“How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked.
“Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.”
The dialogue above is from Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel, The Sun Also Rises.
Everything collapses in the same way. Nations. Banking. Currencies. They all happen gradually… and then suddenly. Sometimes overnight.
The warning signs are always there, even at the beginning. For years, sometimes decades, a tiny trickle of warning signs turns into a steady stream… and eventually a great flood.
The same happened to me with work.
My first job out of college was in the finance department of a bank.
I was excited to finally get a chance to make a difference in “the real world”. To contribute to society. I was done with studying. I wanted to work.
In the beginning, everything was new and exciting (as is always the case).
But I started seeing the warning signs…
Every week, I’d leave the office a little later. In a few short weeks, I was leaving after midnight and getting in before 8 AM the next day.
The endless and useless meetings of projects and committees.
Spending the weekend cleaning out my inbox to 0 only to arrive on Monday morning and see 214 new emails.
Eating lunch and dinner at my desk so I could save a few “precious” minutes.
My boss breathing down my neck, demanding that I meet impossible deadlines (a sound of a whip cracking would echo in my brain every time I’d see him… Wapeesh! Wapeesh! Wapeesh!)
After 11 months, I was exhausted (and I looked the part).
I hadn’t seen my friends or family in weeks.
Hadn’t done any sports in months.
I gained 25 pounds and looked like a zombie.
I knew I had to change. I just didn’t know how.
So I quit.
And took another job as an Assistant Product Manager in Sydney - almost on the opposite side of the world of where I was.
In the beginning, everything was new and exciting (as is always the case).
But I started seeing the warning signs…
Until one day I couldn’t do it anymore.
It was one of those days with a beautiful sunset over Sydney’s skyline.
The sun seemed to be disappearing slower than usual as if it wanted to stay forever. Outside you could feel a warm breeze and happiness in the air. Happy faces were walking around and getting ready to grab dinner and drinks with friends.
But I was not outside.
I watched all of this from my desk.
I still had a few hours of work ahead of me, just another day at the office.
The windows felt like jail bars, separating me from that aura of happiness and excitement. I could see it, right there, separated by a few centimeters of glass, but I could not touch it. And that made it even more powerful…
To know that there was more to life than my desk, chair, and computer. But here I was, inside the cell, and with an enormous amount of work to get done.
So I tried to forget about the sun, the smiles, the warm breeze, and the joy you could almost touch in the air. I decided to focus on the work and carry on. You can also be happy inside a jail. You just have to accept your reality and adapt to make the most of it.
But I couldn’t.
Less than a few minutes later, I caught myself dreaming again, longing to break free. Although I must have stared through those windows for only a few minutes, they seemed like years.
I got up to get some tea only to find out that my entire body was shaking.
Instantly I was sweating on my entire body, from head to toe. And my head hurt like hell, making me dizzy.
I sat down for a few minutes.
I will never forget that feeling.
It was like my whole body suddenly shot down. I didn’t know what was happening or why. Eventually, I managed to get to the toilet, where I was sick.
I should have called it a day and gone home. But I had work to do. And work was always the priority.
I sat down once again but before doing the actual work, I wrote an email to Future Dan. I would receive this email in my inbox exactly a year later:
In hindsight, I knew I was not dreaming anymore. My brain was - automatically - planning my escape. It was making concrete plans. It was time to stop dreaming and start acting instead.
You can survive in jail. But the real life lies outside.
It still took me two more months to quit that job. But eventually, I did it. And from that September day onward, I was never the same.
So if you were to ask me: how did you change?
Gradually.
And then suddenly.
It was a long road. But eventually, it led me to where I am today.
It made a deep impact on my life. This is why I do what I do.
Sometimes you just need the right push.
I’d like to do the same for you.
P.S.
In 2 days, I’ll open the doors to my new community - 5 PM Freedom.
This is where we’ll help you finally get home by 5 PM without dropping the ball at work.
So you can live your life outside the office too. To be with your family and friends.
I now only have 8 spots available (2 were already taken).
If you don’t want to risk losing your spot, reply “SIGNS” and I’ll send you the details before everyone else.