Coming Full Circle - Just Quit and Live Works Again

This month I came full circle and had a synchronistic moment.

It was my first day manning the United Healthcare Medicare kiosk in Walgreens.

Many of my previous “jobs” and experiences came into place:

• NC Credit Union – Setting up booths and tables to market the Credit Union, greeting the public and answering questions
• VA Credit Union – Creating and teaching a robbery training class…it was a public place and anything can happen
• –NC Police Department – Keeping my head on a swivel and paying attention even if it looked like I wasn’t paying attention
• VA and NC Art Shows– Setting up for art shows, greeting and talking to people

A gentleman walked in who was about 35-40 years old, dressed in a nice pair of jeans, a shirt (don’t remember the color), some copper-colored tennis shoes and a hat with the same copper color in the initials on the cap.  He said hello and I responded back.

I then noticed him in the check-out line which had grown to about 4-5 people.  I don’t remember what he purchased but heard him ask about the flowers and the cashier saying they were for Breast Cancer Month.  He picked up a bunch and continued to wait in line. I thought how nice and thoughtful that was of him to get them for someone who had been through or going through breast cancer.

He paid for his items and walked towards ME, handed me the flowers and said…These Are for You.  I thanked him and just thought WOW that was a special moment because the reason I was not still working an 8-5 making 6 figures and sitting at the booth in Walgreens was due to getting breast cancer in 2019, that turning me around and KNOWING I had to take what I knew to help others with valuable information.

Insurance is too dang important to continue to be confusing for average everyday people.

Here I was in a synchronistic moment as Carl Jung called it.  Knowing at that very moment you are right where you are supposed to be.  That’s a good feeling!

Here’s to others using their scars to make a difference, do something meaningful and live the fullest of their lives.

Just Quit 2.0 Journey-Month 1

On August 1, 2022 I early retired…meaning I “Just quit” working for someone else in exchange for a paycheck and benefits.

No More:

• Logging on at 7:00,
• Weekly routine WebEx meetings,
• Reviewing and approving purchase orders,
• Team meetings,
• Answering “emergency” phone calls mostly because of poor planning or folks not following up, and
• “Managing” which can be akin to a form of babysitting for those who don’t understand they shouldn’t need that level of supervision.

It’s been almost 20 years since I “Just Quit” the last time BUT somethings have not changed:

• Going a day without health insurance waiting on COBRA to kick-in is nerve-wracking,
• Not having a title and big-name organization to associate with feels familiar, and
• Shaking off what feels like chains and the freedom of that feeling.

When you early retire you don’t just stop. 

You shouldn’t just stop.

I’m not just stopping. 

I am pulling together EVERYTHING I know how to do and like to do:

1. Presenting information (every job I’ve ever had)
2. Reviewing quotes/information (all my purchasing jobs)
3. Sitting at a table marketing a product/company (my marketing job at the NC Credit union)
4. Training others (My training jobs at the VA Credit Union and NC Police Dept.)
5. Looking at details/compliance/forms and analyzing information (My compliance job at the Shipyard)

Pulling all of this together and seeing how far and fast it takes me by using my past experiences and skills.  Learning this new industry and products from my mentor and following a proven process.  Do I think it will yield amazing results? Yes, I certainly do.

I’ll blog this new journey on “Just Quitting” at almost 60 years old.

Just Quit and Live

 

Here I am again. Leaving a 9 – 5 (this one was a 7:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. which is one reason to go…what normal person wants to start work at 7:00 a.m. even if it is WFH? ) 

Here I am again. Wondering why most people tolerate all the stuff that happens in Corporate America. 

Here I am again. Looking at my spreadsheet and thinking yeah I can do this.  I have enough money to do this.  

Here I am again. Ready and willing to go where the wind and spirit leads me. 

Here I am this time. With more experience. 

Here I am this time.  Eighteen years later from the last time I “just quit”. 

Here I am this time. Blogging the experience.

Here I am this time. Knowing this time there is no going back to working to make someone else rich for exchange for a check and health benefits. (This seems so ludicrous to me!!!)  If I do nothing else with this insurance license I will help people who feel chained to their jobs because of health insurance. 

Here I am this time.  Knowing the harder I work, the more real people I will help and the more money I will make. 

Here I am this time.  Knowing I’ve got one more shot to leave a legacy that will catapult the next several generations to the top. 

Now. I will do this. 

Now.  I will thrive. 

Now. I will soar. 

Now. I will look back and be grateful I’ve been blessed with what I call “the knowing” and brave enough to trust it. 

Here I am again. Here I am this time. Now.

~M. R. Williams a.k.a. Ridea

Working From Home

It’s almost been two years and many are still working from home.

It’s a 20 steps commute.

There’s no more packing a lunch.

No more matching assessories with clothes.

No more starting the car when it’s cold.

There are WebEx meetings.

There is just work.

No listening to conversations that you don’t want to hear.

All of the “nonsense” is cut out.

There is just work.

And if you don’t like the work…Just Quit and find other work or something else.

 

You Are Not Crazy and You Are Not Alone

It is 2021. It is almost December 2021.

It is a time when many have to make a decision to Just Quit their jobs because of a Covid Vaccine Mandate.

Just Quitting a Job is a decision that I made almost 20 years ago. It is a decision that is facing me again, but today’s decision seems ominous. It seems sinister. It is not singular. It is a decision a mass number of people have to make at the same time. Just Quitting is not an easy decision because it is life changing. For those in the throws of making the decision think of three things:

1. What would you do if you weren’t afraid of change?
2. What are your dreams for yourself and your family, and how will your decision impact those dreams?
3. On your death bed which decision will you be happy that you made?

Think on these things today and know that to Just Quit and Live Your Life can be a beautiful thing.

(As I type this I realize how very much this blogging platform has changed since I’ve blogged! I also probably need to change the name of this site to Just Quit and Live)

Be Creative When You Work The "Just Quit" Steps...Connect the Dots

The job I have is making me sick, physically sick just thinking about being there makes me ill.

It’s where hard work is ignored and politics are constantly at play.

It’s a place that discourages development and growth of its team and encourages “top down” mechanics under the guise of being a company run on new age defining principles.

It’s a place where I feel creatively stifled even though I have a creative role.

I have no desire to work within the field I’m in anymore and there is so much more to life that I have true interest in.

~Worker Living in CALIFORNIA

In many of the “Just Quit” Steps we have the opportunity to be creative.

Go back to the Steps and think creatively.

You will be amazed at what happens.

You will almost forget all about the crap that is going on at work.

You might even be grateful for it all. Grateful that it has brought you to this point.

The more creative you are working the Steps the more excited you will become at the endless possibilities of the way forward.

Get creative when you work the Steps.

You are reading from the book “Just Quit” & Live

 

10,000 Survey Responses Reached!

We now have reached the 10K mark on the “Just Quit” Your Job Survey.

Thank you to everyone over the years who have freely participated and shared their stories.

Below are the results:

Just Quit Your Job Survey Results as of 4/4/21