When To Quit Your Job to Pursue Your Dreams

There’s a famous Tony Robbins saying “If you want to take the island, you have to burn the boats.”

Meaning, if you want to be successful, you have to cut off all other options so you HAVE to make it work.

I don’t buy it. I’ve quit my job THREE separate times to go after my dreams. It was only on the third time that it worked. 

Because instead of motivating me to work hard, not having money paralysed me. I panicked and made stupid short-term decisions.

It was so painful to have to go back to a job because I failed at my business… twice.

From my experience, you’ve got the best chance of quitting your job (and never having to go back) when you meet at least ONE of these three options:

1. A “runway” of at least 6 months of expenses in your bank account (rent, food, bills) AND a stack of cash to invest into growing your business (for materials, marketing, etc). Quitting your job without money is like letting the air out of your rubber dingy in the middle of the ocean without duct tape.
   OR

2. A zero-cost lifestyle (living at your parent’s house rent-free, or you have a husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend/parent who has agreed to support you financially until your business takes off)
   OR

3. You’ve already started your business while you’re working, and it is making enough to support you completely.

I had this idea that time was what I needed. If I just quit my job, then I would have the time I needed and my business would suddenly take off.

Time helps, but it’s not enough. You need resources and access to mentors who can guide you.

Take it from me – it’s so much better wait a little while to quit and then KNOW you never, ever have to go back.

Everybody Loves You

How would you show up if you believed that everybody loves you – even if they don’t know it yet?

How would you show up if you believed that you love everyone – even if you don’t know it yet?

Less But Better

I’ve been a long-time minimalist, but only recently have I discovered minimalism’s chilled-out cousin, essentialism.

To me, the difference is this: Minimalism is about reducing things so you can do more of what matters.

Essentialism is reducing things so you can do less of what matters – but do it better.

Greg McKeown who has brought this idea to the mainstream world is slowly but surely changing the way I run my schedule, my day and my entire life.

You absolutely cannot miss this.

Breakthrough

Breakthroughs only come when there’s something to break through.

So if it feels like you’re smashing your face against a wall right now, congrats! A massive epiphany is coming.

The main breakthrough I’ve had in the last week:

Mindset work is non-negotiable, every single day. I can’t just expect to wake up and feel good and smash my goals. I need to feed my brain with the stuff that makes me feel good and motivated every single morning. (How good would it be if The News was just people reporting helpful thoughts for us to think about for the day? Anyone want to start that news channel?).

Worst Case Scenario: Nothing

I watched myself getting caught up with week in a lot of pointless mind drama.

Example: My dress didn’t arrive on time for my photoshoot.

I’m horribly embarrassed at how much worry this caused me. It’s a dress. For a photoshoot. Boohoo.

No one is going to die.

But my brain acted like someone might.

Because it was the worst thing happening at the time.

And I couldn’t grasp perspective in the moment.

It was only after my semi-meltdown that it occurred to me that when I zoom out from my unbelievably small existence across infinite space and time, that the worst case scenario is nothing.

The hardest thing isn’t realising that there is no worst case scenario for 99.9% of the things I worry about.

It’s staying in that “Don’t worry, be happy” energy.

I’m working on it.

Your Effort is in Your Control

However much effort you expect it to take to hit your goal, 10x it.

If you think you need to talk to 5 people a day – find a way to talk to 50.

If you think you need to get 10 people in your Facebook Group each day, find a way to get 100.

If you think you need to write 200 words of your book a day – imagine what would shift if you committed to 2000 words a day.

The beauty of increasing your effort is that nothing else needs to change.

No one needs to give you permission.

You don’t need to wait for anything.

You have total control.

No matter how crazy the outside world gets, you always have the power to put in 1000% effort.

And it doesn’t have to mean putting in more time or hustling yourself into the ground.

You can win or lose a game of tennis in the same 90 minutes.

You can write 100 words or 1000 words in the same 60 minutes.

You can send the same email to 5 people or 50 people in 10 minutes.

I learned this lesson because of the wild ride that 2020 threw at us all.

I didn’t have a choice but to put in 10x more effort than ever before. Not 2x. Not a bit more. 10x more.

• I went down to the mall and asked strangers to subscribe to my YouTube channel.

• I posted in over 250 other Facebook groups.

• When I first started my Facebook group, I’m not kidding when I say I spent 3 hours a day, every single day for a month to grow it to 500 members. (I’ve got the excel spreadsheet of my effort if y’all want to see!).

I started believing in my ability to control my own results. Because I control my effort.

How will you put in 10x more effort for your goal this week? 

Journaling Question

What are you focusing on right now that is unhelpful for reaching your goal? What could you focus on this week instead?

It's Okay to Show Up & Screw Up

It’s better to show up and suck at what you do than to not show up at all.
It’s about building the habit of showing up.
Sometimes I write absolutely shocking blog posts. And you know what? I’m okay with that.
Because part of the deal of writing a blog post every day for two years is that some of them are going to suck.
I’m on board with that.
One day, I’ll be able to look back and see my journey.
I already feel like my work is 10x better than it was when I started blogging – EVEN on the days when it totally sucks. At least it sucks 10x less than it did before.
But that’s only because I keep showing up and giving myself opportunities to suck at writing a little bit less.
My new mantra: showing up and screwing up is better than never showing up at all.

Bringing the Joy

Personal update: I’ve been working on showing up from a place of abundance and joy and I’m in love with it.

A few days ago I wrote about How to Hustle and ever since then, I’ve been taking it to a whole new level. It’s SO good to feel good and take action FROM feeling good rather than taking action TO feel good.

I’ve been doing that by spending more time dancing, watching Queer Eye (how can anyone watch that show and not feel like a million dollars afterward?!), and hanging out with actual, real-life friends in person (aka, not on Zoom).

What do you do to bring the joy in your life?

How to Love Yourself AND Still Go After Your Impossible Goals

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A post shared by Sarah Arnold-Hall (@saraharnoldhall)

There are two kinds of value:

Intrinsic value, and achieved value.

Intrinsic value is the value each of us possess as beings. Babies have it, animals have it, even the world’s worst dictators have it. It can’t be altered by what we do in the world.

Achieved value is the value we create with our actions. We have the power to alter it.

So often, we confuse the two. In this video I’m sharing how important it is to separate them, and how to love yourself along your impossible goals journey.