From Mike’s Mud Room on Discovery.com
Q: Hi, Mike –
You have offered the following advice: Consider quitting. Makes sense. However, having read your bio, various interviews, and your self-authored articles & MB missives, I haven’t found an example of you quitting an ongoing job. There is definitely a lot written about you intentionally taking jobs with questionable futures and, of course, being repeatedly fired. From these instances, it seems the message inferred would be don’t be afraid of failure rather a message of empowerment to quit. Could you give us an example of when you’ve quit a job? Quit as in no safety net, no job waiting in the wings, no pre-planned retirement-esque sabbatical. Please tell us a story.
– Bashful
Hi Bashful
The story will have to wait. But the answer to your question is a point of clarity. I don’t advise quitting – my advice is to CONSIDER quitting. The mere act of seriously considering a change of scene can be liberating. Not daydreaming or fantasizing, but seriously weighing your options and honestly exploring options.
“In a way, I would think quitting would not be in your nature.”
It isn’t.
“So, when is quitting advisable?”
When you’ve tried every other way of getting what you want, and failed.
“Also, what’s wrong with being earnest?”
Not a thing, if it’s genuine. Trouble is, earnestness is easy to fake, and the bedrock of endless mischief. We are taught to value it, and to portray it whenever we wish to be taken seriously. However, all con men rely upon earnestness. All salesmen project it. All TV hosts aspire to it. All newscasters embrace it. But really, there is nothing inherently “good” about being earnest. Which is why we should be wary of it. And look past it.
Mike