Archive for January, 2014
It’s Not Just Time. It’s Also Energy.
I hear this all the time and you probably do, too: “I don’t have time.” It’s often the first response or excuse we think of when we don’t want to do something or think it isn’t possible.
I grew up writing stories and poems. I enjoyed it. I majored in English in college and when I wasn’t writing essays or creative pieces for school assignments, I would also write for myself. That practice continued long after I graduated. I had notebooks and PC word docs filled with stories and ideas that I created in the evenings after work or on weekends.
But as years went by I began working longer, more stressful hours at my job and writing for fun slowed down. And then stopped. I didn’t write for eight years.
Certainly the more hours I spent working meant fewer hours left for myself, but what was worse than the lack of time was the lack of energy. I was tired in every sense: physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. My free time became about recovery, not about hobbies, having fun, and spending time with people. I needed a lot of sleep just to be able to get back up the next day or the next Monday and go to work again.
My mind and energy were so consumed by work that I didn’t have the brain-space for creative ideas. Then about the same time that I decided to quit my job, I started thinking of stories again and wanted to write about them.
One evening I dreamt a fully formed story that included a solid plot, and wrote it down as soon as I woke. As I got in bed another evening, I had an idea for a children’s book. I got out my notebook and started writing. Four hours later, I had the entire story on paper.
Other times a melody and a few words would appear in my mind and within minutes I had a page of lyrics with the musical notes that I guessed at.
Once I made up my mind to quit, energy flowed back into the parts of myself that had been neglected for too long. Becoming consumed by work robbed my creativity and self-expression. Unplugging from the corporate treadmill brought it back.
I was still working full days while I planned my departure, but my life-force was directed towards creating a healthy, happy, meaningful existence. The hours between work and sleep now had the potential to work on creative projects. When I shifted my priorities, my entire life shifted.
Savings = Options
One of the most common questions I get when people hear that I quit my corporate job is about how I was able to do it financially. As someone put it delicately the other day, “Isn’t it uncomfortable not having an income?” Well, yes it’s uncomfortable! Seeing all of the money go out of the checking account instead of coming in doesn’t generate feelings of comfort. I take deep breaths and remind myself that this was the plan. This is what I saved for.
Well, to be accurate, I saved for this scenario; the possibility that I would be living off of my savings for an extended period of time. When I first decided to leave my job, nearly a year before I actually left, I planned to start a business. I did research, took training, talked to people in my chosen field, and had a marketing strategy lined up. But as I neared my exit date a different business opportunity came up that I was even more excited about and I turned my attention in that direction. And yet another idea was born during the month I spent at a summer writing program – I formed a solid outline of a book I wanted to write.
By August the new plan was to work on the startup and write my book, and ideally generate income from both starting January 2014. Soon it became clear that the startup and the book were on the slow track and as I learned more about both industries, I realized that neither one were going to provide a living wage anytime soon, if ever. But I was committed. I had a solid start to a book and an interesting new business and wanted to see how much I could do with both of them. Plan V4 was to treat these efforts like full-time jobs and then amp up consulting in 2014. Thankfully I had saved enough money to make this option possible.
I’ve always been a saver but once I made up my mind that I would leave my job, I doubled-down. I got rid of my home phone and cut cable down to the cheapest plan possible. I would have scrapped cable TV altogether but my internet bill was less expensive bundled with TV than without. I stopped buying things. I didn’t shop for clothes and if there was something I saw that I thought I’d like to have, like a kitchen gadget, I just didn’t buy it. I became fond of the saying, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” My one remaining consumer habit was cosmetics. I have a “thing” for shopping at Sephora and long after I stopped buying other stuff I didn’t need, I was still purchasing lipstick and eyeliner. Eventually even that fell away. When I passed up the holiday coupon for $25 off a purchase of $50 or more, I knew I’d transcended.
Alison Green of the blog www.askamanager.org wrote about the choices that savings provides in a 2011 post titled “3 Things I Learned by Quitting my Job in a Recession”. She wrote, “I wanted to quit my job and work for myself for a lot of reasons. I was able to quit my job and work for myself for this reason: savings. Having savings lets you act from strength, not desperation. That has huge ramifications for the decisions you’re able to make and, therefore, for your quality of life.”
If you are considering a career change, maybe this New Year is the right time to make a resolution to save extra money so that you’ll have more options. A great place to start is by finding out how much you really spend, which is probably more than you think. A fellow career-changer, Jennifer Lesher, told me about www.mint.com. It’s the best budgeting tool I’ve seen so far. It sucks your online financial data into a dashboard where you can see your total spending by category (household, auto, insurance, food, etc.).
While it doesn’t feel comfortable to make a career change that involves financial risk, it is liberating to be able to choose. I’m happy with my choice.
I Quit My Job and the Universe Approved
I’m a practical person. When I decided to quit my corporate job, I was methodical in my process. I made a plan to start my own business. I created checklists of tasks to prepare financially and to complete major milestones at work. I thought it would take about nine months to cross the last item off my list and then I would quit.
As I got closer and closer to the end of my list, I became happier and happier. I reclaimed my power. I was no longer afraid of layoffs or being penalized for speaking up for myself and what was right for the business. I mean, what were they going to do, fire me? Then I would have been eligible for unemployment benefits, so I felt like I couldn’t lose.
I wanted do something significant right after quitting and before diving back into business since it might be the only time in my working life between full-time jobs. I liked writing and decided to enroll in Naropa University’s Summer Writing Program, whose version of an English department is called The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. Perfect. I started reading Kerouac’s On the Road and downloaded a countdown app to my smartphone to mark the days until I “hit the road with Jack”.
Then it was time to put in my notice, say my goodbyes, and start my new life. I was on fire! I felt like a bird that had been freed from a cage that it didn’t even know it was in. Events fell into place so smoothly that a divine presence seemed to be guiding my way. For example, I think I manifested a Dodge Challenger. Really. I don’t care very much about cars, but thought the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazard was cool. I had to take my Subaru into the repair shop for a few days, and asked the rental agency if they had any Challengers to loan. And they did. What are the odds? Usually they only allow requests for the class of car, but this time I got the exact make and model that I wanted: a shiny, red, 2013 Challenger.
I thought it would be fun for a few days and then I’d go back to my practical Subaru. But this muscle car symbolized the excitement I felt about the potential my future held – and it was really fun to drive. So I looked around for used Challengers and didn’t find any in my price range. But I did find the exact car that I was driving advertised as a loss leader at the dealership nearest me. The one car I wanted was on sale. And now it’s mine!
My entire summer was like this – just magical. On the drive to Colorado, I’d stop at a motel for the night and the receptionist would tell me, “Oh, we only have a suite left. But I can give it to you for the price of our standard room.” Or the café would make too much chai and give me an extra cup for free.
Once I arrived at Naropa, I loved my classes, my student apartment, Boulder, and the talented new friends I made. The Beat poet’s experimental approach was liberating and my creativity exploded with ideas for poetry and non-fiction. One class assignment was to write the outline for a book, which became the basis for my self-help manuscript that is now a 50,000 page rough draft.
Once I decided to leave my job, it was as if the Universe said, “Yes, this is the path you are supposed to be on.” Life became easy and fun in ways that I hadn’t experienced before. Since then, I’ve had ups and downs adjusting to a radically changed lifestyle. But now I know what it feels like to be in the flow of life and am constantly making adjustments to stay where the magic is. The Universe approves.
Welcome to Truth and Details!
Knowing what is true for me and how I claim it are priorities in my life. I’ve always had a streak of advocacy in me. When I was five years old, I wrote a letter to petition the principal of my elementary school to allow kindergartners to have chocolate milk on Fridays because the other grades did. My reasoning was based on fairness. He concurred, and I’ve been fond of chocolate milk and speaking up for what I believe in ever since.
Speaking the truth isn’t always popular no matter how politely it is phrased. I’ve been disappointed by how frequently honest communication is shunned out of fear or the desire to keep the same broken systems in place. It also isn’t always easy. Sometimes the consequences are painful and self-preservation or protecting others overrules. Even in those cases, I’d rather be honest with myself about my choices.
This site is about sharing my truth and details and the wisdom I’m learning from others to live a more meaningful life. Join me?
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