💼 Why I Quit My Job

For the past couple of years, I have lived by the Derek Sivers advice to let the work be the work and let the art be the art.

The work has been as an Integrator for a digital marketing agency. The art you are probably already familiar with (my podcasts, video courses, etc.). In my mind, the work enabled me to make the art and I was free to make art that I loved (since it didn’t have to pay my bills).

Put another way, the work was what I did, the art was who I was.

But in the back of my mind was a nagging question: What if who I was and what I did became one and the same?

I found myself going back to my notes from The Crossroads of Should and Must by Elle Luna. I found a note I captured from the book where Elle was describing the fear that holds people back that said, “but I have 5 kids and mortgage.”

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I actually do have 5 kids and a mortgage. And I could see myself in her story.

In the book, she shares a quote from Mark Twain:

The thing is, I know my why. I call it a LifeTheme, but it’s basically a personal mission statement. I’m here to help people connect to their calling, discover their destiny, and live the life they were created for.

And I came to the realization that I wasn’t doing that while at the day job.

That doesn’t mean there was anything wrong with the day job. I’m grateful for my time there and I learned a lot. But it became increasingly obvious to me that it was something a previous version of myself thought I should do, not something I must do.

I am a creator. That is what I must do.

The thing is, I’ve been creating for the past 7 years in some way shape or form. But unless it was a side project, it has always been for someone else.

Someone with a bigger audience.

Someone with a better, more established product or service to sell.

Someone who could worry about the business stuff and I could just make stuff.

But I’ve learned a lot about business. I have a knack for operations. I’ve had a huge part in helping turn companies around.

So why was I so afraid to try and do it for myself?

I was afraid of the uncertainty. Most people (myself included) will choose the discomfort they know rather than the uncertainty they don’t.

But once you stare the dragon in the face, it loses some of it’s power. Once you name it, it’s less intimidating.

I went through a Fear Setting exercise with my wife where we considered the worst-case scenario. In doing so, I realized that we had a lot more agency and options than I thought. And it became abundantly clear:

Trying to separate the work and the art was simply my version of playing it safe.

It was time to be brave. It was time to go all in and see if I could make this work.

So as of May 15th 2023, I am a full-time independent creator.

So what’s next?

A couple of different things.

I’m looking forward to having more time to devote to my current creative projects (Focused, Bookworm, The Intentional Family, etc.) and believe the quality will get even better.

I’m also excited about being able to do more with the Faith-Based Productivity community. I want to do more live events and workshops and create more opportunities for the community to connect more consistently. We’re wrapping up the first LifeTheme cohort this week, and it’s been incredible to see what people are coming up with as they go through the material. I was initially hoping for at least 10 people, we ended up with over 40 and it’s been one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had.

I want to do more cohorts where I can help lead a group of people through the material together. The next cohort I’m going to be doing is Obsidian University, a 4-week cohort to nerd out about Obsidian and help people put their PKM system to work for them. I’ve done workshops and courses on Obsidian before, but I’m really looking forward to diving deep with people through 8 live sessions in 4 weeks (all the details are on the website).

I’m also going to be doing a little bit of business coaching for creative entrepreneurs. I’ve realized over the last 18 months that I “get” business in a way that a lot of creative entrepreneurs struggle with. I’m signed up as a coach for a software platform called Ninety that I particularly like, but feel I can help organizations implement their business operating system regardless of the platform.

(If you’re interested in this kind of thing, please reach out to me directly. I want to work with a few great companies, and currently have some openings since I’m just getting started.)

Parting words

If you’ve read this far, thank you 🙂 I appreciate you.

I share all this because I believe there are others who are on the same journey as I am. Maybe you’re one of them. Maybe you have a dream you’ve been suppressing because it didn’t make logical sense.

I’ve been there, my friend.

And while I won’t give you specific advice to take the leap, I will encourage you to be brave.

To your success,

— Mike