Some of the best advice I received was to imagine what the very worst case scenario If I quit work. Try it now, as it will be different for everyone we are all in different situations. For me I guess it was having no job, no home and having to move back with my parents and get a job locally in Kent for a while. Far from ideal as it would feel like taking a step back in life, but not life threatening. Then look at the probability of this happening; it is possible but not probable. Far more probable is that I would go travelling, have an amazing time and things would start to become much clearer in my head as to what I wanted to do next.
An amazing lady I met recently whilst sailing, told me that she had hit rock bottom (her worst case scenario) but once that happened she didn’t have that fear anymore because she knew she could tackle anything. Clearly she is very brave but once you establish your very worst case and its probability then it usually becomes easier to move forward. Depending on what yours is, there is normally someone in our lives (friends or family) that will help. The worse yours seems, and the higher the probability, the more you need to plan.
What is your fallback position, if you quit your job and things don’t quite work out how you imagined? Research what the current job market is doing. Are there jobs abroad you could do and could you go back to your old job? Try not to be too proud – if you have to take a job or pay cut but it gives you that extra bit of cash you need to carry on following your dreams, then do it. Try to have as many fallbacks up your sleeve as possible but don’t use them as an easy way out. They should be a last resort.
For some this might not be possible but if you can leave the door open at your old job then this is definitely worth doing. Don’t burn those bridges. You never know when you might have to cross back over them. Try and leave on good terms and if you can keep in contact with a few people you worked with, then if it really does all go tits up you can retreat back to the comfort of stability. After experiencing ‘life on the other side’ you might even decide to go back.
As mentioned in , rearranging your life is something that I had to do. Sometimes achieving the things you want in life means you have to make some serious changes – whether that involves the person you are with, where you live or the lifestyle you lead. It isn’t easy but you may have to minimise and sacrifice for the end game. Sort out your debts, ditch the relationship that doesn’t fulfil you and sell/rent the house you no longer want to live in.
Clearly, if you have very different dreams to your partner but you are madly in love with someone you aren’t going to want to end it and that is completely fine. However, you may have to work out a compromise or risk their wrath and do it anyway if it is something your heart is set on. For instance, a couple of my friends really want to go traveling for 6 months but their other halves aren’t keen. To me personally this isn’t a reason not to go. I think you just need to work out a compromise – explain it is something you need to do for you and agree a couple of visits and holidays in this time. People manage long distance all the time and if your relationship is really that great then it will stand the test of time. Remember letting someone have their freedom is often the best way to keep them. If you do go off alone then solo travelling can be really fun – check out my .
Equally, if you are that unhappy in your career your partner should understand that you are going to need some time to find something new or that you may not be raking in the six figures you once were (who knows maybe in the end it will be on seven and you’ll be a wildly successful entrepreneur).
This is key; you don’t have to take the advice but be brave enough to be honest to people about what you want and what you want to do, I found this bit so helpful. So many people have been in similar positions or know someone who has quit and changed career completely or sold up and travelled for years. They can give you so much helpful information – why do the research yourself (it takes much longer) when you have all these people who already have so much first-hand experience. Utilise those around you and be open-minded about them and their responses.
This is helpful if you are worried about leaving and not finding anything else. Just apply for a wider spectrum of jobs than you would normally. Even if you don’t want them, this allows you to be realistic about what else you might get if your master plan doesn’t work. Even if the response is negative, it shows you have work to do but also that you may need to change your search or how you are coming across. You can work on these before you leave.
Putting a plan into place is a great way to make things easier on you mentally. You worry less and it helps to keep that inner voice at bay. This is where I fell down and rather than putting one in place at the beginning I worked one out the few months after I left. Everyone will have a different plan but these are some tips I used. If you are looking for a new job then obviously having one in the bag before you move is ideal but don’t just jump into the same position you have just left. People think grass is greener, its human nature. This is almost always not true – don’t always take the safe option.
Whether this is a life list, goals list or a bucket list, put down what it is you actually want to achieve. I go into more detail on this in a recent post I did on bucket lists , but establishing what you actually want to achieve with your time is so helpful in focusing your mind when there are so many amazing possibilities swimming around out there.
Start putting some money aside. This can then be used to put towards your end game. Look at what assets you have, there are a surprising number of ways to make extra cash:
Obviously, I might not end up being a professional saxophone player but I wanted to give it a go and so I have set up opportunities throughout the next year to achieve these. Research is key here but I can guarantee to you that I can achieve all five of those things for almost nothing – I explain more on how to achieve these in a recent post on being and in Post 4.
All of these options can actually be implemented with little money and lots of forward planning and you don’t need any qualifications to do any of them.
If you have a young family and lots of ties, following your dreams could seem like an impossibility but you would be surprised how many people actually make it work. As mentioned with hard work and incredible planning it is amazing what people are capable of achieving when are really determined to make a change. Again this option is about compromise – no you probably won’t gong to be at the Full Moon Party in Thailand for three weeks straight if you have two young kids in tow, but you could be in Vietnam working your way up the country (). In, I mentioned a friend who is a single mum and against the odds and with little help set up her own business and made a complete success of it. Yes, this option would need much more planning and isn’t easy but examples such as this show it is possible.
Although a plan is great, there will always be things you can’t foresee. Be ready to roll with those punches or jump when a great opportunity is presented even if it isn’t exactly what you had initially had in mind. Worst case you come back to the original plan.
Another important lesson is to just do what you want and stop caring what others think – easier said than done I know, but keep trying. When all is said and done it is your life and as long as you are happy with it then that should be enough. In reality it is the limits of your own mind that hold you back and nothing else.
Speaking from experience, handing in your notice when most people don’t really expect it is a great feeling. I was grinning like a fool for the rest of the day. Part of it is clearly from relief, but it is also the excitement of what is ahead and when that job isn’t right for you it sometimes takes making the jump for it to actually become completely clear that you’ve made the right decision in leaving.
In the last of these four posts, I will cover some ideas of what you could do next and I will go into some more detail about how other people I know have made it work ()
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