Should I Quit My Day Job To Follow My Dreams?

So, you’re thinking of quitting your job to live your best life and follow your dreams. That’s awesome because you have a ton of passion and ambition. But if you’re wondering if it’s time to leave your job to dedicate your time to your dreams, there’s actually a whole bunch of stuff you should consider before packing up your stuff, giving a motivational speech to your colleagues, and flipping off your boss as you triumphantly walk out of your cubicle.

Most likely, you’ll underestimate how long it’ll take to find something new in your chosen area or to build a small business. Additionally, you’ll probably overestimate how long you can last on your savings. For example $3000 will probably be gone in 2 months.

So, while quitting the job you hate will feel awesome, going broke and having to grovel to your boss that you just flipped off six short weeks ago will feel terrible.

You must recognize what decisions are emotional and which are logical. It’s fun and liberating to make emotional decisions, but you have to remember that your new found confidence and lightness won’t pay your bills. If you’re going into job interviews with a whole heap of desperation and stress on your face and in your heart, you won’t come across as the best you and your efforts to follow your dreams will hurt in the process.

You pretty much don’t want to quit your day job until you know exactly where your next paycheck will be flowing from. For this reason, I came up with a couple steps that you should consider before you quit your day job.

1. Know exactly what it is you want to do next.

Before you quit your job, figure out exactly what it is you want to do. Want to work at an NGO in Thailand? Great, land a job offer before you quit. If you want to start an artisanal, hand-crafted cream cheese shop whose proceeds go to fund entrepreneurial education in the South Bronx, figure out all the pieces you’ll need to make that happen before you quit.

2. Do the part-time hustle.

Another approach is to quit your full time job and find a part time job that will keep you financially afloat as you work for your goals. When looking for part-time gigs, consider these three factors:

• How much time do I need to spend?
• How much emotional energy and creativity do I exhaust?
• How well do they pay?

You want the answers for the first two questions to be low and the last one to be as high as possible.

3. Start saving now.

Again, before you quit, start saving up more money than you think you’ll need. You might need to relocate, invest in new materials, make a website, or buy a fresh new outfit for an interview to conquer this next phase of your life.

4. Don’t give up.

You deserve to be happy at work. Last but not least, don’t give up! You’re not fated to toil forever in an unhappy job situation. You can make big dramatic changes in your life, but you need to give yourself time to make them happen.