4 ms·

Yes, 3 or 4 times. Each time I escaped by making sure I had 12 months of (frugal) expenses saved up, and then taking the boldest calculated risk that presented

Yes, 3 or 4 times. Each time I escaped by making sure I had 12 months of (frugal) expenses saved up, and then taking the boldest calculated risk that presented itself. Each time, it’s catapulted my career to a level I’d previously thought unreachable, and opened up a world of new opportunities.

eurvin 7y ago
Could you elaborate on this?
- cimmanom 7y ago
  Not a ton without compromising anonymity. What specifically do you want to know more about?
  - keiferski 7y ago
    Not the guy asking the question, but: was 12 months a good period of time? Would 6 or 9 months have been too short? 18 months too long?
    - cimmanom 7y ago
      Twice (starting new enterprises) if it weren’t for a couple lucky breaks I’d have needed at minimum 18 months. As it was, I burned down about 6 months worth the first time before starting to break even. The second time it both took off and crashed quickly and I didn’t burn much cash during the enterprise itself but did spend 3 months after unemployed and looking for a 9-5 job. A third time (joining an early stage startup as a late founder) 6 months would have been a decent contingency if it went under fast, 12 if it withered away slowly. (Also caught a lucky break on that one and had a soft landing.) Once (walking away from a bad job and looking for one that was a stretch), 6 months would have been plenty because if the gamble didn’t work out I knew I could reset my sights lower after a few months of looking and be employed somewhere within 6 weeks. So the answer is very much “it depends on the circumstances”.
      - keiferski 7y ago
        Thanks for the long answer. Much appreciated.
ethbro 7y ago
Absolutely agreed. When evaluating a major lifestyle change for financial benefit with a job shift, I asked a coworker who'd been doing the job awhile. He gave me the best advice I've ever received when moving into a high-stress / high-paying job. "It's good money. But make sure you set up your finances so that when you decide to stop, you can. Even when they say 'What if we paid you twice as much to keep doing the job?' Otherwise, you'll still be doing the job when you're 60." The corollary is probably: don't take a job you don't want to do, unless the pay's good enough that you can reach the above point in a reasonable amount of time. I listened, and it gave me the opportunity to quit a well paying consulting job to be with my mother while she was going through cancer surgery. (Thankfully, it and her recovery went well) And ultimately, led me to finding a job that was a much happier fit.

eurvin 7y ago

Could you elaborate on this?

cimmanom 7y ago
Not a ton without compromising anonymity. What specifically do you want to know more about?
- keiferski 7y ago
  Not the guy asking the question, but: was 12 months a good period of time? Would 6 or 9 months have been too short? 18 months too long?
  - cimmanom 7y ago
    Twice (starting new enterprises) if it weren’t for a couple lucky breaks I’d have needed at minimum 18 months. As it was, I burned down about 6 months worth the first time before starting to break even. The second time it both took off and crashed quickly and I didn’t burn much cash during the enterprise itself but did spend 3 months after unemployed and looking for a 9-5 job. A third time (joining an early stage startup as a late founder) 6 months would have been a decent contingency if it went under fast, 12 if it withered away slowly. (Also caught a lucky break on that one and had a soft landing.) Once (walking away from a bad job and looking for one that was a stretch), 6 months would have been plenty because if the gamble didn’t work out I knew I could reset my sights lower after a few months of looking and be employed somewhere within 6 weeks. So the answer is very much “it depends on the circumstances”.
    - keiferski 7y ago
      Thanks for the long answer. Much appreciated.

ethbro 7y ago

Absolutely agreed. When evaluating a major lifestyle change for financial benefit with a job shift, I asked a coworker who'd been doing the job awhile. He gave me the best advice I've ever received when moving into a high-stress / high-paying job. "It's good money. But make sure you set up your finances so that when you decide to stop, you can. Even when they say 'What if we paid you twice as much to keep doing the job?' Otherwise, you'll still be doing the job when you're 60." The corollary is probably: don't take a job you don't want to do, unless the pay's good enough that you can reach the above point in a reasonable amount of time. I listened, and it gave me the opportunity to quit a well paying consulting job to be with my mother while she was going through cancer surgery. (Thankfully, it and her recovery went well) And ultimately, led me to finding a job that was a much happier fit.