Below is an update from that good friend of mine who up and quit his job a few months ago.

When I last wrote, I was fresh off of making one of the most critical decisions in my life. While I was uncertain with what lay ahead, I was confident in the decision I had made, knowing that eventually the pieces would come together.

I spent the following few weeks lining up opportunities to fall back on, while making an effort to learn certain areas that I’ve always been interested in. My focus was on learning about the startup world, and exploring whether it made sense for me to start something on my own or join an existing early-stage startup. A good buddy and I also had been talking about writing a book/blog, so that was an option I was going to explore as well.

Without getting too into detail with names of companies, I had options on the table to join up with several startups that would allow me to be exposed to that world, learn, prove myself, and ultimately make a decent amount of money. So what did I decide to do? Well, write the book of course. The book that’s titled “100 Red Flags: The hilarious, head-turning antics of perpetually single women”.

Yep.

Why? I don’t know. It just sort of happened. I was unsure of stepping into ANY organization, even if I was employee number 2. A big reason for that is that I didn’t want to be in a scenario where I still was allowing others to make every decision. I’m pretty stubborn and headstrong, which is something to work on but is also something that I know will ultimately help me lead a company.

The book (which is currently a blog, just launched) became something that I could focus on. I learned about the book publishing process, what a winning book proposal contained. I put together an entire marketing plan that would allow for the book to have success. I was working with a buddy of mine. I was getting in a groove for all of these reasons, and one more: I didn’t really focus on whether or not this would make a ton of money.

Unfortunately, this has crept into my head more often lately, and with it has come an even greater focus on the book as a quick success would be proof that I made the right decision (one may ask “prove to who?”). Lots of people, upon quitting their job, would take some time off: they’d enjoy the summer, they’d go to the pool, on a vacation, whatever. I replaced work with work.

It’s a crazy conundrum. I fucking love running the opposite way. I spent the first month hitting different cafes across the city, taking each in for what they offered – cool decor, interesting people, nearby delicious food I needed to try – awesome. It’s refreshing and eye-opening to see people running the same direction…although walking would probably be a better description. There seems to be a special spirit amongst them, almost as if they are more real and more genuine. They look at you, they smile, they interact. They are mothers, writers, entrepreneurs, musicians, sales reps. Ultimately, though, they are just interesting.

I still have no idea what I’m doing, or what exactly I want to do, but I’m at the point now where I almost forget what it’s like to run that rat race, because any race becomes a rat race. It’s just easier to not to be consumed by it when you’re in a tub full of rats, not an ocean.