Life is short. If you don't like your job...

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I used to watch a lot of stand-up comedy when I was younger.

Back in the day, HBO hosted a comedy show called "The Annual Young Comedians Special" hosted by the legendary Rodney Dangerfield (I'm dating myself here).

Back then, HBO was the only game in town (on cable TV).

That comedy show introduced the world to comedians such as Jerry Seinfeld, Andrew "Dice" Clay, and Sam Kinison.

I remember clearly watching one of those annual comedy specials when a young comedian was introduced by Dangerfield and took the stage.

What he shared during his stand-up routine is something that resonated with me and I clearly remember to this day.

The comedian was suffering from an incurable disease; he was a dead man walking, and one of his life goals was to become a stand-up comedian by quitting his career before he passed.

I'd say he made it as a comedian the moment he was introduced by Rodney Dangerfield on an HBO comedy special at that time.

But what stuck with me all these years wasn't his routine; it was what he said before he left the stage.

He said, "Life is short. If you don't like your job…quit."

And then he walked off the stage.

"Life is short. If you don't like your job…quit."

Those words have always stuck with me.

We are all going to die. That is an immutable fact of life. We just don't know when.

That comedian knew his time was short, so he quit his career and pursued his dream of becoming a stand-up comedian.

Would he have pursued his dream if he wasn't suffering from an incurable disease?

He didn't say and I'm willing to bet good money that he probably wouldn't have.

And that's the problem.

We all have dreams, aspirations, and goals.

But we put off pursuing those dreams, aspirations, and goals until "someday" under the false belief that we have all the time in the world.

And before you know it, life has passed you by, and you're sitting there wondering why all the time you believed you had is no longer available.

I quit two careers in my life that I really enjoyed: the military and practicing law.

Now, you may be wondering, "Well, if you really enjoyed those careers, why did you quit?"

Because I spent more time working than I did living.

And one thing I realized early in life, probably because of my career in the military, is that life is entirely too short.

The military afforded me the ability to live and travel all over the world.

And I wanted more of it.

The one thing I did not want was to waste years of my life sitting in an office, especially on gorgeous days.

So, I quit the military and moved to Miami to finish undergrad and law school (and have fun along the way).

I quit practicing law to become an educator, giving back to my community while living a more balanced life.

I won't say that quitting was easy and wasn't without its challenges.

However, I do not regret the decision to quit either career in the least because each decision provided me with opportunities to pursue things that were important to me: education and investing in life experiences.

Don't get me wrong, I am not writing this to encourage you to walk into your boss's office, say "I quit," and walk out without a care in the world.

What I am encouraging you to do is to step back, reflect, and re-analyze your life goals.

Ask yourself:

"If I had 1, 3, or 5 years left to live, how would I live my life differently than I am living it now?"

Then, develop an action plan to pursue living the life you actually want to live.

Do whatever you have to do to live that life you imagine for yourself.

You don't know when your time is up.

And there are no second chances.

Quote that caught my attention:

“There’s a cost to everything. And just identifying what the cost is, then realizing that the cost is not on a price tag. You’re going to pay for it with stress and anxiety and dopamine and cortisol. That’s how you pay for these things.”

—Morgan House

You can find the collection of financial tools & resources that helped me grow from a 6-figure debt to a 6-figure net worth by clicking here.

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