I Quit My Job to Write Full-Time on Medium. This is How I Did it.

From 9–5 to Freedom

2020 was the best year I ever had. Spiritually, physically, emotionally — I felt at my top.

Leading up to 2020 I quit my job working at the top newspaper in New Jersey, which happened to be an affiliate of USA Today. The 9–5 was killing me. For the first time in my life, I was depressed. I didn’t think I was a good writer, and sitting at a desk for eight hours, five days a week felt like slow-motion suicide.

This needs to be said about the 9–5 horror show:

• The 9–5 promotes horrible physical fitness. As a lifelong athlete I found it hard to find the motivation to work out when all I did was sit in desk chairs for hours. As literary critic William Hazlitt once said, it’s better to have a weak mind in a sound body than a sound mind and a weak body.
• The 9–5 has huge chunks when you do nothing. It’s the most unproductive way to work ever. You separate people in cubicles, isolating complex social creatures. Your only friend is the computer and he’s a good companion for but so long. All of this makes you drone. It makes you dumb.
• The 9–5 is phony. Watercooler banter, small talk throughout the day. It’s fake. I don’t feel like I’m having a conversation, but acting out a part in a play. I’m wearing a mask. A corporate mask. I’m feeling sick.

When I saw Mike Judge’s film “Office Space” as a teenager I thought it was a hyperbolic dark comedy. Then I realized it is a reality for millions of Americans.

We’re actors in a hilarious and depressing dark comedy starring Ron Livingston and Jennifer Anniston.

The 9–5 is a bad dream and it forced me to make the most radical decision of my life.

I Joined the Army

Two months later and I regretted it.

Unknown to non-military citizens, much of the military is bureaucratic beyond belief. Many soldiers work inside offices signing paperwork to send to another sector who resigns that paperwork and sends it back for corrections, and on and so forth. It’s nothing like the movies.

I’m a military brat, and the most sage advice my father gave me is that you never join the army unless it’s something you want to do. A common phrase in the military is reminding new recruits “This is what you signed up for.”

“Embrace the suck” — Another lifelong military adage

I had the most uncomfortable conversations with friends during this time. They could tell I didn’t want to leave for the army but was going through with it anyway. Hiding a dark secret from your friends is the most painful thing you can do.

You’re hurting yourself more than your hurting them. They can see that. They feel bad that they’re seeing you do this to yourself.

Truthfully, I shouldn’t be here writing these words for you. I should be stationed in Alaska resending corrected paperwork to the wrong office for them to send it right back to me.

However, two weeks before I was supposed to leave for Army Officer Candidate School, COVID-19 closed America down for business, and it delayed my leave date indefinitely. I quit one week later.

I’m not a deeply spiritual person, but after this, I knew something gave me another chance to find my path.

I Ran With It

Literally.

I ran 10 miles, then 20, and even ran 30 miles straight after I left the army. I didn’t want external stimulus to dictate what I did. I wanted to be internally driven.

Running became my meditation. A way to push myself and not get caught up in the bullshit of the world. I would now ask friends what do I have to be upset about except the hill runs I have to do in an hour?

This enabled me to start writing a book. Then I started writing on Medium soon after. I believed great experiences made great writers. Others I’ve read have said the same:

“Most young people haven’t experienced enough to have something significant to say about life, especially to readers who are older than they are,” said Lee Gutkind, author of ‘You Can’t Make This Stuff Up: The Complete Guide to Writing Creative Nonfiction.’ “I’m not contending here that young people can’t write with power and beauty or that they haven’t suffered. But it’s often better to join the Peace Corps, take a job driving a taxi, or interact with a different culture before studying on a master’s degree level.”

“It doesn’t mean you’re giving up the dream of being a writer; rather you’re living the creative nonfiction life, which means that you’re experiencing new worlds.”

I Tried The 9–5 One More Time

When you want to move out of your parent's house you’ll do anything. And I do recommend you move out of your parent’s house. No one grows living a safe, unadventurous life. The sooner you can move out the better.

For me, however, I went back to my job as a reporter. This time it was a lot more fun. Not working from the office is a gamechanger. Moreover, I felt more formidable as a writer coming off a book and a few months blogging on Medium.

I think I needed that job this time around. It gave me the opportunity to grow as a journalist during the day and nourish my creative side hustles at night That’s the secret. You don’t need to abandon everything to pursue your passion. Grow it on the side while you work something steady.

I’m happy I went back to a steady job this time.

I might not have felt the same way if we were in the office. But we weren’t. So hurray for that! And my journalist mentors are some of the best in the world.

I’ll miss them.

Be Adventurous and Live Like You’re The Hero of Your Story

I had out-of-body experiences when I ran those 20 mile runs.

One friend asked me why I did them when anything less would still be exceptional. Truthfully, it’s because I felt like a superhero. I didn’t feel like me. I felt like another person watching myself do insane, once thought impossible acts.

When you become the best version of yourself, you never know what could be possible.

This is why I write. Why I read, run, workout and invest my money. You’re not writing about when everything went right in your life. You write about when everything went wrong. When you went off the beaten path — when everyone doubted you or called you crazy — and you did it anyway.

I’ve now realized the only way to live a life like this is to silence the noise. You have to strategically get away from things like a soulless 9–5 working environment or friends who want to play it too safe for the next 20 years of their life.

In order to become a hero, you’ll make some enemies along the way. Haters love to hate. Let them hate. Do what you do best. The bigger the achievement the more opposition you will face. Humans were meant to tackle challenges. It’s what makes us special.

I don’t know how or even why I’m here. But maybe it was to share an article just like this with you. Now it’s your turn to live a life where you can do the same.

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