I always wanted to be independent - I never, not once in my life, had the goal of working for someone else. It's not in my genes. In 2003 I founded Common Craft and in January of 2007 Sachi joined the company. Since then, Sachi has been the real force driving our goal of having a truly independent lifestyle.
And it is ALL about lifestyle. As I've written before, we make our lifestyle a huge priority. Why choose to be independent if you can't create a job and schedule that works for you? We've been trying to figure out what this means and I have a couple of examples.
Despite being independent since 2003, there is a part of me that feels like I need to keep normal business hours. This is particularly true in the mornings - I'm compelled to get up and start work. Even when we're up past midnight working - I still feel the need to be up early. This makes no sense to Sachi. She says things like "We're independent - you don't make that choice to conform to everyone else's hours. Work on your schedule." Of course it may be that my schedule happens to fit with the corporate world. On the other hand, I think Sachi is slowly becoming nocturnal - sometimes staying up till 3 and sleeping until 11. But hey, if it works for her it's a very good thing for us both.
There is part of me that still wants a weekend and sometimes they happen. I look forward to Fridays and part of me needs to have a Saturday like everyone else. Of course, Sachi is the voice of reason and says things like "Why would you go on a Saturday with all the other people? - go on a Tuesday when they're at work. Do you want to fight for parking and stand in line?" Of course it's a good point - we have made a choice to be able to avoid the masses. Sachi often reminds me that we can exchange almost any day for a Saturday.
I find all of this so interesting and we talk about it constantly. It's one thing to have a job that is independent of bosses and corporate structure, but it's yet another to use that opportunity to create a lifestyle that fits you.