CHAPTER 10 - The right time to quit your job to pursue purpose
“It is a luxury to pursue what makes you happy, it’s a moral obligation to pursue what is meaningful” – Jordan Peterson
The right time to quit is when you are in momentum. This is past the miracle stage and it is when:
1. You have done all your research about your market and the kinds of individuals that will use/buy your offering, and;
2. Have had at least one person pay for your product/service who is not a family or friend
Getting your product or service to these two milestones is not easy and may take a year or two. You are pregnant with possibilities (the miracle makes this evident to you) but the baby isn’t born yet if the above is not achieved. So then, like a pregnant woman, you have to go to your job pregnant. Pregnant people go to their job too and the baby goes with them!
Having the “feeling” of your purpose succeeding is not the same as having it done. You need to learn skills and connect with the right people who will help you, and this is not so easy. Ever wondered why a majority of investors invest in businesses that already have traction? This is because they know that thinking and executing are two completely different things. A lot of people thought of UBER and only one person executed it.
When I quit my job, I had the following milestones:
1. The Department of Basic Education (Gauteng Library Section) assessed and approved my book “Your Gift is Bigger than a career” for inclusion in the Gauteng Department of Education Young Writers Catalogue 2018. As a result, hundreds of copies were bought by the department
2. Sold out copies of the book in bookstores in Durban, Johannesburg and Pretoria
3. I had all the research data for the online qualification quiz which we were still developing at the time
4. We won the best innovative program for the qualification quiz during the Innovate Durban Pitching Den Competition in June 2018. As a result, R50000 was secured for funding.
So, you can clearly see that a miracle coupled with momentum produced a certain urge that I couldn’t contain anymore, which pushed me to quit to pursue something which I felt was a moral obligation. You can also see that my miracle was also coupled with momentum: I DID WORK TO BACK UP MY MIRACLE.
You don’t need to be making money to quit
I believe that you don’t need to be making a profit to quit. All you need is momentum – people being interested in your product or service, people buying, enquiring or showing interest. People say your side hustle needs to be making more money than the salary are talking nonsense. I have come to learn that people who say such stuff haven’t even started and are clueless. The truth is that there are very few people who branch out into their purpose who start out making money straight away. Even if you do make money you are forced to invest it back into your endeavour because there will be so many things and directions that you might want to take – which will need money. In the next chapter you learn about how you must give up the soft life so that you won’t be pilfering the money that is meant for your purpose on unnecessary needs and wants.
“Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle with your hands in the evening, for you do not know whether the morning or evening planting will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both alike will be good” – Ecclesiastes 11 verse 6. I saw these verse fitting from King Solomon in order to drive this point on working on both your purpose and job until your purpose gets in momentum. There are many interpretations to this statement that you can find but, in my opinion, it simply means: in the morning go to your job so that you sustain yourself, and in the evening come home and work on your purpose because you do not know which is important at a particular time in your life (you do not know how long your it will take for your purpose to manifest itself).
The bacon and egg scenario
There are two animals involved in giving you a bacon and egg breakfast – the chicken and the pig. But in order to give you these, one had to sacrifice part of itself and one had to sacrifice itself entirely. The chicken sacrificed one of its eggs. The pig had to die.
If you want to see success in anything, like your purpose maybe, you have to be like the pig and die. Before you become the bacon, you have to be like the chicken and give part of yourself first so that you have time to sharpen your skills that your purpose requires
How to give part of yourself - The egg scenario
Giving part of yourself might mean coming back from your place of employment and use this time to fully focus on something that is meaningful. You probably will give up some family time, TV, social media and other things that you would otherwise do. You definitely need to work on weekends.
Giving part of yourself might also mean using your place of employment resources and time. This might include finishing your employment duties quicker so that you can pour your time into your dream, or staying after work to complete a specific task for your purpose.
How to give all of you - The bacon scenario
After undertaking the egg scenario, you will get into momentum and have the urge to quit! You will want to be the pig and give your all to your purpose.
You cannot direct your purpose; it has to unfold. It unfolds in small layers each time you pour into it. On the other hand, your purpose is unexplainable. If you were to try to explain it to people and articulate what you want to do, you will fail because it is simply an idea in your head which hasn’t manifested yet. So do not be worried or discouraged if you cannot explain it to people yet because you will not make sense of it yourself initially.
The best way to gain momentum: Give it away for free in the beginning
Your gift is a free token to you given by God for a purpose. Thus you have to be willing to give it away for free in the beginning for the sake of multiplying it. In fact I would go as far as saying that although your gift was a free gift to you, the real price that you pay is the refinement process that you go through (the wilderness).
If you hear the name “Volvo” it is most likely that you will think about safety because they make the safest cars in the world. Where did that come from?
In 1958 Nils Ivar Bohlin joined Volvo as a safety engineer. After testing the 3-point safety belt, he introduced his invention to the Volvo Company in 1959. At the time Volvo wasn’t recognized or well-known. After implementing this invention, the company was recognized as a leading automobile maker due this simple safety feature that their car had. They didn’t keep this invention to themselves though; they gave the patent away for free to other car makers, which multiplied Volvo’s blueprint and impact in the automobile industry. Now a safety belt is now a standard safety feature in all cars. What if Volvo had held on to their idea? Would have had the same momentum? No! Other car manufacturers invented other safety measures and Volvo would have been forgotten
Simon Sinek didn’t trademark the golden circle that he used in his famous TED TALK video. He allowed everyone to use it for free which allowed his idea of “why” to multiply rapidly. If he had trademarked it, would he be where he is today? Would he be doing what he is doing to the world with his ideas?
You will most likely not make any substantial amount of money in the first few years when going after purpose. But still, you have to serve your gift to people and possibly offer more value for the money that they will pay you. This is because you are unknown at this stage and you still fighting for your relevance.
Excerpt from the book HOW TO QUIT YOUR JOB AND PURSUE PURPOSE, available for R300 delivered to your doorstep. Whatsapp Sphesihle @ 0681630008 to place your order.