Founder's Training

"A salary is the drug they give you to forget your dreams.” — Kevin O'Leary

"The three most harmful addictions are heroin, carbohydrates, and a monthly salary." — Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Statements like these may sound harsh if you believe we must be addiction-free. Honestly, I don't. I believe that humans are creatures of habit, and the best way to approach it is to choose our habits wisely and pick those with the least destructive consequences. Anyway, I don't think addictions are a very smart way to go about life. The problem is that the very word "addiction" is usually associated with substances and not with the things we do in life that make us need them. Are you happy with the way you are earning your livelihood? Why is Friday night better than Monday morning? Why is a vacation better than a workweek? Does it have to be like that?

During the course of my life, I've been addicted to a couple of things, and a monthly salary was one of them for a while. However, that was the addiction I enjoyed the least, and the consequences were far-reaching, so I decided to ditch it. Why? What made me do it? Well, this is what was running through my mind:

I was working all sorts of things during my years in school, but as soon as I got a "real job", my life began revolving around it (drinking, on the other hand, takes years of commitment before it gets to that level).

I enjoyed creative work but felt choked by corporate overhead and politics. Also, I didn't think these things contributed to the company's output, quite the opposite. Couldn't imagine spending 40 years in that kind of environment.

I believed that selling my time/labor was not the smartest way to make money, considering that I had a limited amount of it.

The sense of security it provided felt questionable - I thought that real security comes from independence and the ability to create something and sell it in the open market.

I could go on and on, but I guess you're getting the gist of it.

Since I didn't inherit any money and still had to pay for basic needs like food and rent, I considered the alternatives, and entrepreneurship looked like the best option for me. So I gave it a try. Failed, but learned something. Then I tried again. Same result. Learned more. Then I worked as a freelancer for a while. It was good; my hourly rate was high, I was working 12-hour days, making four or five times the average Croatian salary per month. It came in handy, we had a mortgage, my partner was pregnant, and we had no savings left. It was way better than 9 to 5, but I was back to selling my time, which was not what I wanted in the long run. So, a friend and I started another company, and after ten years of doing that, we were off the hamster wheel. That was five years ago. Since then, I have been doing what I always wanted to do, learning stuff I always wanted to learn. I've spent months in the mountains and wilderness of Croatia, Asia, and South America. Completed 4-year training in body-oriented psychotherapy and dedicated countless hours to meditation, actively doing nothing, leaving my body and mind at rest, and observing reality unfold without "me" interfering.

One thing that makes me particularly happy for years now is helping others follow their dreams. Being around people who see that there is so much more to life than the grind and indulgences, who sense the unique seed of something yet to be discovered planted in the very core of their being. People who know that they are not just troubled guests on this earth, not just accidents amidst other accidents. Seeing the spark in their eyes is priceless.

Tatjana Mesar feels the same about her students. She is a musician, a business coach, and a founder of a yoga school, who followed her heart right away and discovered her path much more quickly than I did. Now, we have combined our experiences and created Founder's Training. If you believe it could be beneficial to you, we invite you to join us.

Founder's training is just one of the programs offered by the CoreCordis - Grow Up & Wake Up platform, which is dedicated to the practical exploration of the human experience with a clear mind, open heart, and healthy body. We want to take responsibility for our own lives and live to the fullest, for the benefit of all, before we die. If you share the same desire, explore with us.

Marko Varat, thank you for making me part of it.