A hard to break financial lifestyle starts for most when the apron strings of their parents are cut. A student loan, a car loan, and then maybe a mortgage. It’s from an early age we fall into the rat race, most enter it for the long run unless something crack and we’ve finally have had enough. It’s my opinion we become rats not of our own choice but by how we are influenced by others. Our friends, our family and society in general. We are told we have to do things a certain way and we just accept the status quo. Maybe it’s time we looked at entering another race.
The pitfalls of leaving the rat race are many. A plummeting income, no financial stability, or a loss of confidence in yourself. Doing something as a hobby is a different kettle of fish to doing it as a career. As someone who is interested in keeping fit, I toyed with the idea of becoming a personal trainer. When I looked into it properly I realized I was going to end up spending a lot more time in work than at home with my family and friends. This was precisely the reason I wanted away from my office job. When you have those feelings of stagnating and lacking a challenge you are going to be pushed into a situation where need to make a choice.
People who choose to leave the rat race usually fear the unknown, a fear of will it work out for me? Am I in a better situation now than the one I am going into? These types of fears are warranted but can be the biggest hindrance to making the switch successfully. Sometimes a change is exactly what you need and you just don’t recognize it at the time. Is this what we are all ultimately trying to achieve when something inside us is calling for change? Who knows what’s causing it, but when it happens you can’t ignore it. Being a satisfied soul can only be achieved when we do something of significance for ourselves. You hope that by using your gifts and talents that you can help others. It really doesn’t matter what the field is as long you love what you are doing. If you can get a sense of fulfillment then material things become irrelevant.
Every individual is going to have to follow his or her own path. There really is no right or wrong way to approach this, but it certainly helps to have mapped out some kind of plan. For some strange reason we are all wired to let our beliefs slip into what we would like to have instead of what the evidence suggests. Mapping out a future plan will help to guide us to a better conclusion. You can prepare for this by taking a complete break from your current situation. Clear your thought process and create new options. The idea here is to help you recover from whatever situation you got yourself caught up in. If you are in a better state mentally, physically and emotionally we can come up with better solutions. Once you are in this place then you might want to take into account some of the ideas here.
•Be clear about your reasons for wanting change
•Don’t be reacting to a situation, sit down and analyse the reasons you want change
•Consider your career in the larger context of your whole life
•Be prepared for difficulties arising from this change
•Find the courage to pursue your passions
•Organize the resources necessary to facilitate this change
When you are experiencing turbulent times it’s always hard to see light at the end of the tunnel, but at some point you will emerge with a little more clarity and maybe with some more satisfaction in your life. It might be a new job, a new lifestyle or possibly even a new you. Embrace this new identity because leaving the rat race will most definitely be worth it in the long run. Just remember successful change takes time. Even if you take the wrong turn and the avenue turns into a dead end, it will open up areas that might be more viable for you. Your comfort zone can be a beautiful place but remember nothing ever grows here.