This was the actual message I sent to my last boss on my birthday to meet with him to announce my resignation. What a gift to give yourself.
On June 5, 2015, my last day of working for someone else after my two weeks' notice, I gave a homeless man near my office $20, and walked to the subway for my last commute home ever without a care in the world.
Everyone knew I was going to quit. I was always buzzing around the bank to ship things at the nearby post office or run to a thrift store at lunch. I led the two biggest global matters of the department's tenure by myself and got burned out. These were the cases you'd see on the front page of the paper or news, not fun when juggling dozens of ego maniacs who are supposed to work for you. At one point, it was so bad that my Managing Director mandated that I go home and take two weeks off without any advanced notice.
Since the glorious day I left that all behind, I've made EVERY dime of my own money with my bare hands, paying all of my bills with no help in one of the world's most expensive cities to live.
I refused any and all money from my Mom who tried to compensate me for taking care of her when she was in the hospital for ~5 months. The only thing I accepted were a few $20 bills for some train tickets because it was upsetting her to not take them, and I didn't want to ruffle feathers. That's my worst offense.
During these four years, I've grown my simple home resale business from clearance resale/thrifting -- to thrifting/recycling resale -- into mostly recycling for profit. I have a nice stable path now. It's predicable, fun, helps others and the environment on many levels, and is very rewarding.
I spent time playing in music studios, recorded an album, was in 3 music videos, and ultimately played lots of rock gigs with my old band (opening up for two famous bands).
I got to play a lot of poker with no curfew (profitably, don't worry).
I've played nearly every single baseball game, if not every game but one double-header. In the past two years, I've played on the field for every inning. I'm reliable and competitive as hell.
I've gotten myself into good shape, then great shape, then complacent and/or pulled away... then repeated the cycle a few times. I'm approaching great shape again now, and will force myself to maintain it this time.
I had two ex girlfriends who both unveiled that they were previously diagnosed with severe mental disorders they let go untreated after I committed to them. This was a ton of fun/hell requiring plenty of time to carefully get out of and recover from.
My Dad got hit with stage 4 brain cancer and battled it against all odds for 2 years before disowning me for virtually no reason, and never apologizing before his death.
My Mom was in a severe car accident where a tornado threw a tree through her windshield on the road into her face and chest, causing life threatening injuries and extensive hospital time/surgery.
Needless to say, I spent a ton of time in hospitals and with doctors for my parents over the course of ~3 years. I needed to. My brother was not local or capable, and my sister was in Europe. I had to sacrifice a lot.
My cat of 13 years also had to be suddenly put down around this time last year because of cancer and a clot.
In no particular order, I got involved in crypto early enough because I wasn't addicted to needing USD anymore from a pay check. I was open-minded to investing in a new space that represented the decentralized freedom I embodied with my own day-to-day.
I would NEVER have been able to do this if I was still chained to a big global bank full-time.
Thank God.
P.S. - My former boss who recruited and hired me at the bank quit a few months after I did to pursue starting his own business. He wrote me to tell me that I inspired him to break the mold, and that I left quite a crater of non-conformity in a previously stiff department. He just texted me recently to catch up... he's still doing his thing and very happy.
I'll always remember the reasons I felt drawn to quit a comfortable and stable career where I was making plenty of money, and even more with my thrifting side hustle. It was more than I needed since I'm frugal.
I can see it now: colleagues 5, 10, 15 and 30 years out (lifers)... all miserable... all pissed about their long commutes, many upset that they could barely see their kids before they were put to bed... mostly generally bitter and trapped.
I saw that path ahead of me in plain sight. I would've been perfectly financially secure with the prestige of working where I did, with no restrictions on what I wanted to buy or do. I would've been promoted over time to this title or that title. I would've eventually been just like those I saw down the line from me. I also would've gotten more gray hair and lost it faster.
But, no thanks...
I knew I could succeed on my own. I built up my thrifting business on the side when employed full-time, and was paying all of my bills with that side money then. I saved up a bunch of cash to cover me for a few years, and against my Dad's wishes, did what I wanted to do... cut ties with depending on someone else for income. I no longer wanted anyone to tell me when and where I needed to be, nor have to deal with everyone else's stress/political bullshit. I knew how to be chill and have fun at work, but not many others did.
I knew I could manage myself with my work ethic and competitiveness to be successful. I just needed to take the big step into the unknown to see if I could fly. I had to ignore everyone calling me crazy to leave my position/career I built up. I had to do this knowing my Dad would resent and shame me for years about it. Whatever, it wasn't my fault he couldn't understand or trust me.
At this stage, I would call myself successful. I haven't looked back. I haven't set an alarm clock for a commute in over 4 years now. I've done virtually everything professionally on my own terms since and have more money than I did before I quit.
Go figure...
Other people can do this is they make a plan and monetize their passions.
Trust me, when you do something you really enjoy, it really doesn't feel like work. I haven't worked a day since June 5, 2015, and have barely aged a day since.
Work/corporate life may be how many of us think we need to live to have a respectable path, but it's often a toxic source of drama, stress, political nonsense, dependency, and exorbitant amounts of time away from what and who you love.
When the time is right, try to consider if you could do this in your own way. It could be the best first step you've ever made when the light goes off that life is for you to live, not for you to make someone else money so they can live.
Trust in your talents and abilities and reap the pride you deserve to feel day in and day out.
Ever since reading Of Mice And Men in high school, I knew I just wanted to live off the lay of the land to be happy. At this time, I can say that I'm doing this and it feels good.
Anyway, that's all I wanted to say for now. I could go on and on, but feel free to ask anything below. I also want this to be a post for myself to look back on in a few years when crypto has hopefully changed the world and I can pay people to recycle.
