“You always seem so relaxed, Matt.”

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That was my signal.

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My master plan was working.

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I no longer worked for corporate; corporate worked for me.

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After a decade of giving everything to ladder-climbing (and losing everything I held dear), I had to reinvent my relationship at work.

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I could no longer tolerate:

• 10-12 hour days
• Being absent from family
• Traveling every single week
• Always “plugged in” to work
• Feeling increasingly miserable
• The everyday emotional torture

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The paycheck and benefits were vital with kids and a lifestyle to maintain.

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So I had to create a new strategy — capturing the “goods” from corporate while minimizing the “bads.”

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In retrospect, I call it doing corporate detached.

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Physically attached, emotionally detached

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Psychologists show that our upbringing influences our “attachment style,”  which has a massive influence on our experience at work.

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If you’re like the old me (anxious attachment style), you’re worried about what others think, and you’re ripe for burnout.

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Fixing this problem comes down to tuning your “attachment” dial.

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In short, here’s what to build towards: be physically attached, while emotionally detached.

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Physically attached:

• You understand what “moves the needle” at work
• You fixate on delivering essential outcomes only
• You’re surgical at work: laser-focused each day on delivering those outcomes (while cutting the fat)

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Emotionally detached:

• You program your brain with thoughts about what you REALLY care about in life
• These thoughts ignite a positive flood of emotions that serve you
• You view your work from the perspective of  “neutral observer”  (far less emotional now)

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This doesn’t mean you’re an unemotional robot at work.

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It just means you’re in control — no longer tossed around like a rag doll due to external circumstances.

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You’ve developed perspective and discipline.

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We can also frame this another way.

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In Stoicism, the aim is to cultivate indifference to nearly everything .

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This is a place of strength where you no longer judge everything as “good” or “bad.”

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Instead, you’re living in a healthy (unemotional) state of indifference — a place of peace and balance.

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Wrap-Up

Do you see how this works? Can you imagine the immense value?

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It was everything to me: learning to be physically attached, while emotionally detached.

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Results:

• I cut my work hours in half
• I was finally there for my family
• I ignited my entrepreneurial path
• I created tangible freedoms in my life

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The job no longer dominated my life. Instead, it became a tool in service of my dream life.

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This is doing corporate detached.