By Matt Doan · September 6, 2025 · 3-min read

Breaking the Pattern of Deferred Freedom

You keep climbing the ladder.

Maybe it’s for status. Maybe for safety. Maybe because it’s all you know.

You think: “If I keep going, I’ll eventually earn my freedom.”

That logic runs deep. Decades of programming.

You assumed promotions would unlock ease.

That stock, bonuses, and seniority would finally give you control.

But now, something feels horribly off.

Or maybe you’ve already started to make a move. You’ve dipped a toe outside the system.

Perhaps you've transitioned your corporate job into a few consulting gigs. But they’re sporadic, and it feels like another time-for-money game… at best.

Maybe you bought into real estate—only to watch the market dip, renters ghost, and unexpected expenses kill your margins. What felt like a smart play now just feels heavy. Stressful. Fragile.

Or maybe you pumped $75K into a franchise, only to find yourself buried in operations and obligations, drained in a whole new way.

This is the Slow Lane.

The author, MJ DeMarco said it best:

Over the past three years, I’ve had hundreds of conversations with people stuck in the Slow Lane.

Smart, capable professionals trying to claw their way out of corporate life—to create real freedom.

Their strategy? Solve for money.

“If I can just replace my paycheck… I’ll be free.”

But that logic—while rational—is incomplete.

Because money alone doesn’t guarantee anything.

And more importantly… what’s on the other side of that money you’re actually chasing?

More time with your kids?

Control over your calendar?

Better health, meaningful work, a life that actually feels aligned?

Can you get those things faster?

Without 10-year plans?

Without relying on forces outside of your control?

Do you have to follow the slow, incremental, conventional path?

Or are you only doing it because that’s all you know?

These are the real questions—where breakthroughs become possible.

Because most people aren’t just stuck. They’re trapped in a rigged game.

A game that rewards patience, performance, and conformity… with more of the same.

Let’s name it:

Deferred Freedom.

It’s the idea that if you sacrifice long enough, eventually, life will open up… right?

But every decision you make inside that game comes at a steep cost.

✘ You trade 60-hour weeks for another rung on the ladder

✘ You sink your energy into someone else’s vision

✘ You delay real alignment—until your kids are grown up, or the market stabilizes, or you’re forced to

When looking at the true costs of Deferred Freedom, the numbers don’t lie:

• Gallup reports that American happiness has been in steady decline since 2010, with mid-career professionals—ages 45 to 59—reporting the lowest life satisfaction.
• 62% of white-collar professionals work more than 50 hours a week—burning themselves out for rungs on a ladder that gets shakier the higher you climb.
• 78% of workers over 50 have faced ageism. At the exact point you thought your experience would protect you, it starts working against you.
• Nearly half of professionals 55+ have under $100K saved for retirement—while 25% admit they may never retire at all.

But you normalize it.

You tell yourself it’s just “for now.” Things will stabilize soon.

But they don’t.

The law of entropy states that chaos only increases if left unchecked.

The truth is, the Deferred Freedom game wasn’t built for people like you—people who crave significant autonomy, impact, joy, and wealth.

It was built by the house—those with a “retirement” mindset. And guess what? The house always wins.

The Deferred Freedom game was designed to extract your best years in exchange for a future that will never arrive. Because it’s a game of endless postponement. Later, later, later.

You know it. You feel it. Even if it’s hard to admit.

But still, you stay in it—because it’s familiar.

Here’s the truth:

Deferred Freedom is a choice.

And you don’t have to keep making it.

You can make a better decision.

In our world, we call it Corporate Graduation™.

But what matters is the shift:

…You treat your current job like a short-term asset—now.

…You reclaim your time, energy, family, and health—now.

…You build a business that lights you up, rooted in your Genius, with huge upside, serving people you care about—now.

You stop waiting.

You start living. Now.

You don’t need a 10-year plan.

You just need commitment. Because on the other side of commitment comes courage, clarity, and the exact right path for you.

This isn’t fantasy. We see it every week.

Clients transforming chaos into clarity, cutting their hours in half, reigniting their health and relationships, and building businesses that shift their entire trajectory.

Not in decades. In days.

So now it’s your move.

Will you keep playing the Deferred Freedom game?

Or make a better decision?

—Matt

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