When to Jump: If the Job You Have Isn't the Life You Want

by Mike Lewis

The question I’ve come back to again and again in my life is, “What would I do if I wasn’t afraid?”

Listen to the words playing inside you. Remember the person in the best position to decide something for you is you. No one else has the information that you have about yourself, your abilities, the talents that you might be hiding, the secrets that you have in your heart, or the experiences that have helped you or hindered you.

“I cannot go back to working a day job that I don’t care about.” It felt like it was crushing the passion and fire that I had.

A positive mind-set is critical to fulfillment in daily life and especially jumping; it impacts your work, your friends, your relationships.

In my own experience, big change happens in small ways, and it happens by choosing one thing after another after another.

was putting all this time and effort into this thing I didn’t care about. No part of it was fun anymore. Whatever you’re doing, when it gets to that point, do yourself a favor and jump. It is only scary until you leave.

But I knew a lot of my success was somewhat fluke-ish and that it would dry up the moment I was exposed as someone who was basically not interested. It’s very hard to keep up with anything you’re not really interested in. It was interesting for a little while, and then it got boring.

There’s not a price you can put on doing a job that actually makes you happy. And that, itself, is worth jumping for.

We live in a competitive world where everybody wants to leave their job. Everybody wants to be doing something creative and something that they love. The most competitive market in the world is doing what you love. And like in any market, the person who works hardest is the one that’s going to be able to succeed. It takes a massive, massive amount of work to build a life around doing what you love.