Quitting the Corporate - Some Pointers

The last post ended with questions. "Who's fault is it that this world now has so many corporate zombies? People who hate their job and live weekend to weekend because they have a family to feed, emis to pay, things to buy and places to go? Where lies the solution for people who cannot afford to stop dead in their tracks and rechart the course of their life?"

Well, I don't have an answer that may be applicable to all, as again, one size does not fit all. But there are some indicators, which I hope may help in the thought process of how to find lasting peace and happiness, especially if you are stuck to a job you don't like - like how I was a year back.

1. Do a pros and cons analysis

• Quitting a job may not be an answer for everyone. To see if this is for you, make a list of things that you hate in your job and a list of things that you are able to do because o your job. For example, for me, the biggest thing that I was able to do because of my job was travel. But that was not enough to balance the constant depression and battle of will that I waged every morning to go to work
• Try being very objective while doing the list. Keep away your insecurities and look at the situation as if you are helping your best friend draw up the list. Often, our insecurities and fears cloud our judgement and make us think irrational things like "I will be homeless in 3 months if I quit my job". Even better, take the support of someone close to you who knows your situation well to help draw up the list -be it your spouse or close friend. 
• If this analysis tips the scale in favour of "I will die if I continue to work", then read on. If it tips in favour of "I have too much going that solely depends on my job", then wait for my next post.

2. Money Matters:

• Track your expenses for a period of 3 to 6 months. Don't try to control of modify any of your spending. Just start keeping a record of how much money is being spent and where it is being spent. This gives a good idea of how much your current lifestyle is costing you. Hopefully, once you actually start tracking the expenses, automatically many of the unnecessary spending will come down. You will think twice before heading out for a fancy dinner or impulse buying the branded hand bag.
• Find a baseline amount of how much is required every month to cover your essential spending. Once you arrive at this amount, see if you can survive comfortably with just this amount. For example, if you are earning Rs. 50,000, but your baseline expense comes to Rs. 20,000, keep only Rs. 20,000 in your savings account and put the remaining in a fixed deposit. This way, you can experience how it feels to live with a reduced disposable income.
• Save as much as you can. Postpone the travel plan, halt your wardrobe updation, eat at home, skimp and save as much money as you can. Make sure you have a buffer for atleast 3 months of your baseline expense. 

3. Find alternatives:

• A major hurdle that I faced when I wanted to quit my job was, what am I going to do next? I had no clue and it was not like as if I already had a burning passion to do something else once I quit my job. Let's face it. A regular corporate job drains the body and mind so completely that by the end of the work day and work week, all that you want to do is just put your feet up. The popular ideas of trying out your passion WHILE you are in your work is not possible -atleast not when you work more than 9 hours a day.
• The next problem was, it was not as if what I was doing at work was a highly skilled and specialized work that I could freelance in the same field. I am not quitting the job because I hate my boss or because I was being treated unfairly by the company. It was because I hated doing what I was doing and could not find the motivation to continue doing the same.
• However, leaving a full time job is scary -financially and "what am I going to do with all the time" wise. So, I figured a list of things that I could do -subtitling for films, teaching in coaching institutes etc. I had friends who were already working in that space and I ate their brains till they assured me that they will find me an assignment. This worked as a mental crutch to help me lean on to and made leaving my full time job easier
• Work your network. Find things that interest you and see if you can start part time. Don't worry about the money initially and don't expect to find purpose and satisfaction in this alternative. It is a stop gap arrangement which may or may not morph into a full time involvement.
• Also, this alternative will help to cover some amount of the baseline expense figure that you had worked out already, while not eating up your entire time.

4. Create time and space:

• Give your mind the time and space to get out of the rut that it previously was in. It takes time for the mind to free itself from the existing thought patterns that is so ingrained when in a corporate job. 
• It is not like as if the path is going to reveal immediately as soon as you step out of your office on the last day. It is going to take time. Don't panic. 
• The alternatives mentioned above is of immense help here, because while it helps you with a little money, keeps you engaged and most importantly -helps you answer all the inquisitive uncles and aunties who look down on their nose when you say that you are simply sitting at home. Trust me, my father looked so embarrassed when someone asked him what his daughter does the day after I quit my job. If there is not some sort of an alternative in hand, it will affect our already fragile sense of security and play up on our fears of dying homeless.
• So now that you have a stop gap arrangement, make sure that this stop gap arrangement gives you enough time and space to explore other things in life. 
• Use this time to learn new skills that interest you, work on new ideas, network with people and most importantly, spend time with yourself

5. Let go of things that no longer serve you:

• Once you are out of the rat race and you start spending time with yourself, it is inevitable that you start becoming a little more aware and conscious.
• Many of the material things, some of the people in your life, most of the beliefs that you held close -you will see that they no longer apply to you. Accept and embrace the change.

When the mind finally becomes free of the pressure that it was under when you were stuck to your job, you will see that the new space that the mind now has will slowly be used to understand what you truly want.

Above all, trust in yourself and have faith in your abilities. You are perfect as you are and your worth is not dependent on how much you earn. Constantly apply yourself in finding what else that you like to do and do it -no matter how trivial it is. This flexes the muscles of our self confidence.

I don't want to say that your path will be revealed and the universe will conspire to help you. While this is true, it requires a tremendous amount of hard work and faith from our end. Just because you are no longer working full time, it doesn't mean that you cease to be active and productive. The whole idea behind leaving the job is to create time and opportunity for ourselves to do something more with this precious life of ours. 

I did not want to regret not taking a chance to see what else I can be. I strongly believe that if we can afford it, we must take the chance to break free from the rut. There is nothing to lose and we all can go back to the corporate job if all else fails -albeit at a slightly lower pay and not in the same level as our peers. But that fear should not hold us back from exploring life.