How to Figure Out When to Quit & Reinvent Yourself

The following are 5 considerations that will help you determine when to quit that I’ve discovered through my own personal experiences.

Build Your Reinvention Runway

Do you have 10-12 months of living expenses set aside for your reinvention? Reinvention takes the time that it takes and I always recommend saving up at least 10-12 months of runway before you quit. For my first runway, I withdrew my entire 401K. I was 26 and only had about 4 years of contributions and employer matching. While financial advisors warned me against this, I felt strongly and confident in taking that money and investing in what I believed was the right path for me. Only you can make this decision. 

Know that if you are committed to this reinvention, you will do whatever is necessary to extend that runway. I’ve tutored math, parked cars, folded shirts at the mall, set up music acts, and other odd jobs. This helped to keep my burn rate low and even extend my runway. Btw, you can start building this runway at any time, way before you quit! 

Commit to Your Runway

This is much easier said than done. If you have 10-12 months, don’t try to get it done in three months. Think of this as a literal runway for takeoff. A plane requires the full length of the runway to create lift and does not attempt to take off any sooner than that. 

Plan to use all of your runway. Plant the seeds that blossom into opportunities down the road while you work on short-term goals like skill building, personal re-branding, etc. Your runway is meant to be used. To extend your runway, you can either lower your burn rate or generate a little extra side income.

Know What are You Running Towards

This means having clarity and momentum in your new career path. If you know what you want to do and already have momentum or traction, then you are very much in the realm of ready. Plus, if you have the financial runway, you just might be ready to go!

However, if you don’t have clarity as to what you want to do next or any traction, work on that while you stay in your day job. Make sure that before you quit you have a clear direction that you are running towards. There is an important difference between running away from and running towards something. When you run towards something meaningful, you run with more intention, commitment, and enthusiasm.

Start Before You Quit 

Before you quit, get involved in the market or space you wish to pursue in your next reinvention. If you want to get into the education space, then identify a problem or set of problems that you’d like to explore. Reach out to people in the education world that are either experiencing the problem or working on solving it and invite them to virtual panel that you host. Ask them lots of questions and invite other interested people to attend and listen in. 

Research the problem online and share your learnings online. Do this regularly for a year while you build your financial runway. Also consider finding ways to practice what you want to do or take some classes to develop relevant skills. On episode 45 of The School of Reinvention Podcast, Azul Corajoria shares her story of taking incremental steps to start while hanging on to regular full time work.

You will not only will you have some financial security, you’ll also have the network, the following, the email list, and the reputation to successfully reinvent yourself!

Check in with Your Mental Health

Back in January of 2016, I started to get bullied by a colleague of mine. He filed complaint after complaint about me, even though I did everything to stay away from him. Our manager said she was obligated to follow up on each complaint even though it was clear I did nothing wrong. There was a period of time when I was called into our manager’s office weekly to discuss the ‘complaint of the week’ against me. 

One complaint had to do with the shoes I wore to work one day – seriously?! ?????

Unfortunately, this person also started to undermine and sabotage the work I was doing. After a couple of months, I started to feel the negative impacts of this bullying. I absolutely hated going to work everyday and often felt physically sick enough to call out. Most of my life I have been blessed to be healthy but this was challenging my mental and physical health. 

I made a decision then that I needed to get out of there as soon as possible. Ultimately my mental health and wellbeing is much more valuable to me than a paycheck. 

The Importance of Mental Health on the Journey to Reinvention

If your mental health is being challenged in a negative and intentional way, then not only do you risk your health, but you also risk losing any progress you may have made on your passion project or side hustle. 

Your mental health is the key to effectively pursuing a successful reinvention. I became irritable, less positive, more tired, and experienced physical symptoms as a result. I knew then I had to go. If you are experiencing mental health challenges as a result of the work you want to pivot away from, then consider that your reinvention plans may have to be put on hold while you plot the earliest exit possible.

Related Articles To Help You Think About When to Quit

Are You Ready to Bet On Yourself?

When To Quit Your Job

Discovering Yourself Through Transformational Projects

Overcoming the Fear of Quitting Your Job

From Side Hustles to Dream Come True