Routines are comfortable, a decent living, and safe. "Making the leap" to break out of a routine is REALLY tough- in fact I'm not fond of the phrase "making the leap" because it often undersells how fk'ing hard something really is. When I think about "making the leap", I imagine a situation where you've already prepared yourself, walked to the edge, and just need to build up your courage for a split second to go for it.
However, in reality when you're "making the leap"- for example, quitting that office job you're not so thrilled about, it's not even remotely close to that easy. At any given time, you have projects that you're working on for the office that you can't just abandon, you have friends and emotional attachments there, etc. But the biggest issue of all is that it has to be something you decide to commit to over a period of time, and not just a whim where you can push yourself past the point of no return.
if this wagon had brakes... some great memories would have never been made
What do I mean by that? OK so let's say you decide you're finally ready to quit that high-paying office job and you really want to be a horseback riding guide because you love riding horses and meeting new people all day (damn I don't even like horses and that job sounds fk'ing awesome). So one day you decide to "make the leap", go to the ranch, talk to the guys there, and apply for a position. They set up an interview next week with the manager, you show up, but by then you're only feeling half-hearted about leaving your comfort zone. Despite that, you manage to impress them anyway, and yet another a week later, they get back to you and say you're hired! Congratulations!
Well damn, it's been 2 weeks since you built up the courage to "make the leap", do you still have it now? For many people the answer will be no, and they'll decline the chance to spend their days enjoying nature instead of being alone in a room because they're hesitant about that 70% pay cut and the possible stability cut (will the ranch still be around in a couple years?? Microsoft will be for sure...)
contrary to "office job", every single person on the front page of Google's image search for "horseback riding" is smiling
As an additional point, anecdotal evidence is anecdotal evidence, but I've never met anyone who has told me that they regretted quitting a former job. On the other hand, I've met quite a few people who have changed careers and are thrilled about it. How about you guys? I'm genuinely curious if my experiences are typical or not.
ok well here's at least one guy who should have kept his day job
It all comes down to a combination of comfort, complacency, and fear. Like I wrote in
my previous lifestyle post about discipline here, it's not that easy to just make yourself brave/ambitious for two weeks. But if you try really hard maybe you can convince yourself that the rewards are worth the risk. Now I will readily admit that I may be biased because I'm such a massive luckbox. It's true that you won't always succeed in your leap of faith (hence why I said the rewards are worth the
risk). But even so... do you really want to continue down a path that will result in you being bored and putting up with- or even dreading-
most of your waking hours for the rest of your life? It blows my mind that anyone would answer yes to that question. NOTE THAT SAYING "NO" BUT ACTING "YES" COUNTS AS ANSWERING YES!
actions speak louder than words (god I love being cliche)
Finally, here's a good test to see if you're truly happy with what you're doing. Would you wish the path you chose for yourself upon your closest friends and family? If the answer isn't a "hell yea this is fk'ing awesome", then I suggest spending some quality time thinking about how you can fix that problem*.
*OK fine I suppose I'll accept stuff along the lines "I enjoy it, but it's a niche lifestyle that isn't for everyone", since that's how I feel about poker. I will also accept it if you are unable to take risk for whatever reason (e.g., making a sacrifice to support your loved ones is top tier). OTHERWISE YOU DAMN WELL BETTER BELIEVE IT'S A PROBLEM.
Cheers.
Last edited by Aesah; 02-07-2013 at 07:13 AM.
Reason: i spam edits for typos