One question I’ve been asked over and over when talking about quitting my job is how I overcame the fear of not being able to find a new job, or not being able to pay my bills. Obviously, both of those questions played a part in the decision. My answer might surprise some. I didn’t. At least not to the point that they’ve completely left my mind.
At the moment, I’m not looking for another job. I took on a part-time job, working for a local computer repair shop, and I’m not even looking for a new full-time job. The part-time job doesn’t pay anything even close to what I was making at my full-time job. And, the truth is, I don’t care. So far, using the income from my wife’s full-time job, and the income from my part-time job, along with some of the income I make from this site and others, we’ve been able to pay the bills. We haven’t been able to keep up with our debt repayments on the same aggressive schedule that we had been on before, but we can pay the bills.
Even so, making the decision to quit my job meant overcoming the fear of both of those things. And, I did it.
Almost a year before I quit my job, I wrote a post on another site of mine, entitled Overcoming Fear. In it, I wrote about facing fear with rationality. Looking at fear with a rational eye, and truly, asking “What’s the worst that could happen?” I knew, during the decision making process, that the part-time job was available, and that it would likely be mine for the asking. The worst that could happen there was for that particular job to become unavailable. But, there are other part time jobs available here, and I could take one of those. The hours at another one of them might be worse, and the pay might even be worse, but jobs were available. The worst that could happen was that I could end up having to take a different part-time job that I wouldn’t like as much. The worst that could happen with our bills would be if we couldn’t make ends meet. The absolute worst case scenario would be if we were pushed to a point, financially, where we would have to declare bankruptcy. Even that is was a pretty remote possibility, because I could always take on a second part-time job to help bring more money in.
I found the worst case scenarios, understood what the ramifications would be for each, and took a leap. And, in the end, I’m very happy that I did. My stress levels have gone way down. I enjoy what I’m doing again. And, I’m in control of what happens with my life, now.
Overcoming fear can be about the best case scenario too. With any decision, there is always something that is a positive. For me, the positives of getting out of a situation that I was suffering in, regaining control of my life, and stopping the trade of my time for money, made it well worth my while.
Do you fear? I encourage to read my post on Overcoming Fear, look at your fears with a rational eye, and ask yourself what the worst case scenario is. Some fears aren’t worth fearing.
Share with us. What are some fears that you’ve overcome? What are some fears that you want to overcome?
photo credit: notsogoodphotography
I started this blog to share what I know and what I was learning about personal finance. Along the way I’ve met and found many blogging friends. Please feel free to connect with me on the Beating Broke accounts: Twitter and Facebook.
You can also connect with me personally at Novelnaut, Thatedeguy, Shane Ede, and my personal Twitter.
I have often found that when you really boil down your worst case scenario to real pieces, your situation does not look so bad. Sure you might have quit your job, but you had a comfortable savings, and the possibility for income generation. Tim Ferris has great ideas on how we always over exaggerate our worst case scenarios. The more realistic we are with our expectations, the more we can focus on our true goals!
The inknow can be scary, although there are ways to reduce the fear. I generally have a plan and perhaps even a plan B. This helps me a great deal to alleviate my fear.
To get out from a bad situation is worth it in so many ways that you really don’t understand until you’re not in that situation anymore. I was in a horrible job that I hated with every ounce of my soul, but only after they let me go did I see that it really was draining me in more ways than I could see.
Great points shane – it’s unfortunate that you’re unable to continue making as much debt repayment as you were, but at least you’re not miserable all the time now, right?
Absolutely. Being in a better place is worth far more than the quicker debt repayment. I’ll take it anytime over what I had.
What an exciting time!
It is a big risk but you can always pay down more debt in the future.
Nice to see that you’re doing ok. Life goes on right? We all have these set back and just have to work through it. My job is also getting to be insufferable and I’ll probably need to make a change soon too.
I went through so much of this when I quit my job. I knew it was going nowhere and that I would never make more money and the hours were wearing me down- but there were those stupid scenarios we all create in our minds that kept me there.
I feared the unknown- sure if I was broke I could do a/b/c, but what about some unknown unknown? Some unpredictable regret I’d form later on? Some catastrophe? It was ridiculous! It got to the point where I’d rather deal with the worst case scenario than to be there another day, so I quit. It hasn’t been so bad! 😉
I also was totally scared to start a podcast- finally nipping that one in the butt! Thanks for posting- I think this is something we all deal with and need a check-in for from time to time!
@shannyn Exactly. That fear of the unknown is in us all. I do believe that those of us who learn how to face it and move forward anyways will one day find our success because of it. As for podcasting, I’m still thinking about that one too. Thanks for the comment, it’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who has been there and done that. 😉
Congrats! If you can look at the situation and picture the worst case and be able to accept it the by all means do it. I know that my wife and I can just live off of one income. However I would like to pay debts completely off and bank a huge savings account. We all have fears its just for some its easier to understand that fear is easy to overcome if you accept the worse case. Many cant do that but you have.
Thank you for the insights and highlighting the thought process of the worst case scenario.
Worst case isn’t that bad at all is it? It’s good we have our partners to be the rock while we figure out new things too.
Sam
We all have those moments of adjustment. That is what I like to call them. It is when we are emotionally torn up and trying to find our way again. Comes after big change- like a job. Eventually though it goes away and you find your new normal. Things do work out they just take time and you need to allow yourself an adjustment phase. There is always a way.
Really great post. I think a lot of people overestimate “the worst that could happen.” Losing a job or not finding a new one is not the end of the world. Most of us won’t starve. Thankfully we live in a country where this is possible.
Bravo to you for taking a leap of faith, it’s not easy to do but sometimes it has to be done! I have been where you are, and it came to the point that I had to choose the unknown or be stuck in a horrible job with no end in sight. When your job negatively affects your health and causes conflict in your family, it’s time to leave. I’m not advocating that people give up their jobs without a plan, but for me, my improved health and peace of mind are priceless. If it comes to the point that my self employment doesn’t work out, I will find another job, but I will never go back to what I did before. Sorry for the narrative, but your post struck a chord:) Thanks for sharing your experience.
Good post – we can adjust to different situations, and find a way to get to a new normal. What seemed like a disaster at one point might not feel like it after a while. Happiness can’t be bought, which is a point we learn after going through change and realizing that we can be happy even after giving up or losing something.
Great way to put things into perspective. You are absolutely right about reducing the situation down to what the worst that could happen would be. Would you die? Would your loved ones leave you? Probably not, but we treat a lot of situations like that is what is going to happen. Our mind tricks us into believing that every wrong decision will be a disaster. But we all seem to live another day. And the sooner we realize this, the less we’d have to fear the decisions we have to make.
Great post. I like your thought process of specifically laying out the worst case scenarios and how bad are they really. It seems like our mind often has a way of running away from ourselves with the negative at times and holds us back.
I also had to overcome fears and quit my job in November. We’re living on frugality and faith right now as each month the income slightly increases.
@Brent Way to Go! It’s a unique feeling, isn’t it? Congratulations, and good luck!
Before I quit my job, I asked myself, “What’s the worst that can happen?” For me, it’s not being able to generate enough income to sustain myself and, ultimately, becoming homeless. To get over my fear, I wrote a list of all the things I’d do to avoid this. I called it Countdown to Homelessness. It was really eye opening. If I find myself in a bind, I already know what to do. Some of the things on my list I started doing to generate extra income.
It’s all about being able to pay the bills until you figure out your next move. Great blog, thanks.