I quit!!

[emeadow]

I did it! I quit.

I have a good paying, good benefits, very stable 'cubicle' job that I have slaved at for the last 11 years. I make very good money as things go, am super respected, was even offered a great promotion a month ago that I turned down........because I knew it would interfere with my ability to follow 'my path'.

The craziest thing is, my path is not even 100% clear, and I am not making money at my endeavors yet, but dangit, I am tired of spreading my time and energy between two paths. I feel like I am making slow progress because I spend so much wasted energy on my 'day job', that I am just skimming what I could do in relation to my REAL interests.

So I gave notice today.

I did give them the option to keep me on board for a couple more months, in a very very reduced role (almost data entry level), where I could work from home only and still make some income and help them through the busy season. My first goal is to drop my day job stress, and if I can do that and still make money working from home for two months, that would be ideal. But if they don't take my offer, I will be hunting up a part time job to help make a few bucks to help on our bills.

My husband is more supportive then I ever thought, especially since financially this will put us in a very very tight position for awhile.

I realized a few weeks ago the only reason I was staying in my current role, and barely making progress in my projects I have passion in, was purely out of guilt......of leaving my current boss with a huge vacancy to fill, especially in the middle of our busy season. But when I weighed out delaying my future another 3-4 months just because of guilt, it looked pretty silly. I have always done EVERYTHING that has been thrown at me from this company and then some, it was time for me to look out for myself for a change.

Holy moly, I feel like I just walked off the plank into an abyss of unknown.

Deep Breath.....

[Tara680]

Good for you!

I am so proud of you!


Remember you can be comfortable or you can be rich

[CoolBee]

Congratulations

Now treat yourself to a good burst of "I'm Free" by "The Who"

[ElleJaye]

Wonderful for you!!!!

I am a long-time lurker, but your comment made me register on the spot. I want you to know that you aren't alone. I did the exact same thing back in July after months of contemplating it. And although I haven't figured it all out yet, I know I did the right thing. If I had taken one more breath in that "old life", I would have died...and that I know for sure. Peace and blessings to you. May you find your way inspite of the fear and because of the freedom.

Leslie

[Rob Ozanne]

Conratulations - quitting jobs is a fantastic and freeing experience. It opens up a whole new world of possibility.

In fact it feels so good I'm almost tempted go get a regular job just so I can have the experience of leaving again

[this is fun]

Congrats!
That's what I'd like to say soon in my present job, before moving on to greener pastures Yay!

[Lamusa]

Yay! Congratulations! That's awesome. Best wishes!

Lamusa

[ar81]

If you are confused, it is a time not to make decisions.
But if you are not, and still you think it is fine, that's Ok.

[emeadow]

Phew, head still spinning a bit.

ar81, I probably am still a 'bit' confused, mostly because I just lost my identity for the last year....which has been 'I am going to quit and do my own thing'. So now I am feeling out this new identity 'wow, I have quit, and I AM doing my own thing for REAL now'. I am not in a rush to make anymore decisions, I am focusing on completing my work tasks and getting out of here with a clean slate in 3.5 weeks.

So far the few folks I have told at work, I have all gotten 'congrats and I am jealous' comments. I am hoping to inspire other cubicle dwellers maybe down the road to do the same

Thanks for all the words of encouragement.

[CoolBee]

I did this 3-4 times in my life. Some people thought I was nutso but I think most of them were a bit jealous (in a nice way).

One time I did it, I had been talking to one of the accountants at my work about my decision and he gave me this long spiel about how he had wife, kids, mortgage and had to suffer.

Then, 3 weeks later, I was working on a temping assignment in central London and on my lunch break, when I heard a guy calling me from a van. I turned round, and there was the accountant!

He said, "I thought to myself, if she can do it, so can I" and he had quit the week after me. He said "I'm earning half as much and I'm twice as happy driving this van".

[John Tedder]

Good luck emeadow. I hope it all works out for you.

As Helen Keller said, "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all."

[dh5114]

Well, quitting is the easy part...

The good part is, you're listening to yourself and you took action.

There will be times when you won't know what to do, when you'll be at the bottom part of ups&downs. Since quitting is so easy, don't do it when things get tough. Instead, stick in there and work your way up.

Believe in yourself and everything else will fall in place. Including money.

[JustinPopovic]

I LOVE it!!!

Congratulations. This is a HUGE step in the direction of positive change.

I did the exact same thing on January 11th, 2008 and I have not looked back. Each day has been a new adventure and the self growth that has taken place is mind boggling.

I just finished writing a system that teaches people how to do what you just did and my main message is:

Once your BELIEF in your ability to succeed on your own is GREATER THAN your FEAR of losing the security of a full time job, you are free.

Welcome to Freedom!

[James81]

I was with you, right up until you mentioned having a husband with a job...and then, I thought, well there isn't really much "risk" to your move. You've still got the safety net of his income to fall back on and worse case, you have to cut out some of the frills in your budget for a while.

(In other words, I'm saying, congrats on making the leap and you'll be fine. )

[Lewis]

I can completely relate to spreading your timeout and not feeling like you're putting enough time into your passion. Congratulations on taking this monumental step towards a brighter future. You might have tough times ahead but they will be worth it because you're following your passion.

[Oleg]

Good luck emeadow! I did this 2 times in my life and never regret.

[emeadow]

Originally Posted by James81

I was with you, right up until you mentioned having a husband with a job...and then, I thought, well there isn't really much "risk" to your move. You've still got the safety net of his income to fall back on and worse case, you have to cut out some of the frills in your budget for a while.

(In other words, I'm saying, congrats on making the leap and you'll be fine. )

Had to chuckle at this a bit, as yes, I totally do have the fall back of my husband's income, so from that perspective, this is not a FULL leap of faith. I do have a safety net, I admit it (although that safety net wouldn't last long with our current lifestyle if I did not succeed).

But from the standpoint of our actual personalities, this is a huge step for ME to make. We have been married 6 years, together over a dozen, and we split all expenses 50/50. I have my income, bank accounts, ect...and he has his. I have been saving for this, paying off everything, and my hope is to get a part time job or work for a couple months with a 'demotion' from my current company so that I do not have to take my 'leap' dependent on someone else. We are both very independent when it comes to a financial standpoint (this is not forced, this is a mutual view). YES,I can fall back on him if need be, but personally, I am 'visualizing' that not being an issue in the coming months .

I will agree that this is a very 'safe' move on paper, but for me, this is a very large personal hurdle to overcome. I have been pretty much financially independent since 16, and well, after 18 years of this, letting go of the reins a bit scares the bejeezus outta me....lol. Part of this I am sure goes back because a lot of my family tends to fall on others for help, so I am driven because I do NOT want to fall into that trap, almost to a point of error.

Thanks for the note of encouragements though!!!

E

[Strangemagik]

Congrats. Its is freeing I can imagine. I have no security net. No emergency savings not really anyone to back up and support me financially or emotionally in this. In fact the one that should have been my recent live in boyfriend pretty much ended things a couple days later. He gave me other reasons but I know this played huge roll in it.

I was telling him(ya we talk still pretty much daily) that I didn't care what the people at work were saying about me leaving. I was a temp, treated horribly, felt like i was in church being preached at every evening about how lucky we were to have jobs(true in the sense of being slave for your money in this hard time) and then being harassed daily by a coworker and having no boss to turn to because he was on his side. I told him(the ex) they can say what they want but they just jealous they don't have the guts to do it. And MANY of them complain and moan about the job daily.

I just wanna thank you for sharing. In 2 months as I watched my life be sucked from me I finally have clarity that maybe this is giving me freedom. a fresh clean slate as you say. If its all gone maybe all the negative can go and now I can start anew and do this my way. I've developed a passion for photography and wish to build my business in the new year. I may have to take on a part time job as I'm not sure the $147 a week my unemployment(once approved, may take time if I gotta appeal for the harassment since I quit by my own free will mostly due to the stress and drama of the harassment) won't be much.

I can thank that man(harassing one) today because he put this in motion but I can finally see myself loving what I do. And for first time I have the belief in myself to do something. Anything! If it fails the worse that could happen is I'll try again or try another idea. Nothing ventured nothing gained, right?

You will be so happy and FREE!!!!!!!!!! Congrats.

[emeadow]

Originally Posted by Strangemagik

Congrats. Its is freeing I can imagine. I have no security net. No emergency savings not really anyone to back up and support me financially or emotionally in this.

I applaud you, and everyone that takes this step with so much more at stake. The strength to go out on this limb is huge when you are doing it alone.

Originally Posted by Strangemagik

I can thank that man(harassing one) today because he put this in motion

Our company was bought out by a much larger company about 18 months ago, and I would like to thank them for helping to push me out the door...lol. It wasn't great before, but they put the frosting on the cake so to speak. So, thank you mr large corporation for helping to convince me I need to be 'free'

Originally Posted by Strangemagik

You will be so happy and FREE!!!!!!!!!! Congrats.

Thank you!!! I do wish you the best in your photography endeavors.


My husband has quizzed me quite a few times, asking what I think the time frame is on getting a few things going, and of course, I cannot give him one. The one thing I am having trouble fathoming, is when my mind clears, when my stressful job of 11 years is gone and out of my head, what will happen. To know that all my energy will now be mine, and I can sit down and plan and consider with the skies the limit sort of attitude, I have NO idea where I am going to land. I try to plan, outline my path going forward, but I am still thinking in terms of my passions being a side project. I am excited to see what happens when I can shift all my energy and time into the directions I enjoy. I am so used to spending 80% of my energy helping someone else, I am having trouble comprehending what is possible when I regain that 80% for my own endeavors. The possibilities are endless, and exciting!

[BirraNulu]

Wonderful. Make passion full time not part time and ride the roller coaster. That is what life is. You also planned for it so do it.

[HEROpureLOVE]

I really want to quit my job too! Last time I did that I ended up spending all my savings and wasting a lot of time. I'm worried I might get into an unproductive rut like last time. I guess it's all about purpose. I need to quit with a purpose in mind instead of quit in hopes of finding that purpose. Right? Should I quit? I have no obligations, no debt, and a good chunk of savings....

[willnesbitt]

Emeadow, you are my hero!!!!

Thank you for posting this. It is right on time for me because I'm working towards quitting my job very soon.

The funny thing is that I was supposed to have quit two weeks ago, but didn't because I had something come up that I needed to take care of financially. And I keep pushing it back two weeks because i want to build up "enough" money. But that is always the case. When is "enough" enough?
It still takes courage to do what you did with or without a safety net. I would say that I'm thankful for not having the net. It's kind of like walking a tightrope. You will be careful to make it across whether you have a net below or not. However, not having one gives you even more incentive to make it to the other side. I have no net and I know I can make it work. I did this once before where I quit my job to start a business but it didn't work out. I realize my mistakes and will not repeat them. I've learned from them and will make this work.

I'm at the point where I want to quit my job and move to another state. I'm nervous about it, but I've done it before and succeeded each time. I guess the older I get, the more I start buying into thinking more "responsibly" as adults should do. Whatever! I must do what's best for me. I just have to stop pushing the date back like I did at the beginning of this job. I came here and said that I'd only be here for 3 months....that was 1 year ago. Same with the last job.

Again, thanks for the inspiration emeadow. Just knowing that there are others who have taken the leap...no, better yet taken the steps to achieve their goal is motivation for me to do the same. THANKS!!!!!!