When I decided to quit my day job, more than a year and a half ago, most people reacted in one of two ways:
And although one of these responses was more supportive, they were equally unhelpful.
I was thinking about this recently after having coffee with a friend who is considering a similar move. I told her my story and I offered some perspective about what has and has not worked for me. One thing that I've realized is that the net does not just appear.
You make your own net. You are making your net day after day. It's made of your people (whether or not they can give you work or money), your skills (whether or not they seem relevant to the dream that you are pursuing), your experiences, your resiliance in the face of setbacks or outright failure, everything. Your life up until now is your net.
When I leapt, my net included a healthy saving account, some marketable skills to bolster up my less marketable skills, a whole of lot supportive friends, and my certainty that if this was a mistake it was at least the right mistake at the right time in my life. And guess what? My net has holes in it! I'm still uncomfortable with selling myself. I still cringe when I think about reaching out to people as "networking." And so I'm still knitting it together, tying knots, and testing fibers.
I live in my net and always will. In fact, I think I'm going start thinking of it as a trampoline instead--a place where I can jump and keep jumping no matter how hard I fall.
- OMG how the heck are you going to pay for food/rent/heath insurance/coffee/cat food FREAKOUT
- Good for you, dude. Leap and the net will appear...
And although one of these responses was more supportive, they were equally unhelpful.
I was thinking about this recently after having coffee with a friend who is considering a similar move. I told her my story and I offered some perspective about what has and has not worked for me. One thing that I've realized is that the net does not just appear.
You make your own net. You are making your net day after day. It's made of your people (whether or not they can give you work or money), your skills (whether or not they seem relevant to the dream that you are pursuing), your experiences, your resiliance in the face of setbacks or outright failure, everything. Your life up until now is your net.
When I leapt, my net included a healthy saving account, some marketable skills to bolster up my less marketable skills, a whole of lot supportive friends, and my certainty that if this was a mistake it was at least the right mistake at the right time in my life. And guess what? My net has holes in it! I'm still uncomfortable with selling myself. I still cringe when I think about reaching out to people as "networking." And so I'm still knitting it together, tying knots, and testing fibers.
I live in my net and always will. In fact, I think I'm going start thinking of it as a trampoline instead--a place where I can jump and keep jumping no matter how hard I fall.
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