Advent Assured

Advent: I quit my job

My first advent since the beginning of Advent Assured.

This last Friday was my last day at work. I had put my 2 weeks in a little over 2 weeks ago.  I was extremely nervous about turning in my resignation. I knew I had to do it, but I had lingering feelings of doubt. However, waiting for something important to happen is like waiting for snow in Las Vegas; there’s no certainty as to how soon it will happen.

Despite the anxiety, I am now a free agent again. Looking back, the last year and a half at Raster Media has been huge for me. I have learned a great deal. To some extent, at the cost of Raster(like iPhone development). I have also learned things that cannot be taught, only experienced(like dealing with different personalities that don’t always jive). It has been a great opportunity for me and I’d encourage everyone to experience their own version.

Despite all the benefits that working at Raster has brought me, it was time for me to move forward with my goals. George, one of my bosses, explained that he used to be the same way that I am; a young idealist. That is one way of putting it, but I prefer a realistic optimist. I have chosen to aim for the best instead of settling for the average. I told him, “I know that you’re probably right in saying that, but I feel like I need to fail a few times to figure some things out on my own.” At face value, that’s a very naive thing to say. It’s in effect the same as saying that in order to know that the stove is hot you have to get burned. I see it differently when it comes to failure.

I have trained myself to view failure as a good thing. Failure serves as a notice that what you are doing is either not correct or is incomplete. It’s better to fail fast than to drag it out.

In reaching my personal goals I have to risk failure. I have before and it has made me wiser.

It’s game time now. I’ve been planning this chapter in my life for over a year and it’s time to put the plan into action. That means following a planned schedule of work and life balance and reaching goals on time. I like the illustration of the tight rope walker. He has nothing but himself and a balancing pole. He doesn’t bring anything that would throw him off balance. He has only what he needs to get to the other side. I have myself, my wife, my family, and my friends. Everything else is secondary to my plans.

My next Advent is to get Small Presence working like a well oiled machine. I’ll be supporting myself with some contract work provided by my former employer on top of Lacy’s income from her marketing position. And then Lacy and I will be planning our conversion into D.R. expatriates. Very exciting.