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Posted over 3 years ago

When Are You Ready to Quit Your Job?

I have now been done with a full time job for almost 3 years now. I wrote this the day I quit my job to capture my emotions. If someone is struggling with that decision I hope this can help you in some small way:


I’m not posting this the day I’m writing it, but writing it the day of my “quitting day” while the emotions are fresh so none if it is diluted. I put in my notice for my job today. This has been a long time coming, but I just kind of wanted to ramble for a while. Yesterday I typed up the letter, signed it, and put it in my desk. Today I worked up the courage to finally text my boss and ask her if she had a few minutes to talk.

The whole morning I felt like I was in a haze. Kind of there, kind of not there. Just nervous and anxious. In my head I knew logically that I would be OK. I’m at 12 units now and making some decent money on those to where they are self-sustaining. I live in one of my buildings (house-hack) so my expenses are really low. I also built up a second full time job as a Realtor (I thought it would be part time, but was wayyyyy more than that) that was paying me more than my day job. But still there’s something about being educated for 20+ years and groomed to take over a life as an employee that made me feel like this wasn’t something that I should do. Knowing that society would keep me from doing this if I didn’t push myself otherwise I told all of my supportive friends and family that today was the day. So if I didn’t do it today then I would have been a hypocrite and just another “should have been” type person. When I told my boss I wanted to meet for a few minutes to talk I felt like I wanted to puke, but finally met up with her and gave her the news. Told her that I intend to move on, but will work with the company to pick the right date. Then she congratulated me and thanked me for giving her a lot of time to work with. Then something weird happened. I didn’t explode. My bank account didn’t go to zero. Someone didn’t come over and tell me I was an idiot for leaving my “stable” job. She congratulated me and said that she appreciated me giving her time to put together a plan.

You see I worked this whole event up to be something way scarier than it really was. I built maybe 100 excel spreadsheets planning my budget, my current non W2 income, my income, my savings, etc. I envy risk takers, and to a small amount I am one, but by nature I over-analyze and can be prone to “analysis paralysis”. I’m a scientist by education and that analytical side can really eat at you if you let it. So being someone who can get stuck in overthinking I want to let the other overthinkers know that you can do it too if you want to. Just pull the trigger on that first deal. Get started on an accelerated savings rate. Just move towards financial independence in any way possible if that’s what you really want. You’ll keep going and you’ll build a life for yourself that you are happy with. If you have doubts think about any successful person that you look up to. In business, art, entertainment, whatever. Ask yourself, do you know about this person because they spent a lifetime working to fulfill someone else’s goals? Or do you know about this person because they took a leap of faith and built something that made them fulfilled and ecstatic to wake up for the next morning.

Here’s the hard truth. I’ve been grinding to get to this point. 50 hours a week as a W2 employee and 50 more as an agent and investor. If you don’t believe me I have a spreadsheet where I keep track of my working hours. If you don’t believe that you can ask my friends and family (some of whom are on BP). It was grueling. I’m tired. I look tired. I spent more evenings with a paint brush, pipe wrench, and a sawzall or prybar then I can count. I sacrificed time with friends and family. I’ve spend more weekends looking at houses than I have pursuing my other hobbies and “relaxing” things. For the past year when someone asks what I’m doing this weekend I usually say, “You know, the usual”. To be honest I probably made everything a little bit more difficult than it needed to be. It probably took a few years off my lifespan with stress. But you know what. It was worth it.

3 years ago I started this journey and didn’t really know where it would go. I went through a bunch of crises that weren’t really that bad after I was done dealing with them (first leaky roof, first electrical renovation, first tenant screwing me over, etc). After persevering through that time I’m finally to the point where the minor and major missteps don’t ruin my day. Just challenges to get through. This morning I woke up and instead of getting into the shower and sleepwalking through my morning routine I woke up and was excited about my day. Because it was mine.

This wouldn’t have been at all possible without support. You need to surround yourself with people that support you. My friends are all supportive and more have offered to help on projects than I can count. My parents have both contributed their labor to every property that I’ve done. My dad even painted a whole garage once when I couldn’t take the time to get it ready for the renter. I’ve been blessed to have supportive parents and in laws that helped me financially get the first deal off the ground. My mom contributed a good bit of money to my first deal when she could have probably used that towards her own retirement. My first client as an agent has become a partner on a deal that put me over the hump and really got me going when I didn’t have anything to go off of other than my own personal experience. Another client became a partner on a project that taught me about the value of partnerships @duc ong.  A mentor and colleague helped push me forward @Ian Hoover. And my first influence in this whole thing is one of the people that I have to thank the most. @Cindy Rack got me started as an agent and that’s how this whole thing got going. Lastly I can say that my fiancé Anna has been on board every step of the way. She’d been a part of every property. She even introduced me to the Bigger Pockets podcast when I was unhappy with my job and looking for a way out. She’s been more influential in this whole journey than I can even explain and is an example of why you need a supportive spouse/partner to push forward.

So to those of you looking to get started know that you will need support. So if you don’t have people around you that believe in you, then find new people to be around. I’m not saying to drop the others in your life, but you need a group that supports what you’re doing. Because there will be times that you want to just quit. My local REIA has kept my motivation going on days that it was hard (Thanks @Josh Caldwell for letting me start my own little branch). So if you don’t know anyone that supports you then start with going to your own local RE investor groups. Know that you are working towards something special and that sooner than you think you can wake up and have your life be your own. The great thing about the RE community is that it is one of abundance. If you have work ethic and are dedicated to getting things done then people that have done it will help you. They know that 95% of the people just want to do it and never do and that there are enough deals to go around for the 5% with the drive and dedication to make it happen.

Time, money, deals, etc. will all come if you just keep pushing forward and working for it. So stop reading my post (not just because it’s over now) and go get started being a part of the group that make it happen



Comments (3)

  1. The anguish that we all feel with the unknown comes through on this piece. It is well written and very relatable.  Thanks for sharing.


  2. Thank you for sharing your story. So inspirational and always helpful to hear how others dealt with their moments of doubt and struggle.


    1. Thank you!