Why I Walked Away From Corporate Success

There is a hard truth that very few people are willing to sit with long enough to change. 

If you are not actively building towards your own vision, you are almost certainly working to advance someone else’s. 

That does not make you weak. It makes you normal. 

For decades, the system has been designed to reward compliance, not conscious design. Security is prioritised over sovereignty. Busy is mistaken for productive. And borrowed ambition quietly replaces personal purpose. 

My Own Wake-Up Call 

I spent 25 years in corporate leadership roles, running businesses across borders and delivering complex infrastructure programmes. The responsibility was immense. The pressure was constant. The outcomes were measurable and often impressive. 

The success was real, but so was the misalignment. 

Effective and respected, yet time poor and increasingly aware my energy was being spent on goals that were not mine.  

The most confronting realisation was this: 

If I continued on that path, the people I loved most would receive the tired, distracted version of me, while my work received the sharpest, most focused version. 

That is not a trade-off I was willing to accept. 

Taking Back Control  

Life does not drift accidentally. It is shaped daily by decisions, defaults, and deferred choices. 

When you do not take control, control is still exercised. Just not by you. 

Your diary fills. Your priorities blur. Your goals shrink to fit other people’s expectations. 

Taking control is not reckless. It is responsible. 

Especially if you have people who depend on you. 

The Real Constraints are Internal 

In my experience, the most common constraints are not external at all. 

They are internal narratives: 

• “I am not ready yet.” 

• “I need more certainty.” 

• “Money is risky.” 

• “People like me do not do things like that.” 

This scarcity mindset keeps people stuck polishing version 1 in their head while waiting for permission that never comes. 

Confidence does not arrive first. Action does. 

Belief is built through movement, not contemplation. 

Momentum Matters More Than Mastery  

You do not need the complete vision. You need the first outline. 

Action creates learning. Learning sharpens clarity. Clarity builds confidence. 

Every meaningful life I have encountered, including my own, has been shaped through iteration, not perfection. Architects begin with sketches, not skyscrapers. But they also understand this: 

At some point, the blueprint must give way to construction.  

Becoming the Architect of Your Life 

Being the architect of your life does not mean abandoning responsibility. It means choosing it deliberately. 

It means deciding: 

• What matters most. 

• What success actually looks like for you. 

• What you are no longer willing to trade away. 

The moment you take that decision seriously, your behaviour changes. Your boundaries strengthen. Your energy returns. Your future stops being accidental. 

Start now. Start imperfectly. Start honestly. 

Because the toughest reality of all is this: 

Time will pass either way. The only question is whose vision it serves. 

Own the outcome.

Mark Stokes

Sustainomics Capital