3000: Why I Walked Away From My Six Figure Career by Joshua Fields Millburn of The Minimalists

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Living Daily Episode 3000, Why I Walked Away From My Six Figure Career by Joshua Fields Millburn of TheMinimalist.com And I'm Justin Malik, your host and narrator for 3,000 episodes over the span of eight years, almost exactly in fact.

[00:00:18] We're about three days away from the eight year anniversary. So for this special milestone, I thought I'd do something a bit different. And that is to play my very first narration ever, a great article from Joshua of The Minimalists.

[00:00:33] It'll be nice to see how my narration, voice and quality has changed over the years. And you'll have the pleasure of hearing the somewhat loud music that I used to play in the episodes too. I think most people are happy that that's gone now.

[00:00:46] And by the way, if you've been listening since the beginning, you do have an extra special place in my heart. Thank you for sticking around. But if you're newer here, hey maybe you'll be listening years from now.

[00:00:58] It's not uncommon to hear people start from the beginning or work their way backwards even this late. So in any case, thank you for being here for episode 3000 and for eight years of OLD. And with that, here's a flashback to episode 1 as we optimize your life.

[00:01:15] This is Optimal Living Daily, episode 1, Why I Walked Away from My Six Figure Career by Joshua Fields Milburn of TheMinimalists.com Hey, welcome. I hope this intro music makes you dance like it does for me. And let me tell you, I am not a dancer.

[00:01:50] That's definitely something you do not want to see. Despite having a musical background for well over 20 years, I still can't dance. Anyway, how's it going old friend? By the way, I will say this now at being the first episode and all.

[00:02:03] I might make really bad puns off of the word old since that's the acronym for the show Optimal Living Daily. And the website is oldpodcast.com so I might refer to you as old but that's meant to be, you know, friendly and cordial no matter your age.

[00:02:16] So yeah, that's that. And speaking of oldpodcast.com, that's today's sponsor. Yes, I am sponsoring myself because it's episode number one. So if you enjoy this content, the best way to give back is to visit oldpodcast.com and subscribe to the weekly newsletter,

[00:02:31] which is a nice and short summary of tips and great finds that can optimize your life one step at a time. Plus, you get a free gift for joining so check that out. That's oldpodcast.com, OLDpodcast.com.

[00:02:43] Today I'll be reading to you a post from theminimalists.com where Joshua Fields Milburn and Ryan Nicodemus write about living a meaningful life with less stuff for four million readers.

[00:02:55] Check them out at theminimalists.com or themins.com and you can follow the author of today's post, Joshua, on Twitter at JFM, which is a nice little minimalist Twitter handle. And now on to optimizing your life.

[00:03:13] Why I Walked Away From My Six Figure Career by Joshua Fields Milburn of theminimalists.com Today, March 1st, 2011 was my point of no return. I quit my job.

[00:03:25] It feels great to write those four words but is also terrifying and exhilarating and scary and exciting and surreal and unbelievable and in many ways indescribable. I'm listening to Nina Simone's Feeling Good as I write this.

[00:03:40] Her words, it's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me and I'm feeling good. Best describe what I feel right now. A new beginning. A fresh start. The precipice of something exciting.

[00:03:52] Yesterday, February 28th, 2011 was my last day at my suit and tie corporate job. Over the past dozen years, since age 18, I've spent nearly 80 hours a week working my way up the corporate ladder at a large telecom company in the Midwest.

[00:04:07] From retail sales rep to sales manager to store manager to regional manager to most recently director of operations for 150 retail stores where I led hundreds of employees and managed a multi-million dollar operations budget.

[00:04:21] Throughout my tenure, I opened dozens of retail stores, hired hundreds of employees and helped many people grow professionally. And I was very, very good at my job. In the last few years, I won back-to-back President's Club trips to London and Hawaii for outstanding sales performance.

[00:04:36] I hired some of the best people in the industry, people who quickly advance throughout the organization including Ryan who runs his website with me now as well as Stan, one of my closest friends.

[00:04:45] And I was poised to become a C-level executive before age 40. In short, I hadn't made. So when I announced my departure last month, it seemed illogical to nearly everyone. Dozens of employees asked where I was going and whether they could come with me.

[00:05:00] When I told them I was changing my life's path, many people didn't understand. After all, I was living the American dream, wasn't I? A six-figure salary, a huge suburban home, several luxury cars and all the stuff to fill every corner of my consumer-driven lifestyle.

[00:05:16] Who the hell walks away from that? Of course, I'm not trying to impress you, dear reader, with the details of my supposedly, quote, impressive career.

[00:05:24] If I thought that my, quote, accomplishments were impressive, if I were impressed by my lifestyle, then I wouldn't have left in the first place. Rather, I present these details to impress upon you my need for change. Yes, I was ostensibly successful, but I didn't feel successful.

[00:05:40] I felt overwhelmed, stressed out, depressed. Even worse, I was up to my eyeballs in debt. True, I made great money in the corporate world, but for most of my adult life, I spent more than I earned. A doomed equation, no matter your income.

[00:05:54] You see, even though I was living the corporate dream with a big salary and elevated status, I was not completely happy because I'd lost sight of what was truly important. I was unhealthy, my relationships were in shambles, and I wasn't passionate about life,

[00:06:08] all of which I attempted to cover up by amassing more trinkets and trophies. Sadly, I didn't realize my missteps until it was too late. Two years ago in 2009, my mother died, and my marriage ended in the same month. Shortly thereafter, I discovered minimalism and started making radical changes,

[00:06:26] regaining control of my finances, refocusing my relationships, and asking difficult questions about my life's direction. In time, I realized I was not pursuing my passion, nor was I growing as an individual or contributing beyond myself in a meaningful way.

[00:06:41] I wasn't living the dream, I was living a lie. But today, that chapter has ended. To be clear, I didn't barrel into my boss' office and yell, Screw you, I quit! No, I had mixed emotions about leaving my job.

[00:06:54] I care about many of the people there and enjoyed much of the job itself. So my, quote, screw you is not to my former job at all. I'm not quitting a job, the job is not the point. Instead, I'm walking away from my old lifestyle.

[00:07:07] I have to stop living the lie and start living the life. How will I earn a living? To be honest, I'm not entirely sure, but I've spent the last two years working hard to reduce my bills substantially and pay off massive amounts of debt.

[00:07:20] Yes, I'll still need to earn money to keep the lights on, but making money is no longer a priority. I need only work to earn enough money to live, not live to work.

[00:07:30] My initial plan is to be a part-time barista at a local coffee house and earn enough to pay my bills. Food, rent, utilities, insurance, while writing full-time. Who knows? Maybe this writing thing will yield a full-time income one day.

[00:07:45] But even if it doesn't, that's okay because I'm passionate about writing, especially literary fiction. Rather than spending my time hurting masses of people into cubicle farms, I've decided to focus on my real priorities. Health, relationships, passion, growth and contribution. These values compromise the foundation of a meaningful life,

[00:08:04] not money or stuff for the title on the business card. I'll contribute to people via this website. I'm thankful people find value here. I'll also contribute through other means such as charity and donating my time to help others. Writing and contributing. That's what I'm doing now.

[00:08:19] I refuse to be a slave to cultural expectations and snared by the trappings of money and power and perceived success. So to my old life, I bid you farewell. Screw you. I quit. 2012 update.

[00:08:32] I'm happy to report that only a year later I'm making a full-time living as an author. Even though I earn considerably less than my corporate salary, I also think about money differently these days and I've never been happier. You just listened to the blog post titled,

[00:08:48] Why I Walked Away from My Six Figure Career by Joshua Fields Milburn from TheMinimalist.com. Please check them out and let them know that I sent you. If you enjoy this reading, you might also like ZenHabits.net.

[00:09:00] That's another site that has similar content and one that I'll be reading from in a future episode. I'm bringing you this content in audio form for free and as my own sponsor. So all I ask for your support is to please subscribe to keep listening

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[00:09:25] and if you have other blogs you'd like conveniently read to you right here, I'll read them to you. Just send a tweet to both the author and me. I need their permission to do it. So yes, that's it for episode one. I hope you enjoyed it.

[00:09:37] I know I did. Keep up the optimal living. If you've been listening to Optimal Living Daily, be sure to hit the subscribe button to stay up to date on each new episode and head to oldpodcast.com.

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