I enjoy your writing and the perspectives you are sharing for several years now.
When reading this post I had a nagging voice in my head. What if:
- you don’t have the financial means to just say bye to your job and go do whatever you want?
- what if you are the sole carrying parent to several kids?
The thought was triggered by “leaving a cozy tech job”. Sounds tough. But what about leaving your job that “barely makes enough money to get your family through the month to do something crazy/new”?
This isn’t a critique against those who are doing it. It’s a critique that for some more than permission is needed. You need capital to do the step, financial and social (and I’m unsure which one is more important).
No worries. Maybe what's needed is more examples? Or more specific example? Or maybe in the case that you talked about he would have done it even if he wouldn't have had a cozy tech job?
There is this idea of job crafting, creating the job you want to have. This is easier for those higher up in the hierarchy as they have more autonomy. That concept gets the same criticism. But one of the most impactful paper on this topic is researching how cleaning staff in a hospital are crafting their job to enjoy it more.
Financial capital makes it easier to just do whatever you want to do. Social capital also makes it easier. But your personality also plays a role. It's the interplay between the three. If you don't have one, one of the other needs to be stronger.
Lastly about (near) poverty and creating change in your life, I think there is a level where you're life is so crap that you are willing to take big risks to create change. And then there is the level where it's really fucking hard, but the risk of doing a big change is too big. You're spending all your cognitive and emotional energy staying afloat, but as you are not yet drowning you are not ready for doing crazy stuff.
Wow, that was a long reply to a short reaction 🤣 It's for sure on my mind
Agree with your comment, Katerina. I applaud the concepts of not waiting to be chosen and not asking permission, and both have given me hope as I delve (almost) full-time into my Substack writing. But poverty, or near poverty changes thing—I know that first hand.
Hah I should've read this comment before I made my own of a very similar bent. It can get frustrating if you read advice aimed at extremely successful people in finance/tech/consulting and then have to realize over and over it doesn't apply to people without a huge financial cushion.
It's unfortunate, but that's the way the world works. I still think on balance it's better for the world if more of those folks in cushy high-paying jobs leave and do their own thing, though.
from what ive found, the people in high-paid jobs are the ones that don't leave. from the hundreds of people ive talked to it leans non-american and people with non-traditional parents, and-or places without a robust knowledge economy
Interesting. I could see how the opportunity of writing a substack and scaling it up would be much more attractive to folks that have a lower cost of living than somewhere in the Western world. That's a good point.
That being said, a lot of your posts talk about corporate burnout, no? Wasn't that your story? (Assuming you were pretty well paid, have no idea)
I was well paid for a few years. But didn’t crush it to any level of financial independence due to sick leave from health issues and grad school debt. I had about $50k in savings when I quit and then broke even with income and spending for 3-4 years.
I enjoy your writing and the perspectives you are sharing for several years now.
When reading this post I had a nagging voice in my head. What if:
- you don’t have the financial means to just say bye to your job and go do whatever you want?
- what if you are the sole carrying parent to several kids?
The thought was triggered by “leaving a cozy tech job”. Sounds tough. But what about leaving your job that “barely makes enough money to get your family through the month to do something crazy/new”?
This isn’t a critique against those who are doing it. It’s a critique that for some more than permission is needed. You need capital to do the step, financial and social (and I’m unsure which one is more important).
Shared with love
i dont have good answers! luckily there are many more people sharing than me :-)
No worries. Maybe what's needed is more examples? Or more specific example? Or maybe in the case that you talked about he would have done it even if he wouldn't have had a cozy tech job?
There is this idea of job crafting, creating the job you want to have. This is easier for those higher up in the hierarchy as they have more autonomy. That concept gets the same criticism. But one of the most impactful paper on this topic is researching how cleaning staff in a hospital are crafting their job to enjoy it more.
Financial capital makes it easier to just do whatever you want to do. Social capital also makes it easier. But your personality also plays a role. It's the interplay between the three. If you don't have one, one of the other needs to be stronger.
Lastly about (near) poverty and creating change in your life, I think there is a level where you're life is so crap that you are willing to take big risks to create change. And then there is the level where it's really fucking hard, but the risk of doing a big change is too big. You're spending all your cognitive and emotional energy staying afloat, but as you are not yet drowning you are not ready for doing crazy stuff.
Wow, that was a long reply to a short reaction 🤣 It's for sure on my mind
Agree with your comment, Katerina. I applaud the concepts of not waiting to be chosen and not asking permission, and both have given me hope as I delve (almost) full-time into my Substack writing. But poverty, or near poverty changes thing—I know that first hand.
Hah I should've read this comment before I made my own of a very similar bent. It can get frustrating if you read advice aimed at extremely successful people in finance/tech/consulting and then have to realize over and over it doesn't apply to people without a huge financial cushion.
It's unfortunate, but that's the way the world works. I still think on balance it's better for the world if more of those folks in cushy high-paying jobs leave and do their own thing, though.
from what ive found, the people in high-paid jobs are the ones that don't leave. from the hundreds of people ive talked to it leans non-american and people with non-traditional parents, and-or places without a robust knowledge economy
Interesting. I could see how the opportunity of writing a substack and scaling it up would be much more attractive to folks that have a lower cost of living than somewhere in the Western world. That's a good point.
That being said, a lot of your posts talk about corporate burnout, no? Wasn't that your story? (Assuming you were pretty well paid, have no idea)
yup. It’s the only life I’ve lived so far 😂
I was well paid for a few years. But didn’t crush it to any level of financial independence due to sick leave from health issues and grad school debt. I had about $50k in savings when I quit and then broke even with income and spending for 3-4 years.