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Dream to Reality: How I Quit My Day Job

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Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking, and don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. ~Steve Jobs

Ever since I learned about the concept of financial independence five years ago, the seed of a dream had been planted. My dream: Having the freedom to deliberately choose how I spend every day – to have complete freedom of time.

As of last week, my dream became a reality.

I left my job at Amazon to start this new life chapter. I have three goals:

  • To complete a triathlon
  • To learn French
  • To live everyday fully, as if my last

My answer to the question “What do you do?” will now be “I spend fulltime pursuing my passions.”

Personal Story

I had a wonderful job at a phenomenal company. I had flexibility, an understanding boss, and a high paying salary. I loved my job. But after 6 years of expending myself on the job, trying out various professional roles, I felt that I’d grown beyond the fixed positions available at the company.

I’m not going lie, having a lot of money is nice. Money can buy you things, nice things. However, the cliché is true – money cannot buy you happiness, and having it doesn’t mean that you are a successful person. After several years, I realized that the more money I made, the less satisfied I became. Days started to blend into one another, time flew by, and I deeply longed for something with more meaning.

Upon realizing that I was trading my time for money, I started experimenting with various passive income sources. I’ve started and ended businesses, I’ve turned hobbies into professional pursuits, and I’ve tested out investment avenues.

In the end, I’ve learned that it doesn’t matter what you’re doing. As long as you are doing something that expresses your passion, you will excel and you will gain satisfaction. I’ve also learned that starting something from nothing and watching it grow is deeply rewarding.

Through my quest to finding my passion, I discovered blogging as a platform where I can share ideas and lessons learned that are closest to my heart, as a way to serve others. For the first time in my life, I feel that I am living my life purpose.

Words cannot express the joy I feel while writing for Think Simple Now, and the numerous times when feedback from readers has brought me to tears. This just feels right.

I wanted to take this time to say Thank You for being part of this with me, and for helping me realize my dream while stumbling upon my passion.

 

What Now? Q&A

 

Q: Now that you’re a pro-blogger, will you be working on your blog fulltime?

A: I don’t view myself as a professional blogger, since in my mind, I love this so much that I would pay money to experience it. Having said that, my main focus will be to follow my heart and do what feels right. There are many things I plan on doing, blogging is just one of them.

The following are a list of things I plan to do and incorporate into my life:

  • Morning Routine – Establishing a healthy morning routine can be a powerful way to start your day. Mine will include: rising early, drinking plenty of water, exercising, meditation, & reading something inspirational.
  • Reading – I love to read, but never found that I had enough time to do so. Now’s my chance to ramp through books I’ve always wanted to read. I have a large reading list with new books and old books I plan to re-read. My plan here is to read at least 2-4 books a month. I tend to crack open several books at the same time, so we’ll see how I do. I will be sharing what I’m reading with you all. Check out the section “What I’m Reading Now” along the side bar. I will be updating it as I progress.
  • Yoga – Learning yoga.
  • Meditation – Establish a regular daily meditation routine. My plan is to meditate twice a day, between 10-45 minutes each session.
  • Exercise – I can count the number of times I’ve exercised in the last year on one hand. True story. It’s an area of my life that needs improving for the sake of my long term wellbeing. I randomly picked triathlon as a goal, since it will be a tremendous challenge, and poses as a goal to whip myself into shape.
  • Public Speaking -I feel a draw towards motivational speaking and life coaching. While I’m not set on becoming a coach or a public speaker, I would like to explore in that direction. I will be joining a local Toastmasters group, and train myself in becoming a more engaging speaker and effective leader.
  • Travel – My love for traveling comes from a desire to experience cultures that are vastly diverse from my own. Some places on my list are: Mongolia, Arabic China, Bali (Indonesia), Peru and South America, Ethiopia and other African countries. I would also like to live in Paris for several months.
  • Writing – I will continue to share life lessons I’ve gained, and write about issues that we all experience as humans. My central theme will remain the same: Personal Happiness, Fulfillment, Clarity and Wellbeing.
  • Personal BlogThink Simple Now posts have always been in the format of in-depth articles on personal development. As such, I don’t consider it a blog, but rather a free web publication on personal wellbeing. I’ve been toying with the idea of starting a more personal blog called Simply Tina, where I’ll be posting much more liberally and casually. The topics will consist of a larger range of subjects: updates of my progress in this new lifestyle, traveling, business lessons, blogging, passive income, the 4 hour workweek lifestyle, startups, empowering mindsets, and useful resources.(Coming Soon. Subscribe today.)

 

 

Q: Holy crap, you quit your job? Tell me more. How are you paying for your expenses?

A: Two years ago, I had set a clear date for when I’d be leaving my job to pursue my passions fulltime. At that time, I only had a small amount of passive income from investments that paid for small bills. So my plan was to save enough money so that I could quit my job to freely pursue my passions fulltime for two years.

I believed (and still believe) that when we are doing that which we are completely passionate about, money will come. The plan was to explore my passions freely, living on my savings. I was confident that before the end of year two, I would be generating income doing what I love, without needing to get a job.

This transition was a difficult one, and was really, really scary initially knowing that I would lose my safety blanket: stable job, regular income, and benefits. But once I got over that initial scare, I realized that I was trapped by social conditioning and social pressure that I needed to get a job. The fear eventually passed with time when I focused on what I wanted: to be location independent and have complete control of my time.

Currently, I have several sources of passive income, but most of my income comes from advertisers, sponsors, and affiliates from ThinkSimpleNow.com. Advertising is the only way I can make the content available for free. If you find the ads annoying, you can use a RSS reader. I do appreciate your understanding and support regarding the ads.

While I am making income through ads, it is not a lot of money, enough to pay for basic necessities. If you’re interested in helping me out, here are several outlets:

  • Feedback and Suggestions – Drop me an email with topics you’re interested in hearing more on, or let me know what I’ve done right. I’ll also appreciate constructive criticism.
  • Subscribe to RSS – If you haven’t already please subscribe to my RSS feed, or subscribe via email. (What are RSS Feeds?) The subscriber count is a huge motivator for me. Thank you!
  • Donations – If you’ve found the content useful, you can send donations via paypal. I eat a large number of avocados every week, and these donations go towards buying more avocados on my next grocery run. When I eat those avocados, I’ll be thinking happy thoughts about the donator.
  • Tell Your Friends – The best gift you can give me is by helping me spread the word about Think Simple Now. Thank you in advance for doing this. :)
  • Amazon Shopping – I get a small commission from Amazon (about 3%) if you click through one of my affiliate links and end up buying something on the site. This does not cost anything for you, but will make a big difference for me. When you need to make an online purchase from Amazon, I would really appreciate it if you can click through to Amazon via Think Simple Now (Clicking any of the books along the sidebar will do). If you don’t want to do this, no sweat!

Steps for How I Did It

I’ve learned many lessons along the way prior to leaving my job. Here are some major points and steps that have contributed towards where I am today. I hope they can be helpful to you.

quit-my-job-freedom.jpg

Photo by Mike BG

1. Clear Vision of Result

Many of us don’t get the results we want, because we don’t know what it is we actually want. Not knowing what we want is like jumping on a random train, blind-folded. It might take us to a city we’ll enjoy, but it might not. It is completely random and we have no control over where the train goes.

Alternatively, many of us talk about wanting to be rich. But we don’t know what “rich” means, or understand why we want it, or map out a plan towards obtaining it. This pattern is equivalent to a person in London wanting to be in New York, but hops on a random train in Europe, blind-folded. The ‘wanting’ alone will not get us there.

To get what we want, we need to first have a clear vision of what that thing is. The vision needs to be defined using measurable attributes, along with dates for when you will get there. Once you have a clear measurable goal for what you want and when you want it, you can start to work backwards and map out a plan. As the saying goes, “What gets measured, gets managed.”

In our analogy, say we are living in London but want to be in New York by December 15th, 2008. We have 4 months to get a travel visa, buy a flight ticket to NYC, look for an apartment or hotel in NYC, take time off work, pack our bags, and ask friends to take us to the airport. Before the end of next week, our plan is to have researched flights and have one purchased.

2. Understanding Why

Let’s say that you too wanted to quit your job and have complete freedom of time, what will you do with the extra time? If you don’t know, you’ll be better off staying at your job, since you’ll likely be bored and will start looking for a job soon. Make sure you understand the drive behind the vision.

List out all the reasons why you want to fulfill your vision. How will achieving that contribute towards your life? How can you use that new found freedom to help others?

3. Write It Down and Date It

I prefer to write down my goals along with a date for when it will happen. Writing it down forces you to clearly articulate the thing you want. Writing down your goals also helps by clearing them out of your mind and onto paper.

It feels just that much more real and doable once it’s in ink and down on paper.

4. Plan

If the steps toward achieving your goals aren’t clear, start listing out ideas for potential roads that can take you there.

Treat each potential road as a separate project, and work on one project at a time. Pick the project that feels the best for you and your interests.

With each project, list out the major steps you need to achieve in order to reach your goal. These steps are large milestones that are measurable. Make sure you set a target date for when each step will be completed.

For each step, break it down further into actionable tasks that can be completed in a few hours. Set a target date for each task. Adjust the target date for completing the step, if necessary.

5. Take Action

Once you set a goal, wrote it down, and planned it out, take one action immediately. Regardless of how small that action is, you are one step closer to your goal, and in doing so, it will start the momentum you need to follow through.

Let’s say that your goal is to run a website offering information on gardening that makes you $200 a month in advertising revenue. The first small step you can take immediate action on is to brainstorm for a domain name, or call a friend who knows about running websites to give you advice, or outlining content ideas, or researching demand by checking out existing gardening websites.

Make a commitment to yourself to take action every week, following the action items from your plan.

6. Adjust

Don’t be afraid of failure, if something isn’t working, so what! Just keep adjusting until something does work. Be bold and courageous, try different things. What’s the worst that can happen? If it doesn’t work out, you’ve eliminated another way that something does not work and you now have a higher chance at finding something that does work. Plus you’ve learned a ton along the way.

7. Emergency Fund

If you’re thinking about quitting your job at some point in the future, make sure that you are building an emergency fund now. Heck, you should be doing that anyway even if you’re planning to stay at your job.

If your goal is to quit your job to work on your own thing, make sure you map out exactly what your monthly costs are. This way you’ll know how much money you’ll need monthly. This also helps when building your emergency fund – how much savings you’ll need and how many month you’ll have before burning out your reserves.

 

 

8. Mentors & Models

You can jump into a new field and eventually reach your goals by trial-and-error, or by modeling after a person who is already achieving the kinds of results you want. This person is a mentor. Modeling means to do things that your mentor is doing, and taking the steps that he or she took. Most often than not, you’ll get further following a working formula that’s already proven to work for your mentor.

A mentor could be someone who you interact with in a mentor-mentee relationship, someone you don’t know or someone you casually interact with. Remember, having a mentor does not mean you need a one-on-one formal relationship with them, in fact, many potential mentors are busy people, so don’t waste too much of their time.

Be smart when contacting them. Ask clear, short, conscious questions that are quick to answer, and don’t ask too many questions. There’s nothing that will turn off a potential mentor more than sending them an essay of an email. If you’re a blogger, don’t send them emails asking what they thought of your latest post. Be considerate and respective of their time. Become an excellent observer, and observe what works and what doesn’t.

 

Parting Words

My purpose for this article isn’t to advocate that you should quit your job. This article was written for anyone with a dream that may have somehow pushed it behind the back-curtains on the stage of life. My message here is that achieving your dream is possible if you want it bad enough and are willing to take action for it.

Regardless of what our dreams are or what our current life story consists of, we have the choice to live deliberately, consciously and purposefully.

Keep learning, for it will give you personal growth. Keep serving others, for it will give you compassion and a sense of connectedness with others. Together, growth and contribution hold the keys to lasting happiness and riches far beyond what money can buy.

Find your passion, and then look for ways to use your passion to provide massive value for others. Try different things until you find your passion. When you find it, you will know, for you will feel it in your heart. It’ll be like breathing. Never give up.

Forget about the fast lane. If you want to fly, just harness your power to your passion. Honor your calling. Everybody has one. Trust your heart and success will come to you.

~ Oprah

 

What is it that you want? What first step can you take? When will you take it? Share your dreams, goals, or thoughts with us in the comment section. See you there.

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About the author

Tina Su is a mom, a wife, a lover of Apple products and a CHO (Chief Happiness Officer) for our motivational community: Think Simple Now. She is obsessed with encouraging and empowering people to lead conscious and happy lives. Subscribe to new inspiring stories each week. You can also subscribe to Tina on Facebook.

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213 thoughts on Dream to Reality: How I Quit My Day Job

  1. Thomas

    Bravo ! Je t’apprends à parler français quand tu veux ;)

    ***********************

    REPLY

    Bien sûr. J’attends avec impatience.

    :)

    Tina

  2. Matt

    You’ve forgot to mention working at your high paying Amazon position made “living your dream” possible. Most regular folks have no choice but to work at jobs they don’t enjoy because that’s what you do to survive! Wouldn’t it be nice if the cashier at Walmart or the guy working 12-14 hour days roofing could save enough cash to be able to “live their dream?” That’s OK, they’ll read your blog and help you live yours.

  3. Anand

    I left my day job just over a week ago, and you know what? I’m glad I stumbled across this website ( digg ). They say time is money and well, time is all I have all day long, so I guess I just have to put some if not all of that time into doing something that I truly feel passionate about. So thank you and I congratulate your self and many others ( including myself ) for making such a bold decision in terms of freeing one’s self and living life to the fullest all while doing something you love and earning an income for it.

  4. irritated

    I see plenty of people who will tell others to follow their passions but few who follow through and fewer still who can live that way their entire lives. People love to see it happen, and I’m glad it happened to you, but promoting it is sort of like promoting the lottery as far as I’ve experienced.

    Personally I hate my job. I get up every day hating it. I go to it anyway though. Then I come home too tired to start another career in something I might like.

    A lot of people are in my position. It’s sad, but nobody cares, and I’ve died inside just enough to have practically given up.

    Bring your success to others without having them buy a bunch of crap or go to expensive seminars and I’ll be impressed. Otherwise you’re just another phony life coach selling dreams IMO.

  5. You are an inspiration and provide reassurance to those of us who chose to start something from nothing. I, too, started my own business and blog to express myself and devote my entire life to my passion for health and fitness. I finally feel complete and feel liberated to know that I will be a success. Great entry!!

  6. William Nunez

    I can really relate on what you are saying, I too hate the social conditioning that gets instilled in you of needing a job, working for someone else for the rest of your life. I’m in the same boat that you were in and I am searching and searching for my passion but can’t seem to find it at this time. Due to having this “job” thing I cannot find a way to look since I’m stuck at work all day long and even on weekends when neccessary. I have no time for my family, for the things I really enjoy doing, and time for just me. It is really driving me crazy and I do not want to continue this way. Some of the things I would love to do are: racing cars, simple tropical island living, traveling the world with the family. Anyway thanks for posting your story it shed some light on the continued search that I have to do.
    Take care
    William

  7. Mt. Crunksuvious

    I believed (and still believe) that when we are doing that which we are completely passionate about, money will come.

    Yeah, from your trust fund.
    Cute article. Next time you’re in the Hamptons, tell Troy and Miffy I said “hi”

  8. Hi Tina,

    I am so glad I found your blog. I felt a connection with the way you think. It is funny because I also had a stable job that paid fairly good and I chose to walk away just to give me time to understand what it is that I want in my life. I was working everyday exchanging my time for money and at times it was so frustrating. The job fulfilled my expectations money wise and I was doing something I have always loved: computer programming. Now that there is no need to work, I decided to go back to school and finish my major in Computer Science.

    I want to learn French and I also have an endless passion for traveling specially driving to go far. I read a lot of books on insight and inspiration. More like self-realization books.

    Will check your blog often..

    Thanks,
    Ravi Gehlot

  9. I actually put in my 2 week last Sunday. Only being 1 year out of Uni, I decided it was more important to have the time available to be active on my own whim. Plus by Freelancing all of the work I put into my job will come back to me. By forcing myself to “make ends meat” for myself, I feel actually more free to move forward.

    I am glad I am just one person in this school of thought.

  10. Congrad’s Tina – I wish you the best.

    If any of you are planning on leaving your job and/or downscaling, read “Your Money or Your Life.” The book is life changing and offered a plethora of tips that will improve your quality of life. :)

  11. Evan

    Certainly food for thought.
    But I would have thought our goals would be less self-centered than
    * To complete a triathlon
    * To learn French
    * To live everyday fully, as if my last

    Looking forward to read about how you do.Good luck!

  12. I’m personally working toward two major goals of independent work I’d like to do. The first has been my crafting, which I’ve actually started making money on rather than just spending money on this year. It is immensely satisfying to be doing something for the joy of doing it and then getting back money. It is still not enough to quit my day job, but I’m working in that direction and the small steps are what really have gotten the ball rolling.
    The other is a small press that has been rattling around in the back of my skull for years. The progress here is less substantial, but you have reminded me that I need to start setting some solid goals and making visible progress.

    Thanks!

  13. There’s always got to be haters around to stomp on other people’s dreams.

    Tina, don’t let the clowns get you down. Go for what you believe in, if only to prove the haters wrong. More power to you, girl.

  14. Angela

    Oh my gosh, I am seeing my days blend into one another. Time flies by, and I deeply long for something with much more meaning! My children are growing up and my daughter doesn’t think she has any talents or goals – it is time to make that plan and take action! Thanks for the inspiration.

  15. Hi Tina,

    Congrats to you on actualizing your dream and having the courage to share your journey while facing many of the non-believers. Many people are not aware of the fact that everything is a choice and we always have a choice no matter how deep in sh*t we are. I think what you are doing is great and it certainly is a challenge to be strong enough to not let the non-believers get you down.

    To the people who have their knees deep in sh*t and think that they have no choice but to be stuck there, what’s behind Tina’s story is the universe’s way of telling us that there is always a choice, as long as we stop victimizing ourselves so that we can see clearly what the choices are presented to us. It’s only human to ask the “why me or why not me” questions and look outside for blames and answers, afterall that’s what FEAR makes us do to blind us from the truth.

    Tina’s courage and conviction to take the jump into the unknown by quitting her day job and starting something from scratch should be an inspiration to help those of us who are not satisfied with where we are and what we have, and have the desire to want more and get higher, to have enough courage to take that leap of faith.

    Besides, if it will allow you the chance to finally do whatever it is you’d like to do freely because you love doing it and still make a good living, who will be the one benefiting from it and having the last laugh? It’s you, who acted and took the jump.

    I did take the first jump and while keeping my busy day job, I am committing to invest time and effort into my own business that I started, to make sure that I achieve financial and personal freedom doing something that I love. And it is the greatest sense of fulfillment. Don’t believe it? Try it for yourself!

    Thanks Tina, for sharing something inspiring with the world. There ARE people who appreciate it!

    Chris

  16. Elie

    The journey is the happiness. No pain, no gain.

    The more effort you put in, the more you enjoy it.

  17. Hi Chris L,

    That’s a fare comment and I appreciate you taking the time to leave that feedback.

    Just for clarification, I did not take a blind leap, I only did so after my passive income exceeded my expenses. The story would be different if I had kids, I would have gotten here, but may take more time to be extra cautious. Up to about a month ago, I did have a spouse to support, and I took that into consideration when planning.

    Warmly,
    Tina

  18. M

    You are an imbecile.

    90% of the US cannot afford to do what you are doing because they are in debt or live paycheck to paycheck.

    The only reason you can do what you do is because money (the load of it you made at a job that probably paid four times the median poverty wage) does buy happiness, by way of not having a job.

  19. Chris L

    Sorry but I have to ask…does Tina have young children or a spouse? Taking the blind leap of freedom and personal fulfillment is a lot easier when it’s just yourself, with no one else looking to you to provide food, shelter, etc.

  20. Tina,

    Thanks so much for sharing your personal story. It’s important on several levels.

    First, you made it clear that you didn’t just leap blindly into quittting your job. The dream to eventually starting your new life started five years before. Too many people get the impression that changing your life is abrupt .

    Second, once the seed was planted you planned and sacrificed to save the finances that would ensure you could follow your dream and eat too. There’s not much benefit in jumping from a height without a parachute.

    Third, you’ve made blogging just one piece of your plan. This way you enjoy a variety of things that make you happy and open up multiple streams of income as well.

    Fourth, you’ve created a daily routine and long-term plan, some of which sounds similar to mine. I recently retired from a teaching career and am frequently asked if I enjoy it. Many leave their jobs or retire only to find it boring to do nothing. These folks look amazed when I tell them I have plan and routine for my time, and that I’m having a great time.

    Fifth, you’ve disclosed some of the ways you make money, all of which are available to everyone. I hope this dispels the illusion that your income is magic. I love that you gave us the opportunity to contribute, especially those who are most worried about how you’re doing it (even though you’ve made it quite clear.)

    Sixth, you’ve given us 8 steps that have worked for you, and will surely work for us if we will confidently take action.

    Seventh, you made it clear that you’re not encouraging anyone to quit his job if that’s not what he wants to do. Throughout my teaching career I straddled the fence of following my passion in a 40-year career while also enjoying being a business owner, writer, speaker and now blogger as well. (By the way, my husband and I raised 4 children along the way.)

    Most people are probably better off finding jobs they enjoy because they are just too terrified to follow their dream and rely on their own passion. Too bad that such folks try to poke holes in the success stories of others, never realizing that a shift in consciousness would land them in success stories of their own.

    Congratulations on your endeavors. You deserve the happiness and success you are enjoying.

  21. Congrats and good luck! That is very inspiring.

    Dugg!!

  22. Tina

    You really are an inspiration and there is so much in this post for someone to grab hold of and apply to their own life if they wish. I’d be keen to read a personal blog about this new journey you’re on. Keep us posted.

    Kelly@SHE-POWER

  23. Great article and story. Great luck on your new journey. I have just done the same thing and will also be keeping a blog of my new life. There must be some type of of similar thinking since your blog is titled “think simple now” and mine is “simplistic thoughts”.

    Best of luck

  24. Tina, your posts are truly an inspiration. Somehow you always manage to write the things I need to read, and that’s a gift for me.
    When you travel to South America, do come to Buenos Aires (I’d be happy to show you around).

  25. Bob

    Does this mean there’s an opening at Amazon?

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