What is Digg?174 Comments
- BoneStamp, on 01/16/2008, -1/+691. Raise hand
2. Raise middle finger
3. Do front flip into ocean outside your cubical - inactive, on 01/16/2008, -1/+47Do it, don't look back. You won't regret it, the experience will be phenomenal. Good luck!
- digitalslavery, on 01/16/2008, -0/+41I quit my job 9 months ago and have been keeping my head above water, nothing wonderful, but programming from home in my fuzzy bunny slippers is freakin awesome!
- cactus476, on 01/16/2008, -3/+44I still won't click on your ads.
- Bing11, on 01/16/2008, -2/+25I've been very tempted to do something like this - maybe not today or tomorrow - but before I fall into the "9-5 rut." I have so many questions and possiblities to chose from though, I don't know what I'd do, or how I'd get by.
Part of me wants to become a fighter pilot for the airforce, while another part just wants to spend my time going on adventures (like the guy from areyoumywife.com, minus the spouse search).
Sorry for my ramblings. My point is: I guess we could all use a bit more freedom. - Navicerts, on 01/16/2008, -3/+24Emergency account? Maybe one day i will stop living paycheck to paycheck.
- dshPls, on 01/16/2008, -0/+20I always thought doing extensive coding at home would blur the lines between work and leisure. You need to be really disciplined to pull it off.
- stinkypyper, on 01/16/2008, -0/+19A little over a year ago I quit my job to build my own application service provider and do contract work. I'd say it is pretty good. A few things I'd like to point out for someone considering throwing their nuts -- or ovaries -- to the wind.
1) Working costs money. Work clothes, fuel and excessive car mileage, lunches you forget(everyday in my case), etc... all add up. You'll find you spend less when you don't work and it really adds up.
2) You have more time if you work from home. No traffic, no getting up early, you can go to everything like the bank, mall, the doctor, gym, or hairstylist, etc.... during off peak hours and never wait. Also, you work when your most productive.
3) You are a lot healthier. No stress, no cooped up diseased office, no traffic, time to hit the gym, actual real sunlight in your home office.
The way I see it. Everyone used to be their own business. Farmers, Black-Smiths, Bakers, etc....were not franchised corporations, your just going old-school. - kgool, on 01/16/2008, -0/+16Enough money to cover lightbulbs for mom's basement, a few cases of Mountain Dew, and their World of Warcraft subscription.
- MindTrigger, on 01/16/2008, -0/+16I started working for myself, and I've never been happier. I'm tired of working for *****, and ludicrously inefficient corporate bureaucracies. Started out in IT and now I have a couple clients that pay me enough to become a full time developer. The single best part of it is being able to set my work schedule AROUND the good things in life.
I remember having to beg my boss if I could come early on some Fridays so that I could leave early to meet up with my friends for a weekend of desert quad riding / jeeping. Despite the fact that I was working the same amount of hours on those Fridays, and that my being gone for a couple hours at the end of the day would not affect the company at all, he always griefed me over it. Vacation? Hell that was like pulling his teeth out. The freedom I feel now is worth more than any paycheck could ever work for. Money isn't everything, and the earlier in life you learn this, the happier you will be. Don't wake up at retirement age with a bank full of money thinking, "wow, I'm too ***** old to really enjoy this. I wasted my life."
My advice to anyone looking to escape the rat race is to work part time doing what you know how to do, while you get other things started. I know this won't work for everyone, but it will work for more people than you may think. - dolemite5005, on 01/16/2008, -1/+14Having no income RAWKS!!
- Tyr7BE, on 01/16/2008, -0/+12No, don't just do it. Do you realize that 95% of the people reading your comment don't have what it takes to pursue other opportunities? Think this through. So you've quit your day job. Now what? Well, you'd better start thinking of ways to make some more money, or start reevaluating the life you're currently leading. Because either you make some more money to maintain your current standard of living, or you reevaluate how you live and strip it down to the point where you can survive on what you can scrape together working shift work at McDonalds or pumping gas.
First, make sure you have a viable option after you quit. THEN do it, and don't look back. - BinaryDelt, on 01/16/2008, -0/+11I'm jealous. My lunch break is almost over. This makes me not want to go back...ever.
- sTiVo, on 01/16/2008, -2/+13For me, I'd save 1/2 a year of living expenses. It gives you a chance to get back on your feet should things not work out.
- MuntrealCanada, on 01/16/2008, -0/+11Should be titled "How I quit my day job, and became homeless"
- LanceUppercut, on 01/16/2008, -1/+11looks like your web server did the same.
- Firehed, on 01/16/2008, -1/+11You must have a nice view from your cube. If I attempted to do a front flip outside of mine, I'd break my neck.
- deadeyes, on 01/16/2008, -5/+15prediction: In one year this guy will be more in debt than he already is, feel depressed and blog just to get some small time donations to buy food.
(I wish it could be done though) - T4z3R, on 01/16/2008, -2/+11I'd rather be fighting the man.
- MindTrigger, on 01/16/2008, -0/+9That is *exactly* what I am doing. Listen, if any of you think you might enjoy programming, I would highly recommend it. Unless the world as we know it comes to an end, technology is going to continue on it's exponential curve upwards for decades. I've switched from working in IT for 15 years, to working for myself as a developer, and I couldn't be happier. Setting you own schedule brings freedom you will never want to let go of.
- calvmari, on 01/16/2008, -2/+11Just out of curiosity, what do diggers consider a decent emergency fund?
- duerra, on 01/16/2008, -0/+8Depending on where you live, that's not an outrageous suggestion - not sure why you're getting dugg down. People in the NYC area or California should heed your advice. Living in the midwest, $30-$60k would be sufficient.
- phybere, on 01/16/2008, -3/+11$0.50 for a phone call
- bloodguard, on 01/16/2008, -0/+8OK, so we're heading into the mother of all recessions that may actually dive bomb into a full blown depression and you're leaving a paying gig to go into a field that's largely ad supported?
I don't mean to be unkind but are you *edited for PC purposes* mentally challenged? You're jumping on a train ("pro-blogger") that's already left the station. Heck, it's left the station and is in the process of jumping the tracks. - inactive, on 01/16/2008, -5/+12Why the ***** is this on digg. Nobody cares. You're "reporting" this news to digg, to get clicks, to get money.. get this ***** off of here. This is a news site; nobody gives a ***** you quit your job. Get a ***** life.
- spudnic, on 01/16/2008, -0/+7Why would you need that much? (Not asking that in a rhetorical way, genuinely interested why you would need that much!)
I can't really think of a situation that would put you out of work that long...
Is it in case of large medical bills? - peaceninja, on 01/16/2008, -0/+7i work from home as a remote employee and can vouch for that. it takes a ton of discipline, and even though i do eventually want to own my own business and not work for a company any longer, i know i have more discipline to learn.
- LanceUppercut, on 01/16/2008, -0/+7I am saving you all the 3 minute load time, and when it loads, the stylesheet is broken.
So I Quit My Day Job - Holy Cow! I Took the Plunge
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain
I’m officially a ProBlogger now.
Yesterday morning, I turned in my resignation from my day job (I work with U.S. military veterans for the Guam Legislature). OK, it doesn’t actually take effect until the end of next week, but still.
Woo hoo!
It’s pretty liberating. And very very very scary.
My Dream Come True
Well, to be honest, this hasn’t been a lifelong dream. I never knew that I wanted to be a full-time blogger until just last year (2007), when Zen Habits began to do really well (March, April, May). I started to realize: it’s crazy, but I might actually be able to do this full time!
Blogging on Zen Habits was then, and still is, so much fun that I couldn’t believe it could actually become a full-time thing. But it became a dream of mine, and I thought: maybe by this time next year, I could quite my day job!
So I created a mantra for myself. It was one word: Liberate.
This mantra was repeated every day. Everything I did was geared toward that mantra — blogging became a way to liberate myself. New projects were steps along that path. And it has been an exciting and rewarding path at that.
So now that dream has come true. A few months early too.
How I Did It
I thought you might be interested in hearing about my path to make this dream become realized. Now, this should be obvious, but I’ll stress it here: this is what worked for me. It won’t necessarily work for any other human being on this planet. I share it only because I know I like to read the success stories of others — sometimes they’re instructional, and other times they’re simply inspirational.
That caveat aside, here are some of the stepping stones along my path to liberation:
1. Blog from the heart. I decided early on that while I would draw inspiration from many other blogs, from Lifehacker to Get Rich Slowly to Lifehack.org to The Happiness Project to 43 Folders to Dumb Little Man to ProBlogger and many more …. that inspiration would be simply inspiration, and not copycatting. I wanted my writing to be my own, true to myself, and from my heart. As a result, many people have commented that they enjoy my writing, which is gratifying … and even better, I have enjoyed doing it immensely. Writing this post for example … it’s pure joy.
2. Be insanely useful. My goal with every post is to be as useful as possible to my readers. Of course, I don’t always succeed, but it’s been a worthy goal. And I think the usefulness of many of my posts is what attracts readers, and attracting readers has been the key to the growth of Zen Habits.
3. Focus my efforts and my writing. This won’t be any surprise to you guys, if you know me, but simplicity has been central to much of what I’ve done. My goal is always to keep things simple, to focus my efforts on those things that I love the most and that pay off the most, to be able to focus on my writing instead of the money or the stats or anything else. Time with my family is very important, so I’ve had to make sure that I eliminate unnecessary tasks and projects so that my work doesn’t overwhelm my family time.
4. Ask for donations. A few months back, I told you guys about my dream to become a full-time blogger, and asked for your help. You came through, big time. In fact, I still get donations, and each and every one of those donations have helped bring me closer to my dream. I couldn’t have done this without you guys. Seriously. Thank you. (Btw, donations are still welcome!)
5. Write and sell an ebook. To ensure that I had multiple income streams, besides the ads and the donations, I wrote and sold my Zen To Done ebook. It turned out to be extremely successful. Again, your purchases have helped my dream come true. With the success of the ebook, I was able to finally eliminate my debt — see below for why that’s important. Again, thank you guys!
6. Focus my ads. I’ve been experimenting with different forms of advertising all year long. I’m still doing so. Basically, I have been continually dropping ads that don’t do very well for me. My goal is to have just one set of ads, to keep things as simple as possible. If you’re interested in becoming a Zen Habits sponsor, you’d be very welcome.
7. Interact with readers. Readers should be the focus of any good blog. Your interests, your needs, your comments, your emails. I try to make time to respond to comments and emails, although I have to admit that I cannot always keep up with the volume of comments, questions, requests, and emails. It’s very important to me, though, and I do my best.
8. Transition from day job. I decided, from the beginning, that I would do a gradual transition from my day job to full-time blogging. Slowly, I’ve increased my blogging income while making the day job less important. I’ve reduced my work at my day job so that I can focus on my writing. Today, that transition is complete.
9. Get out of debt, save an emergency fund. These two financial moves were prerequisites for me. I wasn’t going to quit my day job without getting out of debt first, and without an adequate emergency fund. It’s why I didn’t quit several months ago, when my blogging income was sufficient. I have a family to worry about. I have since eliminated my debt and saved a decent emergency fund, though it’s not as large as I’d like. I plan to continue to add to the emergency fund all year.
10. One other big thing I can’t announce yet. Something else big has happened in the last month that sealed the deal for me, financially. I will announce it within the next week. It’s big, for me at least. And while I could have quit my day job even if it hadn’t happened, it made it that much more sure for me. I can’t wait to tell you about it.
Where I Go From Here
So now what? What happens now?
Well, not that much will change, for Zen Habits at least. I plan to continue to focus on putting out the best content I can. I plan to continue to interact with you guys. I won’t be increasing my posting frequency, mainly because I don’t want to overwhelm you, but also because I have other projects planned.
I will announce two of those projects in the coming week. But my focus, as always, will be on writing. I don’t want to overwhelm myself either.
Financially, if nothing changes, I will be just fine. If anything changes, I anticipate it changing for the better, and if so, I will be making investments this year. But if it changes for the worse … I will always be able to find another day job. That safety net is always there … I know the market here on Guam well enough to know that I can easily get a job in a half dozen places … and I know that there are opportunities online that my success here at Zen Habits have opened up, so that’s a possibility too if necessary.
It’s scary, being self-employed. For the first time in my life, I don’t have a boss, and I don’t have an editor to answer to. I am my own boss, and my own editor, and I can do whatever I want. Failure and success are dependent completely on me.
Scary, yes … but amazingly amazingly liberating!
To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe. - Anatole France - inactive, on 01/16/2008, -1/+7Good. Good. More jobs for people who aren't morons who think they can live the good life off blog donations.
- Tinu, on 01/16/2008, -2/+8Libertad!
- AddictedToMosh, on 01/16/2008, -1/+74. ???
5. PROFIT! - DangerCollie, on 01/16/2008, -0/+5"Get out of debt, save an emergency fund."
This one is important. I don't want to sound like a Dave Ramsey endorsement but you can't do a thing if you ain't got no bling. Carve your expenses to the bone, bank cash, and invest in good clothes. Keep in mind it's going to take time from when you start your business until you're cash flow positive. Collecting on invoices is a survival skill. You can have thousands in accounts receivable and be dead financially. Take a class in contract law. Read anything you have to sign.
The way to succeed in any business is networking. And I don't mean LinkedIn, I mean meatspace. Hand shakes, business cards, introductions. Know how to describe what you do in 15 seconds while sailing down a hallway. Know your competitors and what they charge for what you're selling. And if you don't like sales, forget running your own business, because you're always selling.
Woody Allen once said that 90% of success in Hollywood is just showing up and that's true in business as well. Show up, be available, be personable and someone will put you to work. - adjustafresh, on 01/16/2008, -3/+8For some reason your comment reminds me of George Costanza. Maybe you should explore architecture as well?
- revjustin2, on 01/16/2008, -0/+4While I commend the author of the article for becoming a problogger, the article itself is more about how to write a good blog than how to quit your day job. His advice is limited for those of us whose dreams do not include blogging. The bits that are relevant to the general population are kind of hidden within the context of how one can pro-blog.
- shaggypaul, on 01/16/2008, -0/+4isn't that a back flip?
- perish, on 01/16/2008, -6/+10BlogSpam...???
- Stephen893Smith, on 01/16/2008, -2/+6Good luck Leo, you have done an amazing thing, and I wish you all the best. Are you working on number 7?? Is that the surprise?
- MindTrigger, on 01/16/2008, -0/+4It can happen, but you can learn habbits to avoid it. You have to treat your home office exactly like you would work. When the end of your day comes, you stop going in there. Of course there are days when you should marathon work just like you would at a normal job. It takes descipline, but it's worth it.
I've never had this problem because I have always valued my free time much more than the money my jobs bring me. I have no problem walking away from work as long as there are no fires to put out. - rogerbly, on 01/16/2008, -2/+6Dude, you *are* the man (white, middle-aged male).
- Navicerts, on 01/16/2008, -0/+3BlagSpam about BlogSpam maybe.
- londubh, on 01/16/2008, -0/+3I'm too lazy to quit my day job. I wouldn't work. And I'm terrible with saving money.
- strazz, on 01/16/2008, -0/+3All of these points are very good and I find them to be true as well. I especially like to do errands around 10:00am or 11:00am because if you get up early it's time for a break and there are no lines anywhere! :- )
- spudnic, on 01/16/2008, -0/+3Get experience of the job and industry before you try run your own business. Idiotic to do otherwise.
(Assuming you haven't already, but then you wouldn't have to ask advice of people in the trade if you already were.) - asdfuiop, on 01/16/2008, -1/+4No diapers? You're more a man than I could ever dream to be.
- MindTrigger, on 01/16/2008, -1/+4I've been working in the industry for 15 years. It's not easy to find bosses that are laid back, especially if you work for successful companies. You also don't know if you boss is going to be a "good boss" until you worked for them for while. I prefer to be my own boss and already know the answer.
- Yodzilla, on 01/16/2008, -0/+3So his advice is to be a full time blogger and beg for money? Uh...
- inactive, on 01/16/2008, -0/+3As a rule of thumb, don't work for anyone who was at any point in their life an officer in the military unless you are currently in the military.
- inactive, on 01/16/2008, -0/+3Most of us hope to get a better career when we switch though. I'll bet good money that he was actually fired, because damn, his plan is idiotic.
- plumfan, on 01/16/2008, -0/+3Freedom vs Security. If single - go for Freedom. "A married man will do anything for money" Sad but true.
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