Why I Walked Away from My Six-Figure Career

Why I Walked Away from My Six-Figure Career Today, March 1, 2011, was my point of no return: I quit my job. It feels great to write those four words, but it is also terrifying and exhilarating and scary and exciting and surreal and unbelievable and, in many ways, indescribable. Im listening to Nina Simones Feeling Good as I write this. Her words, Its a new dawn / its a new day / its a new life for me / and Im feeling good, best describe what I feel right now. A new beginning. A fresh start. The precipice of something exciting. Yesterday, February 28, 2011, was my last day at my suit-and-tie corporate job. Over the past dozen years, since age eighteen, Ive spent nearly 80 hours a week working my way up the corporate ladder at a large telecom company in the Midwestâ€"from retail sales rep to sales manager to store manager to regional manager to, most recently, director of operations for 150 retail stores, where I led hundreds of employees and managed a multi-million dollar operations budget. Throughout my tenure, I opened dozens of retail stores, hired hundreds of employees, and help many people grow professionally. And I was very, very good at my job. In the last few years, I won back-to-back Presidents Club trips to London and Hawaii for outstanding sales performance. I hired some of the best people in the industry, people who quickly advanced throughout the organization (including Ryan, who runs this website with me now, as well as Stan, one of my closest friends). And I was poised to become a C-level executive before age 40. In short: I had it made. So, when I announced my departure last month, it seemed illogical to nearly everyone: dozens of employees asked where I was going and whether they could come with me. When I told them I was changing my lifes path, many people didnt understand. After all, I was living the American Dream, wasnt I? A six-figure salary, a huge suburban home, several luxury cars, and all the stuff to fill every corner of my consumer-driven lifestyleâ€"who the hell walks away from that? Of course, Im not trying to impress you, dear reader, with the details of my supposedly impressive career. If I thought that my accomplishments were impressiveâ€"if I were impressed by my lifestyleâ€"then I wouldntve left in the first place. Rather, I present these details to impress upon you my need for change. Yes, I was ostensibly successful, but I didnt feel successful. I felt overwhelmed, stressed out, depressed. Even worse, I was up to my eyeballs in debt. True, I made great money in the corporate world; but, for most of my adult life, I spent more than I earnedâ€"a doomed equation no matter your income. You see, even though I was living the Corporate Dream with a big salary and elevated status, I was not completely happy because Id lost sight of what was truly important: I was unhealthy, my relationships were in shambles, and I wasnt passionate about lifeâ€"all of which I attempted to cover up by amassing more trinkets and trophies. Sadly, I didnt realize my missteps until it was too late. Two years ago, in 2009, my mother died and my marriage ended in the same month. Shortly thereafter, I discovered minimalism  and started making radical changesâ€"regaining control of my finances, refocusing my relationships, and asking difficult questions about my lifes direction. In time, I realized I was not pursuing my passion, nor was I growing as an individual or contributing beyond myself in a meaningful way. I wasnt living the Dream; I was living a lie. But today, that chapter has ended. To be clear, I didnt barrel into by bosss office and yell Screw you, I quit!  No, I had mixed emotions about leaving my job. I care about many of the people there and enjoyed much of the job itself. So my screw you  is not to my former job at all. Im not quitting a jobâ€"the job is not the point. Instead, Im walking away from my old lifestyle. I have to stop living the lie, and start living the life. How will I earn a living? To be honest, Im not entirely sure, but Ive spent the last two years working hard to reduce my bills substantially and pay off massive amounts of debt. Yes, Ill still need to earn enough money to keep the lights on, but making money is no longer a priority. I need only work to earn enough money to liveâ€"not live to work. My initial plan is to be a part-time barista at a local coffeehouse and earn enough to pay my billsâ€"food, rent, utilities, insuranceâ€"while writing full time. Who knows: maybe this writing thing will yield a full-time income one day. But even if it doesnt, thats okay because Im passionate about writing, especially literary fiction. (2012 UPDATE: Im happy to report that, only a year later, Im making a full-time living as an author. Even though I earn considerably less than my corporate salary, I also think about money differently these days, and Ive never been happier.) Rather than spending my time herding masses of people into cubicle farms, Ive decided to focus on my real priorities: health, relationships, passion, growth, and contribution. These values comprise the foundation of a meaningful lifeâ€"not money or stuff or the title on a business card. Ill contribute to people via this websiteâ€"Im thankful people find value here. Ill also contribute through other means, such as charity and donating my time to help others: Writing and contributing. Thats what Im doing now. I refuse to be a slave to cultural expectations, ensnared by the trappings of money and power and perceived success. So, to my old life, I bid you farewell: Screw you, I quit! Update: Read Ryan Nicodemuss essay Getting Laid Off from My Six-Figure Job. You can also subscribe to The Minimalists for free via email. And if you find value in The Minimalists, consider donating a dollar.