War between me & myself

It was toughest decision for me to take a decision where i was not seeing any road. Let me share my thoughts which I had to consider to take such a hard decision.

Actually I was loosing interest at work and I wanted to start my own business or other job. At this point in my life, I’d rather find a more flexible job, take a pay cut, and build my own business.

Quitting a stable job is never an easy decision. There are many obstacles to leaving those regular paychecks behind, but the first thing I need to tackle is to convince myself to get on my side. I think I should double my efforts at work and try to turn things around here. I can be more assertive and control my colleagues more. I agree that I should try to mold myself at my day job, but I sense that I really wants to give my business a go.

I may have low income for many months/years when I will be growing up.

I don’t know, but it’s quite difficult for me to discuss about serious subjects like this. I know that I dont like my job much. I have understood that the job just isn’t the right fit for me anymore. I am loosing time year by year. My physical and mental health have been deteriorating and I could see that the job was taking a big toll on me.

Basically, I had to overcome the mental barrier to “take it like a man” and open up firstly to myself rather than other world. By deciding clearly and making a case to show myself that I’d be much less stressed, I am sure that I would be better off without my old engineering career. After all, it’s better to be around for the long term than losing self to a heart attack or something equally dreadful.

So for me, I have to convince myself first that life will improve after I quit current job. I have to have a serious discussion with you my inner voice to find out why my job is not the right fit for me anymore.

Once I got on board with the idea of quitting, then it was time to figure out how to do it financially. I’d loose my income when I quit so that was a big concern. Luckily, I always lived below self means so monthly expense are not very high. My plan should be to reduce expense as much as I could and increase income through various means.

Few point from me:

1. Track expenses – This might help self what I spent money on and I may cut back on things that aren’t important. I can switch to prepaid cell phones, cook at home more, and generally live a more frugal(sparing or economical) lifestyle.

2. I have saved for couple of years survival in banks as a backup. This gives me some peace of mind. If things went badly, I could still function for at least few years while I try to find a new job.

3. Health insurance – I have to make sure that some insurance would cover myself.

I am willing to work a lesser paying job (part time?) to make ends meet while working on my business or job search. That’s good, but I’d like to see myself doing other things on this list too. It would be nice to have few years of expenses with bank so I’d have time to find work.

Many entrepreneurs give themselves a certain amount of time to work on their business. I can devote one or two years to building my business or job search and if things didn’t work out, I can go back to work in my old career. I probably would be more receptive with some kind of timeline. I will see how well the business does in one year and figure out if it’s worth to continue pursuing the dream. One year really is a very short time.

Lastly, I’ve got to ask myself – what’s the realistic worst case scenario? What if my business didn’t work out after 2 years? Could I go back to work in my old career? Would my skills be outdated? I’m not sure what the ramification(a complex or unwelcome consequence of an action or event) of my business is.

Of course, I’m a little biased because I think everyone should try following their dream. It worked out for many and I think it can work out for others too. I’m an optimist. The most crucial thing is to work as a team. If I don’t get support for my decision to quit, then it will be even more difficult to succeed in starting a business.

As someone who loves security and predictability, to this day I have no idea what came over me. But, regardless of the fact that I don't really know what is coming next.

Looking back, jumping ship from my full-time position with no firm back-up plan in place probably isn’t the smartest thing.