How to Use An Exit Strategy to Win at Life

May 2018

There are times in your life where it is time to move on and chart a different course. In business, we call these exit strategies. More specifically, “an exit strategy is an entrepreneur’s strategic plan to sell his or her ownership in a company to investors or another company.”¹

There are many times in your life where you need an exit strategy to help you move on from a current job, a relationship or even an undesirable situation you find yourself in.

What a Personal Exit Strategy Is

I like to think of an exit strategy as being a strategic way to move from one phase of your life to another. Hence it being called an exit ‘strategy’. Strategy meaning you have a plan of action, you aren’t simply winging it or flying by the seat of your pants. You can think of it as proactively moving on from one situation with your eye on what is to come and setting yourself up properly for what’s to come. You are leaving your current situation for a reason, but doing it with thought and a plan.

Like the old saying goes ‘failing to plan is planning to fail!’

What a Personal Exit Strategy Is Not!

Do not confuse a personal exit strategy with a contingency or backup plan, it is not a plan B, C or D. Having a personal exit strategy is being proactive and taking control of different areas of your life rather than being at the mercy of someone else. Another way to think of it is that you are playing offense as opposed to defense.

Are There Different Types of Personal Exit Strategies?

Definitely! There are minor exit strategies and major exit strategies.

You can think of minor exit strategies as day to day situations that you need to be able to move on from so that they don’t waste your and other people’s time. Some examples are:

Leaving when you are out with friends.
Getting out of a conversation.
Moving on while out on a date.
Ending a call that isn’t going anywhere.

Whereas major exit strategies have bigger stakes, they are major life events and situations. Some examples are:

Leaving your job as you climb the corporate ladder.
Getting out of your job because you hate it.
Leaving your job because you are retiring.
Moving on from relationships.
The end of your life – the ultimate exit strategy!

Hey everyone, this is Bri

I wasn’t scheduled to write this post, but Rick texted me and asked if I could finish it because he ate an uncooked hamburger and has a bad case of diarrhea.

I didn’t question him because I had heard enough (via text, of course) and didn’t want any more details.

His ‘food poisoning’ couldn’t have been that bad because I just saw a picture of him at happy hour with a couple of ‘Miami hoochie mamas’ on Instagram. Plus, he’s a health nut and doesn’t even eat hamburgers!

Oh well, the show must go on, so I guess I will finish it for him…

Steps of a Personal Exit Strategy

No matter whether your exit strategy is minor or major, there are some fundamental steps you will need to take to ensure that your transition out of your current situation and into your new one is a successful one.

Obviously, major exit strategies are more complex and have more things to consider at each step, but the process is the same.

(1) Understand the why and the reasons

This is awareness of what you want.

(2) Figure out what you need to consider and what you need do to get there.

This is an awareness and understanding of exactly what it takes to get to where you want to be.

(3) Create a timeline of things you need to do

This is a well thought out plan to get you there.

(4) Execute on your exit strategy

This is executing on your plan.

Let’s Look at an Example of an Exit Strategy

You are climbing the corporate ladder and are thinking about the next step in your career. This is the perfect place to use an exit strategy. The fact that you dislike your dickhead boss gives you that extra push that you need.

Following the steps above, you plan your exit strategy:

(1) Understand the why and the reasons:

Your ‘why’ is that you want to keep advancing in your career and fulfill the career aspirations that you have set for yourself.

(2) Figure out what you need to consider and what you need do to get there:

There are a few questions that you need to ask yourself to make sure you plan out your exit strategy properly, such as:

What are the requirements for the next job you want? What knowledge and skills do you need to make the jump? Do you have enough on your resume to meet them?
Have you been in your current position long enough?
Is there anything else you can learn at your current position?
Is there anything else you can accomplish at your current position?
Are people hiring for the next job you want?
If you want to start your own business how much money do you need to have? Do you have enough money to pay your bills?
What is your timing strategy? How long until you can execute on your exit strategy?

These are just a few examples of things you need to consider, I’m sure you can think of even more. The point is to really try to think of everything that could affect your exit.

(3) Create a timeline of action items you need to do – this is a well thought out plan to get you there

You have decided that you have got everything you can out of your current job, have learned as much as you can and have the necessary skills to get the next job. You just need 3 more months to hit the 3-year mark which is what the market demands in terms of experience.

Your plan is to start looking for a job in 4 months, which makes sense because you will hit 3 months in December and no one hires during the holidays.

This means you have 4 months to do the following:

Do some networking – starting now.

Polish up your old resume – within a month.

Speak to some headhunters you know and let them know you will be on the market in 4 months, so they keep you in mind – within next month.

Perform research on companies you may want to work for, take a good look at the company culture and the work-life balance (that is, if it’s important to you because it’s huge for me!) – within 2 months.

Make sure you use all your vacation days, duh! – within 4 months.

Brush up on interviewing (practice, practice, practice) – 1 month before.

Prepare your letter of resignation – 1 month before.

Hand in your letter or resignation – at the appropriate time.

There may be other things you want to do depending on your current and future job.

(4) Execute on your exit strategy – this executing on your plan

This is where you start executing on the action items.

Hi guys, this is Howie

I just got a call from Bri that she needs to take her dog to the vet because her poop is green (the dog’s, not Bri’s). She asked if I could finish this post.

I didn’t question her because I love dogs so much and wanted to make sure Leia was ok.

Then I remembered that Leia was at ‘doggy day camp’ this week and my suspicions were confirmed when I saw a picture of Bri with Rick on Facebook at happy hour.

Oh well, the show must go on, so I guess I will finish it for her…

Exit Stage Left…

Here are some other areas where you may want to use an exit strategy and questions you may want to ask yourself to help plan your exit strategy:

In your dating life:

Do you and the person you are dating have the same goals for the relationship? If you want to get married and you are dating someone, perhaps you want to give yourself a timeline where you decide whether it’s going to happen or not. Having an exit strategy is something you may want to think about.

Being out at an event or out with friends:

If you are out for an evening and know you need to be up in the morning, you need to have an exit strategy planned out to ensure you get out of there on time.

When you are leaving your job to retire:

There are all different reasons for leaving your job besides moving up the career ladder as we discussed above. Another reason that people need to give more thought to is leaving for retirement. Some of the things you may want to consider are:

Making sure your financial house is in order.
Making sure you have used or are able to cash out vacation days.
Ensuring that sure your post-retirement health care is lined up.
Getting your pension lined up, there is a timing aspect to it, so you don’t want to leave it until the last minute, so you may need to talk to your HR department.
Figure out what you are going to do with all your time.

The end of your life – the ultimate exit strategy:

As uncomfortable as it is for some people to talk about, it is a part of life. Thinking and planning for what is inevitable can make things easier for you and your family when the times comes. Some of the things you may want to consider in this exit strategy are:

What do you still want to accomplish?
What do you want your legacy to be? What mark do you want to leave?
What do you need to do financially?
What do you need to say to people?
Do you have someone to make decisions for you should you no longer be capable?
Have you communicated your preferred medical treatment? i.e. DNR – do not resuscitate.

That’s it for today’s post. Hopefully, you can come up with an exit strategy that isn’t as crappy as the ones that my mentees Rick and Bri came up with. Looks like I have more mentoring to do!

I hate to do this to you but I need to cut this blog post short, before doing our usual Use It or Lose It, When to Use It and What Do You Think sections. You see, I think I ate some bad chili and am starting to feel a bit queasy…

Until next time, behave and as always…Prime Your Pump!

–Howie

Use It or Lose It:

To create an exit strategy:

(1) Understand the why and reasons – this is awareness of what you want.

(2) Figure out what you need to consider and what you need do to get there – this is an awareness of what it takes to get there.

(3) Create a timeline of things you need to do – this is a well thought out plan to get you there.

(4) Execute on your exit strategy – this executing on your plan.

When to Use It:

Always be thinking of an exit strategy, what do you want to accomplish or get out of your current situation before you move on?

What Do You Think?

Can you think of any other examples of exit strategies other than the ones we have mentioned?

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3 Replies to “How to Use An Exit Strategy to Win at Life”

Pingback: My Exit Strategy : Billie Best Blog
Dave Savadge says:

May 17, 2018 at 12:53 pm

Very enjoyable to see a 3-some, something I term as tag-team writing. I’m going to toss out an alternative opinion, based on life here on the Left Coast. You 3 may or may not agree, but that’s what rational discussion is all about.

What a lot of high-tech engineers and programmers fail to realize is that there is a flaw in the “3 years and move on” exit strategy. In most major companies, you become ‘vested’ after 5 years employment, meaning you are eligible for a retirement pension and stock options. The longer you work, the better the pension and the more stock you can acquire. By shifting employers every 3 years, they are overlooking any long term planning, opting instead for the immediate reward of a higher salary and ignoring the post age 65 future. Yes, I did plan for advancement, both within the Air Force and then a large aerospace company – – but I stayed with the same employer. In Silicon Valley, companies come and companies go. In the dot-com frenzy, all sorts of small high tech firms appeared, and sucked up a lot of technical and engineering personnel from existing major companies. After dot-com exploded and crashed in flames, all these talented people were left holding an empty bag and had to scramble. Many drowned, as in “do you want fries with that?” I personally knew several. Their former positions in established firms had been filled by new-hires out of college, and there were no openings available at the higher salaries they had become used to.

At age 60, my company offered me early retirement with full benefits. My first question was “Where do I sign?’ No reason to stay for another 5 years of getting up early and commuting. An unanticipated exit strategy door opened, and I walked through it. I have never looked back.

1. Rick, Bri and Howie says:
  
  May 17, 2018 at 5:58 pm
  
  Very true Dave. You make a great point. Staying with the same organization is definitely something many people do. In fact, Howie has been at the U since the 70s! There are so many variables involved. Sounds like you made out very well, good stuff!