Winning the Rat Race

First of all congratulations to you for reaching this page. You have proved yourself to be a winner just by reaching this page. A different type of winner perhaps. Because I would like to tell you that the only way to win the rat race is to leave the rat race. That is the only way you will win in something much bigger. LIFE.

I have been a corporate rat for over a decade now. And boy what a run I have had.

I graduated fresh out of college in 2013 ready to conquer the world; filled with hopes and dreams of what I imagined would be a glorious corporate life. A life filled with important meetings with important people, making impressive presentations, having that fresh free coffee in the office, all the water cooler talks with office colleagues, travel to foreign destinations for work. Posting those #workisworship posts on LinkedIn. That was the dream. And I fulfilled at least some part of that dream over the years. Until the day I didn’t want to fulfill this dream. The relentless pursuit of success, often at the expense of my overall well-being and happiness was creating a void in my soul. I started questioning why I was taking so much stress, why I had to take a lot of BS from my boss. I started hating the 8-5 grind which was never 8-5 in the first place. It was always 8-10. The constant pressure to achieve more was unreal. I started questioning my job, my career, my peers and eventually my life decisions.

I knew I had to make a change in my life but was never sure of what exactly I wanted in life. It was not until I could not literally take another day at work that I sat down with myself and questioned who I am. Talk about existential crises! What do I like in life? How do I want to live? Do I need that fancy apartment? Do I really need that glitzy car and shoes? Can I settle for something lesser and still be happy in life? These questions became the core of my internal dialogues for months. And no matter how I thought about it, I always came to the same solution. I realized that I don’t need all the creature comforts that we have been always told to strive for from childhood. We simply do not need it to live a happy, balanced and fulfilling life. Our needs are simple. We need to be healthy, should have a roof over our head, be able to put food on the table, and provide for our kids if we have any.

As history has taught us and so have many old people on YouTube with their motivational talks and experience, we need TIME. Time to focus on that hobby of yours. Time to spend with your kids and family. Time to hang out with friends. Time to learn an instrument or learn cooking. It is the only thing that even the world’s wealthiest people cannot buy. And you want to spend this priceless thing sitting in a cubicle staring at a screen getting stressed? Or playing CandyCrush in the office toilet? All the while making some guy sitting in a faraway land richer beyond imagination?This was the game changer. This thought nudged me to take stock and re-evaluate my life.

Time for myself, time for my family, time for my friends, time for that trip that I always wanted. How do I find this elusive time? Not on weekends for sure! If you are a working married guy like me with a kid, you would know that weekend time is not for you to play your Playstation or going on that solo bike trip with friends. Well mostly not. For me, it is the time to catch up with my family, do household chores like clean the house, buy grocery, wash clothes and work on finishing that pending office project.

And I want a break from this rigid schedule. I want to go out for a bike trip on Monday when the weekend crowds are not present. I want to be able to drop my kid to daycare. I want to be there to pick her up. I want to go visit my wife during her work hours. Why are these demands too much to ask? Why is this not possible? Am I the only one who feels this way? Certainly not. As per a recent survey by FlexJobs, 42% of professionals are planning on quitting their job. Another 20% have recently quit for newer gigs.

I accept. Not everyone hates the rat race. It certainly helps some people who want that kind of structure in their lives. It gives them purpose and a sense of control. But applying a One size fits all perspective does not help everyone. This is the realization that I have come to. And I thank the Almighty to have finally shown me this realization.I have decided to quit my job soon, to follow my passion for writing. I wish I could have had the resources or the guts to do this earlier.

People will question my moves, some calling me childish, an escapist, foolish too. They will keep selling the rat race to me. But I am confident of what I don’t want in my life. I want TIME. I want to be my own boss. And I am sure this will give me the confidence and the drive to strive for greater heights of success.

Wish me luck guys! I am quitting the rat race….really praying that I don’t have to get back into it! 🙂