Sailing...You Gotta Leave The Port

Is This How Your Sailboat Looks?

Below is a career planning model  that looks at our life’s work as a journey traveled in a sailboat. Even though there are many factors to consider when making decisions about our life’s work, the main point is to KEEP MOVING…get in the water…sail…

 Career Sailboat Model and what it means:

Career Sailboat Model (Korkut-Owen et al. 2010)

1. Personal Factors are your individual interest, skills and values –  it is the body of the sailboat

2. Social Factors such as the family you grew up in, your gender,or  your race – it is one of the Sails

3. Systematic Factors are economic, legal and educational systems – this is the other Sail

4. Chance –  Unexpected incidents in your life, such as health issues – this is the waves and the wind  (these are the uncontrollable and unpredictable things that can take you OFF of your intended course – “CHANCE” is another word for FEAR or DOUBT or UNCERTAINTY…i.e. the reason we stay stuck (safe) at a port we should have LONG since left.)

Yes, life planning is COMPLEX but we CAN NOT stay stuck at a port. That port could be a particular  job, a profession you fell into, a business venture that is not working out, living in a city you want to leave, continuing to work when you could retire, chilling in retirement, or sticking with a business partner…WE MIGHT NEED TO PULL OUT OF THAT PORT and start sailing away…to ANOTHER port.

What exactly is “Just Quit” all about? NOT staying stuck at a port that you need to pull out of.  It’s just that most of us have always set our sailboats for another “job port”;  but the jobs aren’t there like they used to be. Then we get all confused about where the next port is located, because we can’t see it….and that confusion keeps us stuck and our sailboats docked.  

There is a port that is WAITING for you, but maybe you CAN’T see it while docked at the port you are at.

Sometimes in life you have to: 1. Prepare your boat (this might take a while)  and 2. Set Sail…BEFORE that port will appear.

You’ll KNOW when this calling happens to you. It’s when you TRUST the wind and waves (spirit) to take you where you’re suppose to go (despite the social and systematic factors that have been holding you back). Don’t be afraid. Have COURAGE. Courage is the price that life extracts.

 

If you’ve never gone sailing…you should go…it’s freeing.  I’ve come to realize that sailing has significance to me. From loving this song in High School… to going sailing as a parting gift from a CEO of a company that I worked at…to coming across this little known  Turkish career planning model…connecting the dots…

Let the wind and the waves carry you too…Don’t give up on yourself or your potential…there is something special that you and only you have been born to do….doesn’t matter how old you are…keep sailing towards that thing…

Break Free...Be Who You Are

Figure Out Who You Are.  Find Your Voice.  Pursue Your Passions. Perfect Your Craft.

Below is  a young British Performance Poet, Kate Tempest.

She’s our Modern Day Shakespeare.

She  found her voice…listen…

Now…ask yourself…WHO AM I?

Don’t ask it just once…ask it over and over and over again…

That’s the only way to get to the bottom line of who you are and break through all the barriers. 

The answer is there and it’s always been there. 

Once You Can See It Everything Changes.

Once you see it…You Find your Unique Voice, Your Passions Emerge and you will have ComPassion for others who are also on their own journey towards this universal discovery.  

Once you see it…You will laugh and wonder…what was it that I was afraid of again???

You can’t remember …WHAT was there to be afraid of?  

Now,  you can look at Fear and its’ best friend Doubt in the face…

YOU’RE FINALLY FREE… BECAUSE YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE…

STILL CONFUSED?

LISTEN TO THE MODERN DAY SHAKESPEARE AGAIN AND BELIEVE THE MESSAGE.

WHERE ARE THE GODS?

WHO ARE THE GODS?

(Hard to believe it,isn’t it?  

But what if it is true???

Imagine the possibilities if it is true.)

 

 

Strength and Patience

 

Have the courage and the strength to let go. 

Once you do let go;  you go into the unknown; or the tunnel of change. 

You might be in that dark dank tunnel for a while, but just have patience.

Don’t just do the next thing that comes your way; take the first job offer, or partner with the first person who likes your idea, or hook-up with the next person who wants to date you…WAIT…for what you deserve.  

How will you know what you deserve?   This time, you’ll know. Without a doubt, you’ll know.  

It’s coming. The universe is sending it to you. It’s so beautiful. Just wait and let it come to you. ~ Ridea

"No" is a Complete Sentence

Learn to say No. 

You don’t have to explain why you said No.

You don’t have to feel guilty about saying No.

“No.”

Every time you can say No and  YOU are clear why the answer is No  – what you are doing is letting go of something (habits, thoughts, places, people) that is keeping you stuck. You can move on and let come a whole new you.

This is your life, no one else’s. 

If you don’t know what or who to say No to…listen to the voice inside…just listen… the answer is already there. 

Letting Go is Accepting What Is

The moment you accept WHAT IS…is the moment the pain eases…it is the moment that things start to change.

Maybe WHAT IS…seems unfair

Maybe WHAT IS… seems like a waste of time

Maybe WHAT IS… seems like it should not be

BUT…IT IS WHAT IT IS…

You can fight it.  You can be depressed.  You can feel hopeless.

Hopeless: that is how it feels when you are stuck in a job that you hate, a relationship that’s unhealthy, a body that’s overweight, when you’re addicted to a substance, when your business plans don’t work out, when your spouse is cheating, when your kids are not doing well in school, and when your finances are a mess.

Depressed and Hopeless…BUT…there is a way to turn your depression and hopelessness around….right now and today. It’s called Acceptance.  Accepting yourself, your past,  your problems, your financial situation, your family life, your work status and even your resistance  to accepting things as they are right now.

Acceptance helps you to let go of HOLDING ON.

What are you HOLDING ON to?  You are holding on to what you WANT the present to be.  What you THINK should be your life, right now.  But it’s NOT your life right now and by not accepting WHAT IS you are missing out on YOUR LIFE…right now.

Once you wake up and realize that you can let go of resisting WHAT IS  (your life right now) and just accept it, then it frees your future to start to emerge. It ‘s a pause. It gets you out of wishing, hoping and even praying that your present circumstances (right now) will somehow MAGICALLY be something ELSE.

There is a saying that is almost like a mantra in Law Enforcement.  Sometimes I get tired of hearing it, but when I do it reminds me of the power of letting go.  The mantra is: “IT IS WHAT IT IS”  That’s how cops get through their tough jobs by accepting WHAT IS. 

If you are depressed today.  If you want things to be different tomorrow, then you have to 1st accept WHAT IS and 2nd know that with acceptance it’s like a message that your mind, body and soul is giving the universe –that you trust it.  You trust the plan for your life.  You may not know the plan for your life, but you trust it. You trust that things are happening for your good or your learning or both. You trust the timing.  You trust that things will change. Things will get better.

The rain will end.

Things will change. Things ALWAYS change…don’t hold up the progress by your resistance to WHAT IS…it just keeps you stuck longer than necessary…instead…

Choose Happiness (even while it’s raining).

 

"Just Quit" Career Counseling Help from Sharon McCormick

“Where there is ruin, there is hope for a treasure.” ~ Rumi

For those of you who are in need of career counseling, and especially if you are at the end of your rope and thinking about quitting your job without another one please know that there is hope.

After looking for a while for a true professional career counselor who has years of experience in many environments and is able to actually give people the tools and guidance that they need to move forward I would like to recommend Sharon McCormick.  You can find out more about Sharon on her website at  Career Treasure .  

“Just Quit” Blog Vision

I remember when I first started planning this blog it was my grand vision to have resources for all of the “Just Quit” categories. Over this past year the blog has tended to focus on providing encouragement to people who feel stuck and depressed in their current jobs.  Although it’s been 10 years for me now since I quit my job without another one, I remember the feeling of KNOWING that NO ONE in my family or ANY of my friends REALLY understood how SERIOUS things had to have gotten for me to decide to “Just Quit” my job.

I understand the need to “Just Quit”.

I understand the toll you are under mentally and physically staying in your job

BUT

I also know that the job market worldwide has changed dramatically since the 2008 recession.  Just google “end of the middle class” and you will get tons of articles about how jobs are moving from full-time to part-time and that wages are stagnant.  Because of this I want to make sure that people are VERY clear about the “Just Quit” decision that they make BEFORE they make it.  I want to advocate for creating a plan, and even though it might seem impossible to save enough money to tide you over for six months still it’s important to have a “Just Quit” Saving Account.

To all of you hurting out there just know that there is hope

Please Don’t Give Up

Letting Go to Let Come is a Process

You may feel like all is lost, and your career and life is in ruin BUT sometimes it is only out of a ruin that you can find out –  who you are, what really matters and what you have to offer to the world. This is your time to shine.  This is a time for a new you to come through.

Sharon can properly help you to preserve both your physical and mental health during this difficult time.  It’s worth a try to finally develop a strategic career action plan so you can move forward.

Remember…There is Hope…THERE IS HOPE (period)

Think Different...Here's To The Crazy Ones

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

― Apple Inc. Campaign

 

 Sometimes you have to be different…think different…Just Quit What is Not Working…Let Go…Follow Your Intuition…Follow Your Heart…You may not know the plan…but…the plan is good…the dots will connect…just keep going…find what you love…do great work…love what you do…keep looking…don’t settle…you’ll know when you find it…here’s to the crazy ones…Peace, Ridea