On Quitting My Day Job
by on January 18th, 2007
I’m a much happier person now that I’ve quit my day job to become a full time new media entrepreneur, but it wasn’t an easy decision. Here is the series of events that led to my final decision to go full time on Galacticast / 8Bit Brownies Inc.:
- Rudy and I were staying up until 3-7am every night and waking up at 8am to go to work. I constantly arrived late and felt ashamed of myself for not being punctual;
- I saw the Clint Eastwood film Bronco Billy on television and realized that I needed to quit my job to pursue my dreams. The film is about a former shoe salesman who became a cowboy in a wild west show to follow his dream. I was so touched by the film that I cried my eyes out;
- My good friend Åsa Westin told me that she quit her day job at 28 to become a full time artist. She said that had she not quit her job, she never would have got into art galleries. I realized then that I have to think of myself as an artist… someone working to do what she loves, regardless of whether she gets paid or not.
If you too have the funds to support yourself for a while, I encourage anyone out there to go out and live the life they want to live… you never know if this day is your last.
I took a year off to make some films. So far nothing has come of it yet, but it was a wild ride. As the saying goes, if I knew then what I know now. I would have put the time into something online. But that’s what it’s all about right? Picking yourself back up and trying it again. Casey is an inspiration to us all.
I hear ya. Focusing on what you love can only be a good thing. The money will come. And a good night’s sleep is nice!
I remember when we took the big leap. It was freaking scary. Worth it in the end. The finances of it did not pay off in the way one would have expected because of that whole tech bubble burst and George W and company, but I am so happy with being an independent producer and all that jazz. I am also really happy for you to be following your dreams.
The problem with having no income is when you decide to buy a house.
Then you have to pay the mortgage.
:P
Being a masters student was fun. Now I gotta work to be able to sleep at night.
Why can’t I just be rich and live off the investments’ interests?
This post is great :) I feel very inspired… as I’m about to get in the shower and get ready for work. Hmm…
And I’ve never seen that movie – I’ll have to netflix it.