Everyone is not cut out to be an entrepreneur. There are folks who have located their dream jobs and are ready to ride all the way to the top fulfilling their fondest dreams. Jobs can essentially be divided into three categories – dead-end jobs, transition jobs, and dream jobs.
A dead-end job is a job that is taking you nowhere. You are holding onto it to keep body and soul together. If you had your way, you would rather do something else. A transition job is a job that prepares you for where you are going. It equips you skills-wise and financially for the next step. It could also be regarded as a stepping stone job. Your dream job is your natural habitat. It is like releasing a caged animal back into the wild. This is where your passion, skill, and marketplace need to be met. When you get here, you know that you have found your way back home.
The important thing is to know who you are, where you are going, and how you intend to get there. It requires deep inner work – solitude, meditation, and connecting to your inner self. It means integrity in the highest sense of the word, when your body, spirit, and soul are in alignment; you are true to yourself. You don’t pretend to be who you are not because the money is good. Sadly, many have no clue as to who they really are. They have not really taken the time to find out.
Silence and solitude scare them. They get bored with themselves, so they need entertainment 24/7 – the company of others, music, phones, tablets, TV, social media, etc, anything to distract them from spending time with themselves. There must be something going on to make sure that they don’t take the time to meditate and think through and come face to face with who they really are. Thinking is hard work, which is why very few indulge in the sport. Most of the answers we seek are within us but some would rather die than think. They go with the flow rather than be inwardly directed. It takes courage to go against the flow.
Achieving financial independence is a choice
Many people have excuses for why they have not achieved financial independence and those excuses are valid. When you make something your number one priority, you always find a way to make it happen. For most, financial independence is not a priority. You can see it in the way they spend. They can afford ‘asoebi’, holidays abroad, children in expensive private schools and universities abroad, expensive luxury automobiles, and living in upper-middle-class neighborhoods. They have only one source of income. They hate their jobs or desire financial independence but keep spending as they have no plan to get out of the rat race.
The person that says it cannot be done is right, and he has proof to show. The person that says it can be done is also right and also has proof. You get to choose what you want it to be for you. That is the power of choice. The right answer is what you say it is. You will keep getting the same result until you change your point of view. Nobody can change your point of view. It is an inside job.
The right time to quit your job
If you desire to leave your job and go for your dreams, it is very important you achieve financial independence before you step out. This essentially means you generate enough passive income to live on. Income from your business is not passive income if you are employed by that business. Leaving your job to depend essentially on your business is risky. It is like traveling from Lagos to Ibadan without a spare tire.
You can get away with it but if you get a flat tire, you will realize that it was an unwise move. If you are married with a family, you cannot afford to take a starry-eyed walk on the wild side. You have to plan adequately so that your family is well provided for while you go for your dreams. If you are still single and living with your parents, you can afford to take greater risks, as you can always run back to Daddy if the roof caves in on you.
At the end of the day, it depends on what matters most to you — freedom or security. Interestingly, in the information age, jobs no longer guarantee financial security. The company you work for may no longer be there when you retire. A market crash can cut off a huge chunk of your pension fund balance. On the other hand, you can manage the risk by attaining financial independence before you call it a day. That way, if all fails, you still have a roof over your head, food on the table, and money to pay essential bills. Ironically, freedom offers more security if you play your cards well. Still, it could be one of the toughest decisions of your life. No matter how prepared you are your spouse can still hold you back based on fear.
The decision at the end of the day is still yours to take. If you have achieved financial independence, you have no reason to linger any longer if you have made progress with what you want to do. If you are yet to attain financial independence, you need to speed up the process by increasing your savings and reducing your overheads. It is better you do it by yourself rather than wait to lose your job and you are forced to eat humble pie.
You can choose the right time to quit your job. You can retire on your own terms. You can choose when to retire and what to do with the rest of your life. Even when you are on your dream job, you can get downsized and find yourself in the job market when you did not plan to. Being ready by achieving financial independence while the going is good is the wise thing to do. Nigeria is about to pay a heavy price for squandering its recent boom rather than building a solid reserve and developing multiple sources of income.
Hopefully, we will come out wiser. When you have a plan for the future, you become more prudent with the present. A wise man foresees danger and avoids it while the simple does not see beyond his nose and runs smack into it, according to the Book of Proverbs. Whether you love your job or hate it, you need to realize that everything that has a beginning has an end. It today’s world, if you do not plan for the end, it may take you by surprise. You can decide to choose how you go out. Like the lyrics of the song ‘Blaze of Glory’ by Kenny Rogers
Let’s go out in a blaze of glory
All good things must end
Like two heroes in a story
Let’s go out like we came in –
In a blaze of glory.
