Quitter Challenge Monday: My Thoughts on Chapter 1- Toya

How about I start being a quitter right now and quit this book Quitter because I was REALLY hyped about leaving my job (as if I could right now)?  As a "look there goes a shiny thing, WAIT, there goes an even SHINIER thing" type person, I was looking forward to an exit strategy being mapped out in the first chapter. No such deal.  Quite the opposite actually.

"Despite the fact that quitting your job is the new American dream, it's usually the worst thing you can do right now. "

*Tiffany Green Face*

Jon Acuff makes a great point though (the stars, underlining and amens that mark up the first chapter in my book can attest that he makes several great points) of pointing out that we live in a different time and have a different mindset of generations past.  Our parents stayed at the same jobs for years.  You got a career and you stuck with it.  You got your gold watch and moved down south, retired, got old and moved into Shady Pines.  Having a dream is great but at some point you had to "grow up" and do something practical.  Growing up doesn't mean that you stop dreaming but I think a lot of us do forget about being practical about how we go about pursuing that dream.  Jon mentions that when you keep your day job while in pursuit of your dream job, you have the security of taking or leaving some opportunities that may not be beneficial for you.  If you don't keep your day job, you can get desperate and settle for some opportunities because you fear that they may be few and far between.  I've definitely been there.

If you're married and want to be a quitter or are married to one, then you definitely need to get this book as it explains about how to deal with your spouse giving you a side eye when they walk in the house and see you chillin' instead of pouring over a laptop looking for a job.  Although I'm not married, I remember how irresponsible I felt when I was laid off and would go do something enjoyable.  How could I be enjoying myself when I could be looking for work?  I can imagine that if I had a spouse that they could think the same thing.  Having a Quitter in a marriage can't be easy if a) two people aren't on the same page about it and/or b) The person that quit didn't take into account that "dreams take planning, purpose and progress" to succeed BEFORE you quit your day job.  I pray my husband is a Quitter BEFORE we get married because Lord help!

But the punch in the gut quote came right here: 

Want to learn how to be dedicated and focused on your dream?  Practice being dedicated and focused at work.

OUCH MY EYE!  Really? Is he just gonna write that paragraph with no cushion? No, "I say this in love" or even a passive aggressive "I'm just sayin' "?  I will say that moving forward I have been in a much better mood at work and I am really , REALLY trying to not, as he puts it, make my job an enemy of what I really want to do.  The job that I prayed 8 months for after being laid off is not a hater.  Although I may not see it, it is indeed a stepping stone to my next step of going from my day job to my dream job.  Either I can take the figurative seven days to get out of Egypt and move into the promised land or I can do it the hard way and take 40 years.  I'm now doing my best to follow the steps in this book and max out at 10 days at best.