncertain times.

In this show we are excited to share an amazing offer to join Bill Crane for a FREE Traffic Masterclass, which for an extremely limited time also comes with a chance to pick up Russell Brunson's Traffic Secrets Book at the same time as part of a dual offer (dual offer ends on Sunday April 05, 2020):https://trafficmasterclass.twocommacoach.com/Discover more about working with Bill Crane, the Millionaire Maker also known as the Two Comma Coach:https://www.twocommacoach.com/ 

Serial entrepreneur John Clement joins Craig Burgess to share the success strategies required to survive and thrive in times of economic crisis.

Special listener offer: Grab Kris Ward's big bundle of FREE downloadable resources to help your business grow:https://www.winthehourwintheday.com/freegift

 Link for the Core Connects Facebook Group referenced in this Episode:https://www.facebook.com/groups/3014662305226446/

To find the FREE digital marketing training referred to in this podcast go to the Spaghetti Besties Facebook Group, ask to Join the Group then sign-up for the Live Training or find the replay after the event:https://www.facebook.com/groups/SpaghettiBesties/ 

Marc Mawhinney joins Craig Burgess to share his expertise on starting a business on a shoestring budget.

High-performance coach Bobbi-Jo Brighton joins Craig Burgess to explain how she works with high achievers to overcome Imposter Syndrome and how listeners can do it too.

Serial entrepreneur and former commercial banker Cody Loughlin joins Craig Burgess to share his corporate escape plan.

Social Media Todd (also known as the Social Media Cowboy) - of Spaghetti Agency fame - shares his slightly accidental escape from the mass employed to social media influencer, entrepreneur and sought after speaker and trainer.

Michael Brook shares his corporate escape story

Dan McCabe shares his Corporate Escape Plan

Hailey Lucas joins Craig Burgess to share her corporate escape story.

Discover how London's Rikki Kotecha called time on his well-paid job as a qualified Chartered Accountant to figure out his way as an entrepreneur instead.

Digital Marketing Agency owner Corey Benschop shares his Corporate Escape Story and set out his recommendations for anyone considering their own corporate escape.

Jamie Atkinson - Founder of The Podcast Profit Lab and The Entrepreneur Junkie Movement Podcast - joins Craig Burgess to share his corporate escape story and how he failed his way to success.

Bill Crane - The 'Larger than Life' Millionaire Maker known as the Two Comma Coach - joins Craig Burgess to share his corporate escape story.

Serial entrepreneur Aaron R. Stewart shares his gun-to-the-head corporate escape story.

London based serial entrepreneur Suraj Sodha tells how he left his highly paid job as a lawyer despite resistance from his family and wider community to embark is what now is a 12 year entrepreneural journey (and still counting).

The Corporate Escape Plan Podcast is aimed at helping and inspiring people who are not just fed up with their corporate job, but maybe possess some ambition to impact the world in a meaningful way at the helm of a mission-led business of their own…Our Mission is to educate, inspire and entertain you if you’re ambitious and interested in the idea of breaking your corporate chains FOREVER around a passion, mission, movement or cause of your own.Maybe you want to start small, with a business on the side, or maybe you’re looking to burn the boats and go all-in right from the off.Whichever way you’re leaning we’re going to help you see the options from many vantage points, from people who are just starting out with a business on the side, to life-long serial entrepreneurs who’ve launched and scaled multiple multi-million dollar businesses.We’re setting out to help you understand how to envision, launch and scale this impact-driven mission of your own, in a way that affords you the kind of freedom you’ve never enjoyed inside the corporate world.Maybe you need greater freedom to deal with family matters, be a great Mum or Dad, be there for ailing family members… whatever that may be for you …It’s about creating something which matters way more than oiling the corporate machine, inside a system that doesn’t know you or care who you are.To help us do this, we’ll be bringing in guests from around the world to share their real stories, strategies and tactics, but not only that, we’ll be having them share mistakes they’ve made and share the pitfalls, trials and tribulations they’ve encountered along the way.If you’ve never run a business of your own you’ll get to hear the truth, that running your own business is not all rainbows and unicorns…But that when you’re doing something you love, which matters, because it's making a real difference in other people’s lives, then it’s all worth it and will fill you with the fire you need to plough through the tough times, those bumps in the road.We’ve already recorded around 25 Episodes and this one thing that oozes from all our guests is their passion and enthusiasm...And it’s all grounded in the fact they’ve found their calling, or are well on their way to figuring it out.Many of our Launch Week Guests will be sharing their own Corporate Escape Stories, in ways we hope will illuminate and inspire in equal measure!Welcome to our first full Episode, welcome to Episode 1!So right now as I say this at 7pm on Thursday January 23, 2020, we’re going out on Facebook Live, after which a recording of this show will be released to iTunes as part of our official launch! Today’s Episode is all about our Origin Story!  And that story begins 11 months ago... So How did the Corporate Escape Plan Podcast Come About?It was mid-afternoon one late-Feb afternoon day in 2019.And truly, the day had been a nightmare so far. My body was shaking like crazy and here I was collapsed, exhausted, out of breath, stranded on my backside, halfway down the stairs.I was out of gas. Earlier that morning I knew I was in serious trouble and that I needed to call for an ambulance.But thanks to my foolish pride, I told myself I must shower and get dressed before calling the emergency services.  My legs no longer supported my weight so the entire process of trying to get myself ready was so hard.  I had come to rely upon my cricket bat and upper body strength to manoeuvre myself around the house. Without that cricket bat, or household furniture to land on, or push away from, I was no longer able to stay on my feet, they would literally collapse from under me and it had all become rather dangerous.So, eventually, having struggled for hours to get myself showered, shaved and changed. I was done. Halfway down those stairs. I was done.I had my mobile phone in my pocket so I called emergency services.So there I was, my legs had given out and I was suffering wide-scale sensory loss throughout my body. My right leg was so unresponsive the only way I could move it was to pick it up with my hands.I didn’t know what was happening to me and for a short while, I’ll admit I was frightened too.I ended up being handled in two hospitals and at the second of those I was advised I had lesions throughout my brain and spine.Yet although I noticed myself thinking:“Well that can’t be good!”By the time I’d received this news some remarkable things had already occurred to me:▶️ I found that despite not knowing what was wrong with me I was finding myself desperately sad for the people around but not for me. In fact, I never felt remotely sad either for or about myself.▶️ I desperately wanted to be able to help these people but knew I lacked the resources or skills so I probably needed to find ways to help others instead▶️ Although I was happy doing what I was doing for work I was no longer having the impact on the world my talents demanded.▶️ I didn't know what to do about this but I knew I had to figure it outIn order to figure it all out, I was somehow inspired to remember a video I'd been shown at an event in 2010.It was arguably the most famous speech Steve Jobs ever gave.It was his 2005 Stanford University Commencement Speech.  IN the presentation he told three stories and it was the first of these, where he said in essence, that in life hindsight is '20-20' and that to find your calling, go review your life then join the dots.If you’ve never seen this speech, look it up.  You don’t need to like Steve Jobs to find value in that speech.So starting in hospital and over the next several months, I got to work recording, recalling and capturing my life.  I gathered together memories of skills I'd acquired, plus skills which had come to me naturally from a young age, anything I'd ever done well, all my successes, every round of applause, every compliment I could think of. I looked through scrap books, old school reports, photos, emails, letters exchanged with old friends.Once I felt I'd got it all down I invited my brain to go figure out where I should go next.Then I let go of it all and trusted the answer to come...Because your subconscious mind is amazing.So despite my current condition I suddenly had this laser-like determination and enthusiasm to hunker down and figure out a lot of stuff, including how to get through this online Challenge.And being an online Challenge I could complete it from my hospital bed using my Smart Phone.Haha.That’s what I thought anyway!Sadly, I soon discovered a problem with my cunning plan.The core educational content was delivered by a combination of pre-rcorded videos inside an online Membership site, with further live coaching sessions delivered daily inside a Facebook Group via Facebook Live.  So more video.Which sounded great until I realised the internet and mobile connectivity was so poor inside the hospital that I couldn’t watch any of the training videos or live broadcasts.Suddenly my attention was diverted to solving this problem.So my question became:How do I improve eirh my mobile or internet connectivity?I tried everything I could think of.I contacted providers, help desk, online chats, forums, Facebook Groups.And I tried everything other people suggested I should try too.I shipped in extra kit.I even got a local courier to ship in my laptop from home to see whether I could achieve better results from other kit.  Turned out my laptop was even less use than my phone.So there I was surround by boxes, cables and wires, this gadget and that, trying to boost my connection.Each new thing I tried failed and the nurses became increasingly fascinated by this mad computer scientist who’d arrived on their ward.Anyone who knows me will get the irony here, because gadgetry really isn't my forté.So this guy the nurses thought was some kind of tech genius was actually constantly calling on friends from around the world for help.Each time I received a new suggestion my positivity refuelled, as part of a continual cycle of testing.Nothing worked.After a while it became infuriating.And eventually I ran out of ideas.What I didn’t appreciate until much later is that this tunnel vision probably led me on a much quicker recovery path than might have been the case.Because the thing is I’d become so immersed in resolving this technical challenge … in between being infused, injected, syphoned, pilled up, repeatedly questioned by Doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, student Doctors and student nurses, feeding times and a myriad of other distractions, that here really was very little time to dwell on my condition.So the good news was there was little opportunity for any negative thoughts to take a hold and the only outcome I was seeing in my mind’s eye was me living a normal life, walking and conducting regular activities again that coming Summer.  I was however, about to hit a wall in my efforts, not before embarrassing myself enormously on the Ward.And my embarrassing episode occurred immediately before falling incredibly ill for several days.By now I had received steroid infusions intravenously for 5 consecutive days.  And according to what I’d been told by my surgeon, 5 days was the maximum he would permit.  And up to now despite its mind-bending effects I had managed to remain active between treatments.Now I don’t know how this was ever a good idea, but at the precise moment my 5th and final infusion had been completed a Doctor arrived to perform a lumbar puncture.So in case you don’t know what that entails, it had been explained to me that 5 separate samples of my spinal fluid would be required, to be sent away to different specialist Labs for the purpose of identifying, or ruling out potential causes for my condition.I’ll admit I was really nervous about this, I really wasn’t keen on having a needle passed into my spinal chord, or having to remain still while 5 separate sample were taken, but I was more curious to know what was wrong with me...So naturally I accepted the risk and gave permission for the process to happen.The Doctor applied a local anaesthetic, so that was more drugs for my addled system, before skilfully extracting 5 separate samples of fluid from my spinal chord, using a needle she passed between disks in my spine.Then once she’d got this needle inside me she mysteriously began trying to conduct small-talk with me.  I can’t cope with small-talk at the best of times but with my mind addled with steroids and other drugs, what was so far proving not to be the completely terrible process I imagined, became a nightmare.That said, I decided not to ask her to stop talking…Even in my drugged up state, I was not a complete dummy, I knew she had a needle in my spine.After the process, the overall effect of the additional drugs, the removal of spinal fluid and the counter-measure drugs from these different procedures was taking its toll.My mind was no longer my own.  Yet despite this, at this precise moment in time, I was still determined to get some work done.  And this is when I lost the plot.You see, I had these dual tubes dangling down my arm, hanging from a cannula that was still wired into one of my veins in my forearm.  And it didn’t seem to matter how I tried to rearrange them they insisted on dangling right in front of the work I was trying to do on my phone.ARGGGHHHH!!!!So I rang my bedside alarm so that I could ask to have the cannula, removed.  That’s the part that attached the tubes to my vein.  I knew I’d received my final steroid infusion because I’d been keeping notes as to what was being agreed with the lead surgeon about my treatment using Evernote, an App on my mobile phone.So as far as I was concerned there was no need for these tubes to be dangling in front of my hands and doing my head in anymore.When the nurse arrived - and she was one of he senior nurses with the Authority to agree to what I asked - she refused to help - insisting that I was due another infusion.I told her she was mistaken.  I knew she was wrong.  I’d recorded everything.  And I told her so.  Suddenly I was overtaken by fury when she walked out on me whilst I was still asking for her help.I was in a rage.So I rang my alarm again.A different nurse arrived this time.I explained my programme of infusions was complete and that these annoying tubes needed to come out.She said she couldn’t help so I informed her that I would be removing the tubes myself.“No, no, definitely DO NOT do that!!!” she said.She said she’d go away and find some and I reminded her:“If someone doesn’t come now I’m doing it myself!!!”“No!!! That’s a really bad idea PLEASE DON’T DO THAT!"And off she went.Then crickets.  Although it’s slightly misleading to say crickets because it suggests the Ward had fallen quiet.  It hadn’t.This Ward was Bedlam!  It was bedlam pretty much all the time.  Even at night.It was a full of crazy people like me for starters.That’s one of the attractive ‘features’ of a Neurosciences Ward.So there I was trying to work and these tubes were driving me insane.  Literally insane!Exasperated, I got onto my Zimmer Frame… my mobility had already improved sufficiently that my physiotherapist had just approved me for my own awesome high-speed transport.So off I went into the middle of the Ward like Speedy Gonzalez.And from the middle of the Ward I made this important announcement:"My infusion treatments are over. These tubes need to come out now!” And I was literally eyeballing one of the nurses as I said it.She was suitably unimpressed by my impressive public speaking performance and informed me she was in the middle of some important bed changing.  I was unable to fully grasp how bed changing was more important at the time so this did nothing for my mood."If someone doesn’t come and take these tubes out now, I’m doing it myself."And off I stormed.Like the Incredible Hulk. Only weaker. And slower. On my Zimmer Frame.  Sometime later, I could still be seen on the Ward storming off.Eventually Hulk reached the bathroom.Had Hulk not been full of steroids and other drugs this extended Zimmer-based journey time should have given him time to cool off.  But no!He was still fuming and once he’d balanced himself safely yanked out his cannula.And out it came.Along with an astonishing amount of blood.In that moment Hulk was thinking:YEAHHHH you Fffffoooey YOU DON’T TELL ME NO!!!  picturing THAT SENIOR NURSE in his head.Whilst this softer, much quieter internal voice was saying…‘Uh-oh!'Unfortunately Hulk was dominating all thoughts and enjoying some kind of misplaced sense of justification… Especially when you consider the sink and floor had quickly formed an expanding blood-red pool.Realistically I should have been a experiencing a suitable degree of alarm at this stage...But NO! Hulk was STILL ANGRY!!! And you wouldn’t like him when he's angry.Luckily, at this moment the NURSE i’d las spoken to CAME IN …“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!!!”She was so impressed!Luckily she was able to help organise what was necessary to undo the damage...So one thing I’ve definitely learned from this embarrassing episode is not to mess with steroids. Soon after that I fell extremely ill from the side-effects from all the procedures, the effects of having spinal fluid removed just made everything much worse.  My blood sugar levels went critical for several days and insulin injections were added to my round the clock treatments.I was down - but not out - and was unable to do anything for several days.That was my lowest point.Yet this fire which had been ignited in me still burned and I was fixated on getting up and on with figuring out my new mission.And I’m telling this story for two reasons:If it wasn’t for me ending up in hospital I wouldn’t have been inspired to seek out a bigger life mission aimed a helping a lot more people in the world than I was previously doingIf it wasn’t for having this fire ignited inside of me, this previously unfelt passion, even if I had ended up having the same idea eventually, it would have taken longer to occur to me and this podcast would never have got off the ground anyway.  Because frankly the journey to this point has been so hard.How The ClickFunnels Community Saved MeSo as I returned to some degree of functional behaviour, now feeling more ashamed than ever about my Incredible Hulk Episode...I accepted that I was not going to gain full access to my online training during my hospital stay and set about devising alternative ways of moving forwards.I did after all, have sufficient coverage to be able to exchange text-based messages, via mobile and internet. Heck despite the terrible mobile reception, it was even possible to phone people now and again as the signal fluctuated.So one thing I was able to do was participate in the Facebook Group ClickFunnels had created for participants of their One Funnel Away Challenge.So I was able to figure out some of the coursework from the discussion that was happening inside this Group.The Membership numbered in their thousands.One of the lessons in the course was about the importance of story telling as part of brand building and sharing your whole story, not just your successes.Part of the rationale behind this is that we are somehow hardwired to listen to stories and that stories are more likely to inspire change than facts alone, but also it’s about making yourself relatable, about helping people find something in common with you.Showing your vulnerabilities as a person instead of projecting a filtered version of yourself, which is what most people are these days on social media, was the aim of the game.I experienced something of an internal battle to persuade myself to go ahead and do this.Historically I have always been someone that has kept myself to myself. My business is my business and this was a line of thinking which was deeply entrenched.So the idea of sharing my story with the wider world was somewhere near horrifying as an idea to me. Yet I understood he lesson, so I persuaded myself to consider doing it.And eventually accepted the challenge we’d been set, to begin publishing and to begin telling our story.So I typed out what was happening to me into my phone to share with this group of thousands…And then my little composition remained saved as a draft for hours.  I was really nervous. I was more nervous about this than anything that was happening here in the hospital. I’d already acclimatised to my surroundings.It seems daft now but it’s true.I can’t remember exactly what I wrote now but it included some of these key points:“Hey I’m disabled, I was really nervous about telling you this but it’s part of the challenge so here goes…I’m in hospital and I can’t do the course, the mobile and internet is so bad I can’t get video, I’m really nervous about falling behind with the Challenge, I don’t know what’s happening with the course or why I’m disabled it’s a nightmare…”And as soon as I’d shared my predicament some remarkable things occurred.The way people in the Group responded was some combination of moving and mind blowing to me. There was a mixture of responses inside the Group and personal messages to my Messenger InBox.Some of it was words of encouragement, some people offering up prayers.Then there was this other category of response which amazed me, that some people were taking the time to let me know that my story inspired, helped or encouraged them in some way. Some expressed admiration for the fact I was attempting to participate in the Challenge at all. This was pretty mind-boggling to me and I didn’t really understand it at first if I’m honest.So I pondered this phenomenon for a while, then slowly my perspective began to shift. A first I simply felt awkward that people were telling me I’d inspired them. I didn’t really like it that much.  But eventually as I began to accept these people, or some of them at least, were being genuine, I began thinking that by not sharing my journey, that by keeping it all to myself, that this might even be selfish in some way. Because that helps no one!This had never occurred to me.So I began expressing my story in greater detail and found that more and more people who resonated with my story and he way I was telling it began showing up in my life.And new friendships began to emerge.One of those in particular was to end up playing a major role in me talking to you here today. And I’ll share more of that later...After several days I began to pull through the worst of my illness and began engaging with people online once again.One of the people I connected with from my hospital bed was an English chappie from Shrewsbury who goes by the name of Jamie Atkinson.I remember that even though we were only communicating via the medium of text, I really felt a palpable sense of high energy and enthusiasm from him and I liked him straight away.He was a globe trotting entrepreneur living the backpack lifestyle.I didn’t know it at the time but he was about to enter my life in a very big way.Turns out he was a podcaster.And it turned out later that he had plans to help others get into podcasting too.And we would later end up teaming up to bring the Corporate Escape Plan Podcast to life. In the first week of working together we began looking at the Vision, Mission and Strategy.And to be honest I still didn’t know what I was going to be podcasting about, I just knew I needed to find a Vision, develop a Message and Change People’s lives.Astonishingly during that first week the idea I’d been waiting came to me, I shared the idea with Jamie.  He really liked it and we both reckoned I was onto something so we got to work.So I’ going to share with you the first major piece of work I did shaping this podcast, because it will tell you whether this show is really for you. An if it is for you it will show you on of the main pieces of work you should consider doing no matter what business you’re going into because you need to make publishing content a key element in your marketing mix.And by the way podcasting is a great way to do this. The 4 WsSo when I was putting together the Corporate Escape Plan podcast there were four Key Core Shaping Questions that were used in developing the show.And this can apply to any communications platform you’re looking to create, not just a podcast.So what are they? Who Is Your Audience?What Are You or Your Guests Talking About?Where are You Taking Your Audience?Why Should They Listen? 4 Simple Questions.Sounds easy. But I found this took mea quite a while to nail down.So to give you a feel for whether the Corporate Escape Plan is for you and how we aim to serve, here’s he answers I developed to those four questions: The Corporate Escape Plan Podcast’s 4WsWho Is Your Audience?Ambitious Corporate Escapees aged 25 to 55 who want control of their life at the helm of a successful scalable business of their own, founded upon an passion, mission, movement, or cause.** Note: This is an abbreviated summary of an extremely detailed Ideal Client DescriptionWhat Are You Talking About?Stories, business building strategies and tactics used by corporate escapees and entrepreneurs, including the pitfalls, trials and tribulations they’v experienced along the way. Where are You Taking Them?We’re aiming to help and inspire listeners to take control of their lives with a scalable family-friendly business of their own that provides time-freedom, financial freedom or both. Why Should They Listen?We’ll be showcasing the strategies, tactics and tools successful people have used to plot their entrepreneurial journey, but also digging into the pitfalls, trials and tribulations they’ve experienced along the way, with a view to guiding listeners away from pain and towards success. About This WorkI kept revisiting these questions repeatedly and achieved greater clarity over time. And the greater the clarity, the more my communications improved and the greater the resonance this had with people I wanted to attract. This work is magnetic!And because I did this work and used this to shape all my pre-launch communications and to make a compelling case for this project, I have been able to attract interviewing stellar guests from around the world, including the UK, United States and Canada, without having a pre-existing audience, mailing list, or reputation relating to what I’m setting out to do.My guests have included serial entrepreneurs who’ve built and scaled multiple multi-million businesses.  It's bonkers! But for anyone thinking about Corporate Escape there’s important lesson contained inside the process I followed here. So thanks to investing time and effort achieving clarity of vision, then talking about it online, I've had 8-figure business owners I didn't know and hadn't heard of, volunteer themselves as guests for my show.So meanwhile, whilst life carried on and my rehabilitation continued one day I received the results of the testing that had been conducted.I had Multiple Sclerosis (MS).For 6 months solid my condition improved.My recovery was not a straight line.  Some days my balance would be better than others.  Yet every single day I was able to point to something that represented an improvement.Now, I’ve left out a lot of my story’s most gory details for brevity’s sake but what I’m about to share should offer some clues as to how far I had fallen.I had to relearn how to walk, how to balance.  Today, I have this discipline of doing balancing exercises every day.But knowing something about my condition led to me spending time with a neuropsychologist.He encouraged me to cast my mind backwards through my health history.We joined some dots.We saw a pattern.It was remarkable.There was an unexplained illness in the mid 90s.There was a severe trauma in 2010 which kept me out of work for 3 months.Then there had been this most recent disablement.3 major highlights that all had something in common.They all followed extended periods of extreme stress.Each with consequences worse than the last.So then he explained with vigour what this meant:“I’ve been doing this for 27 years and this is what you must know.  We all have our weaknesses. Mine are my knees. Unfortunately for you yours is your brain.And I was like, ‘I knew it!!!'You have damaged wiring.  When you are stressed you produce cortisol.  This is POISON.  And because you have damaged wiring it goes where it shouldn’t.  You cannot be a workaholic.  You cannot work long hours.  You HAVE to change your life or your next episode will be WORSE!!!” “I’m also recommending that you don’t accept medication and learn to manage without medication.  You should do everything you can to stay off the medication and to help you achieve this I recommend you take up mindfulness meditation. This will help you a lot.” I had demonstrated workaholic dependencies for substantial parts of my career, with some exceptions and I had always worn the 24/7 lifestyle as a Badge of Honour.And now the stupidity of his behaviour was laid bare.I was however, delighted with his advice about meditation.  20 years previously I had been meditating daily.And in fact, I have since realised that after that mystery illness in the mid 90s, that meditation had become one of a number of strategies I’d developed for successfully managing a condition I didn’t know I had.  When Doctors had no answers for an illness that kept me off work for 3 months, I began searching for answers of my own after seeing an advert for a book in a newspaper or magazine.  It was a book called Mind Power.  The advert suggested the mind had greater power for restoring and maintaining good health.  The book was written by A Doctor, so immediateIy began wondering why none of my Doctors had mentioned such a thing.This paved the way for an amazing journey of discovery for me.  I began searching for more on this subject.  This led me into the Mind Body and Spirit sections in Book Stores.  Which led me to all sorts of subjects such as spirituality, meditation, hypnosis and Nero-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and a system called the Sedona Method, to name but a few.I didn’t know it at the time but these disciplines I was learning and applying on a daily basis were keeping my underlying condition in check as I worked on high pressure projects within the insurance industry.  There was one particularly challenging Integration Project at AXA where I was baffled as to how all these brilliant Project Managers around me didn’t seem to need to spend any time mastering their minds.  I was needing to spend a lot of time doing Inner Work to remain in balance.  Other team Members found my obsession with this suff curious.  But for me, I now know, with the benefit of hindsight, this was essential for my health.Problems began to arise for me, slowly and imperceptibly, when I lost my discipline and my good habits fell by the wayside.It took two more shockwaves, including this disablement in 2019 to wake me up!So now I’m back working on my Inner Game.  The meditation is back on the daily schedule and my ability to read the signals from my body re improving all the time and importantly, I’m reprogramming my mind and body to respond differently to existing stress triggers.  I’m slowly but surely eliminating stressors without having to stop doing the things which were causing stress.It’s a long old process but I’m going to win at this game by keeping my daily mental health discipline intact this time.But if this Corporate Escape Plan project is to be a success I have to master that Inner Game in order to deliver this rope which maters to me a great deal… because I think it can change people’s lives.This is just the beginning, join me on my journey as I aim to figure it all out. 

Corporate Escape Plan is a more than just a show. Craigy B is on a mission to create a movement and safe space for ambitious Corporate Escapees as they step out on their entrepreneurial journey and plot a path to their first million in revenue and beyond to financial freedom.