"Five minutes each week that might change your life."
On a sunny April morning in 2008, I walked into the first day of my new job at a flashy, prestigious investment bank in Boston. Six weeks later, I quit.
When my manager asked me what I planned on doing instead, I mumbled a few words about this website internet blog type thing and hoped there wouldn’t be any follow-up questions.
The next day, I was out on my own.
Soon after that, I was on my way to South America to bum around and try to piece together some sort of income from writing on the internet.
To this day, one of the most common questions I get is simply:
“How?”
How do you quit the rat race?
How do you make a living online?
How do you live like a high-class hobo with AmEx miles?
Well, I’ll tell you:
You scare the hell out of yourself.
Sure, you have to do all that practical real world stuff too—you have to get your finances in order; you have to figure out how to make money; you need to decide where to go.
But what actually gets you out the door is panic.
When I quit, I only had a vague idea that maybe I could make some money online. My decision sure as hell wasn’t born from confidence—it was born from the terror that I would never make money doing what I love.
So I gathered my fleet, grabbed a torch, and burned every last boat I had.
And then, I stayed terrified.
I was terrified I’d have to go back to a job I hated.
Terrified I’d waste years with nothing to show for it.
Terrified everyone who doubted me would be proven right.
That fear kept me up at night, and more importantly, it kept me up at night working.
Over the years, I’ve met plenty of people who say they want out. They want to quit their jobs, start something of their own, build a new life. And they’re scared.
Obviously. They should be.
But fear means you’re onto something—and nobody’s scared of making tables in a spreadsheet.
If you don’t see fear as a catalyst for action, you’ll spend your life planning the perfect jump while the current drags you under.
Instead, burn the boats.
Safety is the slowest way to drown.
See you Monday,
Mark
P.S. Burning the boats is the first part. But here's the thing nobody tells you after the leap—you can quit the job, move to a new city or fourteen, pivot your entire career, and still not really know what the hell you're doing with your life. Drew and I just dropped a new episode of Solved podcast on why that happens. We cover the stages you go through before you find your path, why Casanova is a cautionary tale for anyone keeping their options open, and why committing to the wrong thing still beats committing to nothing.
Listen here: How to Find Your Life Path, Solved
