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I quit my job last March and it was a bad idea.

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Re: I quit my job last March and it was a bad idea.

#311
post #141

I did quit my full-time job. So did I. Many times. About half the time it worked out great. The other half, it sucked, just like yours does now. You are not alone. I'm constantly broke, on the verge of poverty... Then get a job, any job. It doesn't have to be programming. It'll get you out of the house, get you with other people, and put a few bucks in your pocket. If you love programming enough, you'll find time to…

In addition of what 'edw519' just said (which btw spared me a lot of words, thanks for that), nowadays, although I can feel quite miserable and suffer a lot on this kind of situation (which I'm in middle of one right now), I usually thank my life for having it happening.

And do you know why? Because it's due to such things we grow a whole lot more with these tough moments in life, since it compels us to think about what we have done wrong, what were out mistakes to end up this way and makes us to put everything in perspective and therefore rethink our life and evolve and learn a lot from that.

See, I'm a 26 years old programmer and on Saturday (Oct 15th) will complete 1 year my mom has passed away in a totally unexpected way (and that brought me a lot of legal and heritage consequences -- and a lot of big choices I wasn't prepared to make so early) and I don't have to mention all that messed up a lot my life.

So here I am now in a middle of a crossroad, rethinking my life and deeming quit programming and start one of my others wills, like carpentry or something like that, trying to talk to friends or friends' parents who work someway with that kind of thing. So, the point is you always has options to take before really thinking of suiciding (and I could say I'm bipolar who has his depressed moments), despite I've never thought of killing myself.

And I'm almost completely broke and just moved to a new apartment with my brother, which I'm still paying for it all by myself. I must say I have some tempting job offers in front of me in my programming area, but I think now is a good cue to starting doing some new stuff (and I deem myself quite great on web programming, and my friends and former coworkers think the same).

Whenever you find yourself struggling like you're doing and kind of stuck it's time to put everything in perspective and consider doing something new and somewhat unexpected and maybe your life will present you completely exciting and new things. And it's rather important to throw your pride away and ignore what people around you are saying. It's more important than ever to hear your inner voice, your intuition and find what could make you happy or at least make you away from your current feeling of failure.

Re: I quit my job last March and it was a bad idea.

#312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

edw519 is always gold. Also, you're 20. I'm twice your age and I've made far more serious mistakes at your age that have had minimal negative impact on my life. Don't fear life. You're young and free, don't sweat it and certainly don't get depressed about failures. You have plenty of life left to use what you've learned from them to succeed.

One of the biggest mistakes we make when we are young (meaning, me , I made this mistake) is we think that if we don't become millionaires by 25 we are failures. That's bullshit fed to us by the media who claims only young people win in startups. I also second the 'get a job, any job'. Adversity is a part of life. Getting rich is hard, really, really fucking hard. Trust me, I went through suicidal depressions when I…

One of the biggest mistakes we make when we are young (meaning, me, I made this mistake) is we think that if we don't become millionaires by 25 we are failures.

No shit, I am 36 and I am working on my fifth million!

I gave up on the first four!

Re: I quit my job last March and it was a bad idea.

#314
post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you ever see the Malcolm in the Middle episode where Lois tries to use therapist techniques such as parroting on Malcolm? (S5E15 - page 6 http://www.malcolminthemiddle.co.uk/episodes/transcripts/eng... ) There's another (S2E8) where Malcolm fakes a breakdown so he can get out of a dorky class thing by talking to the school counselor. (Ed: I don't mean this as evidence, just a comedic primer for the general idea.)…

When someone says that they are suicidal it is imperative they speak to qualified professionals who can assess the situation and potentially avert disaster. your comment is unhelpful.

But is that advice only given because nobody would dare not to give that advice?

Re: I quit my job last March and it was a bad idea.

#316
Here are quotes that I refer to when I'm feeling down

"There will always be obstacles in life but, they are only stepping stones to a great future" -me

" The Man who thinks He can! If you think you are beaten, you are: If you think you dare not, you don't! If you'd like to win, but think you can't, It's almost a cinch that you won't. If you think you'll lose, you're lost. For out in the world we find. Success begins with a fellow's will; It's all in the state of mind! If you think you're outclassed you are; you've got to think high to rise. You've got to be sure of yourself before you can win the prize. Life battles don't go always go to the strongest or fastest man; But sooner or later the man who wins Is the man who thinks he can! -a poem by Wlater D. Wintle taken from "Launching a Leadership Revolution"

"If you wait for all the lights to turn green before you set off on a cross-country trip, you'll never leave."

"If we feel afraid, it isn't what we don't know that frightens us, it's what we think we do know. The problem is.... our ideas about what we don't know." -Allen G. Johnson

"Our purpose in life is to find purpose in life"

"Every man should be embarrassed to die until he accomplishes something great in this world" -Douglas MacArthur

"Whether u think u can or u think u can't u r right" - Henry Ford

"Seek... the counsel of those who have achieved the goal for which you strive: for in all matters, the words of the one who has prospered are far better then the words of one who has not." -Author Stevenson Willis

"Study while others are sleeping: work while others are loafing; prepare while others are playing; and dream while others are wishing." -Willam A. Ward

"A leader is driven to change the status quo...." -Chris Brady

"Nearly all men can handle adversity but if you really want to test a man's character- give him power" -Abraham Lincoln

"To become a leader worth following you must give time and attention to the inner man. To leave a legacy that goes beyond accomplishment alone, a leader must devote himself to matters of he heart." Andy Stanley

"What counts is not the number of hours you put in, but how much you put in the hours." -"Anonymous

"We don't control where we start our journeys, but we do control what we do once we've started"

"Success is always located on the other side of inconvenience"

"Remember, no one one ever does anything worthwhile for which they are not criticized."

"Great leaders learn to find defeat in every victory, and victory in every defeat." (There's always room for improvement, always!)

Re: I quit my job last March and it was a bad idea.

#317
I get to hear about how stupid I was to reject a regular job at a bigco from my dad. We've an agreement for an year, where I get to try out all unconventional ways to make money(startups, freelancing, indie game-dev,etc). Everytime he comes up with a phrase starting with "you should have...", I offer to add another month to the one year promise :-)

Since I work with a remote programmer from home, this becomes quite a distraction when dad's on a vacation.

Re: I quit my job last March and it was a bad idea.

#318
post #141

I did quit my full-time job. So did I. Many times. About half the time it worked out great. The other half, it sucked, just like yours does now. You are not alone. I'm constantly broke, on the verge of poverty... Then get a job, any job. It doesn't have to be programming. It'll get you out of the house, get you with other people, and put a few bucks in your pocket. If you love programming enough, you'll find time to…

[deleted]

Re: I quit my job last March and it was a bad idea.

#319
I just read one of your replies to edw519's post, but I think you deleted it. I can't find it anymore at least. In any case, it stated you were not at all interested in programming.

I think you answered your own problem with that post.

I have seen your DeviantArt portfolio. You have real talent. It seems to me that drawing is your real passion. So go for that! If you have the opportunity to go to college and study arts, or graphical design, do whatever it takes to make that happen. If not, get a regular job and take whatever courses you can, and just keep drawing.

If you keep on drawing for a few more years to improve your technique, people will be fighting over to work with you.

You'll be able to do mainstream graphical design for websites and similar (not too exciting, but can pay very well) or you can go into some of the more interesting areas such as game concept art, character illustration, 3D modelling and animation etc etc.

Ignore what the hell your father or friends say. Your a visual artist, not a programmer. Set that as your aim, and go be it.

Re: I quit my job last March and it was a bad idea.

#320
ALL of the assholes in your life telling you, you made a bad decision, are the real dumbasses.

People fail to realize that the outcomes of decisions must be measured twice. Once in the short term and once in the long term.

There are many times when a decision is BAD in the short term and GOOD in the long term. Other times (like the decisions our Congress makes) are good in the short term and bad in the long term.

You might be in a bad place now, but in the long term it might be for the better. Just hang in. If you're at your worst, then it's only going to get better from here on out. Give it time.

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