HOW TO QUIT YOUR JOB

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MOTHER: Well, there's no way of assuring that it won't mean that.

MF: True, but in my experience it doesn't. The one question people ask more than any other in my career workshops is: "If I make the changes I'd truly like to, will everything be okay?" They want me to answer that question [laughs]. And I say, "I don't know if everything's going to be okay, but I know that if you don't make any moves, if you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you've always gotten."

MOTHER: What are steps that help take fear out of the picture?

MF: First, I offer a program of what I call "conscious personal economics." Incidentally, that doesn't mean going off and living in caves. It means that in a moneyed society, you have to get a real handle on your personal economic behavior pattern. How is the money going out and are you spending it on things that are in line with your values, or is it sadness-derived spending that fills you up, however briefly? Next comes a serious self-inventory. What do you value? What really makes you joyous? What would you do if you had no need for money?

MOTHER: The principle being that we have enough money, but just spend it badly?

MF: Well, certainly an incredible number of people earn more money than they really need. For instance, my family of three lives very happily on a household income of under $20,000 a year.

MOTHER:... under the national household average, by quite a bit.

MF: Yes, but we have a great home. The first move for us was to sell the home we used to own and apply the equity to a more reasonable place to live. We moved from a pricier neighborhood ...we have one car instead of two ...all moves that weren't drastic but made a huge difference in what was asked of our time and effort. I don't want to put myself or the people I speak to on a campaign of sacrifice or deprivation ...that is not what this is about. It's really about freedom and self-determination, which is quite the opposite of sacrifice. For example, many people don't realize how much their jobs actually cost them, not just in terms of energy and time, but income. Transportation costs and clothing costs and child care costs and the inevitable higher tax bracket ...and endless "convenience" items and the dozen home-repair invoices you pay each year because you can't do the work yourself ...and going out to eat because you're too tired to cook. The list is endless. Ultimately they become unconscious purchases ...and you end up still not having enough money. If it weren't for your job, you wouldn't be paying for any of it.

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