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In one of my Facebook quizzes ‘How Well Do You Know Mark Foo?’, one of the questions asked is ‘What Do I Hate Most?’ A number of my friends answered ‘Being Broke’. In fact, the correct answer is ‘A Job’.
Yes… I hate a job more than I hate being broke.
In all 33 years of my life, I’ve only worked in one serious full-time job for about 2 years. The other few jobs where I worked full-time for a short period were only temporary jobs, which I didn’t consider to be a serious career path.
It’s just never been my thing to be an employee. I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur, to work for myself, to run my own multimillion-dollar empire, to enjoy the liberation that comes with it.
I never understood why people would always assume they should go get a job after they graduate from school. That rationale has always seemed weird to me. My guess is they think that’s just the way life is, and that’s what everybody else is doing anyway.
Well… I never believe in following the conventional way of doing things if it doesn’t make any sense to me. That is why I’d always encourage people to work for themselves, or to start their own business – basically to just take the plunge, quit their job, and live their life like no one else.
If you’ve been an employee your whole life, and you can’t understand why people like me hate a job so much, you’ll be enlightened by the following articles:
10 Reasons You Should Never Get A Job – Steve Pavlina of StevePavlina.com
5 Reasons Why You Should Quit Your Job – Steve Chou of MyWifeQuitHerJob.com
If You Want To Be Rich And Happy, Don’t Get A Job? – Mark Foo of TheBigDreamer.com
OK, if you’re already convinced that you should get out of the corporate prisoner lifestyle, but have no idea how to do it, or that you need more inspiration to finally take the plunge, then I’d strongly recommend you seek encouragement from people who already did and learn how they did it.
Dream To Reality: How I Quit My Day Job – Tina Su of ThinkSimpleNow.com
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.”
So I Quit My Day Job – Holy Cow! I Took The Plunge – Leo Babauta of ZenHabits.net
I’m officially a ProBlogger now.
Yesterday morning, I turned in my resignation from my day job (I work with U.S. military veterans for the Guam Legislature). OK, it doesn’t actually take effect until the end of next week, but still.
Woo hoo!
It’s pretty liberating. And very very very scary.
So I Quit My Day Job, Dear Boss: You’re Fired – Jonathan Mead of IlluminatedMind.net
Next year, my grandfather will celebrate his 40th year of self employment as owner of one of the longest running plumbing and heating businesses in his city. At the age of 74, he is still going strong as the oldest plumber in business in Boise, Idaho. Nonconformity and delinquency are still pumping fiercely through his veins.
My grandfather no doubt transferred his contagious thirst for autonomy to me early in my life. I guess entrepreneurship is in my blood.
Just as my grandfather did 40 years ago, last Thursday I gave my boss my two week notice.
I will no longer be requiring your employment services. My last day of work will be Friday, June 12th, 2009.
Thank you,
Jonathan
How I Left The Rat Race (And You Can Too) – Glen Allsopp of PluginID.com
I’m a 20 year old college drop-out expected to make around $15,000 this month. There, I said it. I wanted to get all the ego bullsh*t out of the way so we can get onto the real content. This is not a post for me to brag, far from it. Instead, it is a post to help people see what is possible, and hopefully allow you to follow in my footsteps.
What I’m going to share with you today is a guide that my best (real life) friends have used to add hundreds of dollars per month to their income. Online strangers have used this guide to feed their families and anyone who follows it can apply the steps to help them leave the rat race.
Quitting The Day Job: Finding The Guts To Pursue Your Dreams – J.D. Roth of GetRichSlowly.org
Something amazing has happened in the past eighteen months. While I’ve been learning about personal finance — and sharing my knowledge with you — Get Rich Slowly has grown from a small site with a couple hundred readers into a real-life business. GRS currently has 35,000 subscribers and generates $5,000 in monthly revenue. It also takes most of my time. This is a blessing and a curse.
How I Quit My Job To Follow My Dream, by Reg Silva – Monica S. Flores of ASuccessfulWoman.Wordpress.com
The following is a guest post from my cousin, Reg Silva, who recently quit a profitable job to pursue her dream. I know many of you have this in mind but here are the specific steps she took. Notice her advice that “I just knew if you do something you love, everything else follows.”
Don’t believe in this? I encourage you to see my list of how other people’s dreams come true.
I Did It. I Quit My Job – Crystal of BrunetteOnABudget.com
Just breathe. Everything is going to be okay.
I kept repeating this mantra as I made my way to my CEO’s office on Monday to officially resign. I suppose the first thing you’d think I felt when I walked into his office was triumph and relief. Something akin to the French liberation during WWII, but on a much smaller scale, of course. There I was, after all, taking my destiny into my own hands and carpe diem-ing. But for a few fleeting minutes, I felt quite the opposite. I was terrified. I knew I was going to do it, there was no question of that, but I liken the whole experience to skydiving. When push comes to shove and you take the final jump off that airplane, there are a few moments (which I may relive during the next few months or years of my life) where you’re terrified your parachute won’t open and you’ll land, splat, in a field of cow dung, with those around you muttering “told you so.” Walking in and quitting yesterday was that jump off my plane.
And guess what? After shutting his door, taking a seat and telling him I was officially, well, out of there, I knew deep down that everything really was going to be okay. I just needed to push off that plane with the force I had mustered in the last few months and not look back. So I did, and the feeling of being so in control of my fate and future felt (and still feels) fabulous.
How I Quit My Job… and How You Can Too – Valerie Young of ChangingCourse.com
For seven years I commuted 90 miles a day to a high-stress job that paid the bills but did not feed my spirit. Although I felt like I was living in a Dilbert cartoon, the demands of work and life left me feeling constantly caught between a “clock and a hard place.” I used to fantasize about changing jobs. Whenever my job would get particularly stressful I’d think about doing a job search. But was trading cubicles, or bosses or one set of organizational headaches for another really the solution?
If I’d bothered to look a little deeper, I’d have understood that I yearned for much more than a new job… or even a new career. You see what I really wanted back then was simplicity and balance, to experience right livelihood, and a desire to be my own boss.
If you have gone through most of the articles listed here and you still think you prefer to live on a ‘secure’ paycheque, no worries. I understand that going your own way may not be everyone’s cup of tea and some people are just more comfortable with a job than being their own boss.
If that’s the case, then I have another advice for you:
The Only 3 Reasons Why You Should Stick To Your Job
Although it’s perfectly fine to stick to being an employee, you should stick your job only if it meets one or more of the 3 measures mentioned in the article. Only then would I stop bugging you to quit your job.
Cheers~
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Random Posts
on Jul 9th, 2009 at 1:54 am
What a great post! Thanks so much for writing this… You don’t know how badly I needed to read these links and the stories of others who have escaped from the rat race. I’m bookmarking this and I’m going to read all of the posts you’ve mentioned.
on Jul 9th, 2009 at 2:31 am
Mark,
Thanks for listing all of these great links in one spot. This is what I needed to hear today. I’ve read a few of them already, but I’ll be taking another look at them as well as the ones I’ve not yet read.
I want to make that leap sometime in the next two or three years. In the meantime, thanks for the advice!
on Jul 9th, 2009 at 2:43 am
Hi Dani,
I’m glad you find this post to be helpful. Are you currently contemplating to escape the rat race? If so, I want you to know I’m behind you all the way! Do remember to write about your story when you did it. That’ll be another great story for me to add to the list here.
Cheers~
Mark
on Jul 9th, 2009 at 3:32 am
Hi Frances,
Welcome to The Big Dreamer! It’s heartening to hear there’s one more person willing to take the leap. You can be sure that I’d be there to cheer for you when you finally take the plunge! Just let me know when the time comes.
Cheers~
Mark
on Jul 9th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Hi Mark:)
Wow awesome post, Its going to take me a while to read all the posts that you linked to, but Im definitely going to do it.
Just like you ive wondered why people want a job, the whole social conditioning of you must go to school, go to college,get a job.
People ask me why I havent studied at uni, the truth is, I wouldnt know what to study because Im not in a mindset to get a job. Jobs will just be temporary to help me along my way of becoming independent and following my own ideas and passsions.
Great post:)
Keep them coming
Diggy
on Jul 9th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Hi Diggy,
Whenever people tell me that you need to have a uni degree to survive or prosper in this society, I’d always reply that a uni degree is only a ‘good to have’ but not a ‘must have’.
While a uni degree may be helpful, there’re just too many examples in the real world that people do prosper even without a cert. It all depends on what you wana do, who you wana be.
Most people go to uni just for the sake of earning a degree, and they choose a course that they think promises good prospect. And some people don’t even care; they just want a degree so that they could get a job, which I think is absurd. School is a place where you acquire knowledge, not a degree.
“The only diploma that counts is a million-dollar idea. The only qualification needed is a burning desire. The only credential is fearless action. Everything else can be borrowed or bought.” - The One Minute Millionaire
I’m glad that you have the balls to go against the main stream and seek what’s right for you. I want you to know I’m with you all the way.
Cheers~
Mark
on Jul 11th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
For most full time worker, this post will definitely tempt them to quit the job! (myself included ahem..)
being self-employed takes out the “safety net” in many ways.. Its amazing to read these stories, and realize that its possible… once you have build a solid foundation to stand up on.
on Jul 11th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Hi Shamelle,
I certainly hope that this post will serve to give those who’re contemplating to quit their job a final boost to fire their boss. Of course, a solid foundation is absolutely essential before you take the plunge.
Cheers~
Mark
on Jul 12th, 2009 at 11:33 am
Very inspiring article.
I believe most of the employees worldwide would love to fire their boss.
Most importantly, a clear vision of what you want and how you intend to do it are also essential before taking the plunge.
One of the worst scenario is you created a “job” for yourself instead of owning the business.
on Jul 12th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Hi Louis,
“Most importantly, a clear vision of what you want and how you intend to do it are also essential before taking the plunge.” I agree with you on this.
However, I think creating a job for yourself is still better than working in job for someone else, although owning a business with a proper system put in place is the best case scenario.
Cheers~
Mark
on Jul 12th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Mark, this is an absolutely fantastic resource. WOW. Thanks!
on Jul 12th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Hi Stephen,
I’m glad you find this useful.
Cheers~
Mark
on Jul 15th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Hi Mark,
Apologies on the delay in getting here. I just loved this post and like you, I have never really been a longterm employee. I have held all kinds of positions and moved all over. I have no problem living like this but many people do not understand.
I think a lot of it has to do with fear. I think many people think being an employee is the secure and right route to take. It provides a comfort zone. I think that will change due to all that is happening in the world.
Thank you also for all those resources, I will have to check them out.
on Jul 16th, 2009 at 1:00 am
Hi Nadia,
I couldn’t agree more with you. I certainly hope that this economic crisis will wake people up from the “security” they’ve been living in and start to re-examine the “right” way of life.
It’s really comforting to have a friend like you who’s on the exact same frequency when it comes to pursuing a career down the road less travelled.
I hope you enjoy reading the articles.
Cheers~
Mark
on Jul 16th, 2009 at 3:14 am
I absolutely would like to escape it, but I have a pretty good job right now that allows me to spend a lot of time working on the things I want to work on (like Positively Present) so it’s hard to give it up… But someday!!
on Jul 17th, 2009 at 4:31 am
Hi Mark,
It is also my goal to be able to quit my job and go into business for myself. I anticipate that it will be a major even in my life, but for the time being, I don’t have the discipline to go into business for myself. I have habits that I need to work on, and I need to be able to develop a good work ethic for getting the necessary things done when I don’t have a boss to look over my shoulder. I always enjoy reading articles like this though, because it reminds me why I want to do it. Thanks!
on Jul 17th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Hi Trey,
It’s great to have another friend travelling on the same path! Going into business to be your own boss is definitely going to be a major event for anybody, especially if you’ve been an employee for ages. I just hope that you won’t be trapped in analysis paralysis again. I, too, have fallen into that trap before and I’m always reminding myself not to fall into it again.
All the best, mate!
Cheers~
Mark
on Jul 17th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
[...] insights from those who have walked this path before me. (For more great resources, check out Mark Foo’s recent [...]
on Jul 19th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Hey, you highlighted a few exceptional points. My favorite is that if everyone is doing it in a certain way, does not mean that we must do the same. By the way I’m a college drop out myself (I’m 22) and I’ve been self employed since I was 19. That said I still have full time clients, so I’m still trying to escape the rat race.
on Jul 19th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
I enjoy the freedom of being my own boss, so I definitely can relate to this post. It’s the same for my husband too, who runs his own business. We realize that we can choose to run errands or relax as and when we want to. We are not confined to doing them over the weekends. It is not difficult to catch us having coffee in a kopi tiam on a lazy weekday morning. Then again, when there is work, we can be busy the entire weekend!
on Jul 19th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
@Oscar:
It’s great that you’re going the self-employed way at such a young age and I’m sure you’ve gathered some very valuable experiences along the way. You’ve got a great blog and I look forward to reading your stories of what you’ve learnt on your journey.
@Evelyn:
Welcome to The Big Dreamer! Sounds like your husband and you are already enjoying the kind of lifestyle so many of us are working towards to. Which kopi tiam do you usually hang out? Maybe I can catch you there.
Cheers~
Mark
on Aug 19th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
I heard once that a very large percentage of successful people have one thing in common – they were all fired from a job at one point or another.
Speaking for myself, I’ve tried working for other people. I realized that I’m just not very good at that though. All of the specific skills that make me an aggressive entrepreneur also make me useless (actually worse – dangerous) as an employee.
That’s a sobering thought that I have to live with: my success depends on being an utterly useless employee.
on Aug 20th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Hi Jeremy,
Welcome to The Big Dreamer! I can totally relate to what you’re saying. I, too, have always felt that I’m a bad employee because I’m just not good in working for other people, even for my own family. When you’re an entrepreneur at heart, it’s really hard to take working to build someone else’s empire. That to me, was utterly miserable. That’s why I’m very happy now that I’m working to build my own empire.
Cheers~
Mark