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I am quitting my 9-5 this week. I am scared.

levelupinnovator

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Hello to all,

I wrote my resignation letter and about to print it out and give it to my supervisor this Friday.
I currently work at an employer in Texas as a mechanical engineer and they pay enough to get by with extra discretionary. They give benefits to me that take care of my health and I have a flex schedule. I was hired fresh out of college 2 years ago.

When I initially got the call that I was hired and they sent me the offer letter, I was ecstatic. My hard 4 rigorous years at engineering school had paid off. How naive. I make 74k + benefits a year. I look now, and have 30k debt, get paid for time not my results and I signed an invention agreement that basically owns anything I think of or create. They OWN me. I talked with the legal team in corporate to see if I could get around this hurdle and they pleasantly told me no and I have to submit anything I do to the company. The only way I could get around is if I submit to a board which signs off and it goes in circles for months before they say if they are interested in taking my idea or not. WOW. I am a slave. This in my heart has really messed with me. HOW can I INNOVATE with these shackles? How will the world ever get better with corporate slag and bureaucracy?

I have been unmotivated and lifeless at my job for the last 8 months. I keep hearing that I should wait from "mid-class" friends and family until the recession is over but honestly I can't see a recession, I see people who are either working and producing, pivoting and being reactive ooorrr people who just complain how hard it is.

However, in these 8 months I have been planning my escape and fine tuning what I am best at. I recently got my first client who is paying 4k for me to design and build a prototype and then I am getting a 5% of the idea.
I also have other clients that I am working with whose ideas and passions are worth millions of dollars. I have percentages of those ideas too. I know it will be a struggle and I will have pain and disappointment but I have to do this for my soul. There is nothing worse than living in this quiet desperation of never being able to have a shot at my dreams.

Can't wait to be a member to this community and share a lot more to come. Your support is welcome. :) Thanks.


Edit:
Today I gave my two weeks, but they said that I was too valuable to leave. After very little sleep, alot of bickering with my wife and hard conversations with friends and family. Now my employer is wanting me to wait and give me an offer this upcoming week. What should I do? I told them ok, because I do not want my options closed but, I am not sure they are going to give me as much money as I'd want.
Thanks.
 
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Last edited:

Brian_Mac

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Tough choice, I tried the same thing, quit my job and ended up having to get a job that was out of my specialty. I made way less money. At your age (i assume low 20's), and with the debt you mentioned you can stomach the job you hate for another year or so and really be free. Just cut your cost of living. Old guy tip... Crush your debt while you have the income.
 

levelupinnovator

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Tough choice, I tried the same thing, quit my job and ended up having to get a job that was out of my specialty. - - I made way less money. At your age (i assume low 20's), and with the debt you mentioned you can stomach the job you hate for another year or so and really be free. Just cut your cost of living. Old guy tip... Crush your debt while you have the income.
Thanks for the advice,You are correct! I am in low 20's but honestly can't push this back anymore. My life is more valuable than waiting a year for a 30k of debt payoff. I don't mean to be rude, I just am ready to create more money in assets and get paid for results rather than trade my time. I'd rather pull the bandaid off and learn a heck of a lot more. My current job is holding me back from really impacting this world. I only have so many years to accomplish what I want in life and not much time in life. Yeah 70 years is a long time but why take that risk of not ever achieving.

My assets I am creating are worth millions of dollars and I can't just idle and worry about my debt. (That statement has been validated through companies that want to make a licensing agreement but I can't with my job)

If I stay employed, my employer will take/ own those assets through my employment agreement. I wish they'd let me change it but they would not budge when I tried reaching out to them. That actually is my true motivation for taking the leap!

Seriously thanks for your tips and thoughts though. I like going into this with so many opinions that I can run through.
Do you own a business now?
 
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kleine2

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Hello to all,

I wrote my resignation letter and about to print it out and give it to my supervisor this Friday.
I currently work at an employer in Texas as a mechanical engineer and they pay enough to get by with extra discretionary. They give benefits to me that take care of my health and I have a flex schedule. I was hired fresh out of college 2 years ago.

When I initially got the call that I was hired and they sent me the offer letter, I was ecstatic. My hard 4 rigorous years at engineering school had paid off. How naive. I make 74k + benefits a year. I look now, and have 30k debt, get paid for time not my results and I signed an invention agreement that basically owns anything I think of or create. They OWN me. I talked with the legal team in corporate to see if I could get around this hurdle and they pleasantly told me no and I have to submit anything I do to the company. The only way I could get around is if I submit to a board which signs off and it goes in circles for months before they say if they are interested in taking my idea or not. WOW. I am a slave. This in my heart has really messed with me. HOW can I INNOVATE with these shackles? How will the world ever get better with corporate slag and bureaucracy?

I have been unmotivated and lifeless at my job for the last 8 months. I keep hearing that I should wait from "mid-class" friends and family until the recession is over but honestly I can't see a recession, I see people who are either working and producing, pivoting and being reactive ooorrr people who just complain how hard it is.

However, in these 8 months I have been planning my escape and fine tuning what I am best at. I recently got my first client who is paying 4k for me to design and build a prototype and then I am getting a 5% of the idea.
I also have other clients that I am working with whose ideas and passions are worth millions of dollars. I have percentages of those ideas too. I know it will be a struggle and I will have pain and disappointment but I have to do this for my soul. There is nothing worse than living in this quiet desperation of never being able to have a shot at my dreams.

Can't wait to be a member to this community and share a lot more to come. Your support is welcome. :) Thanks.
What is the worst thing that can happen?
What is the best thing that can happen?
 

levelupinnovator

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Good luck! I didn't your post because it was too long, I just read the title where you said you were scarred, so I have a quote for you.

Fear is your personal guide to freedom.
Thanks for the quote. This is really helpful in making the leap. I haven't been able to sleep all night. I am going in this afternoon to give my resignation notice. This touched me deep in a way where I teared. I think I needed this. I will keep it with me and run as fast and strong as I can :)
 
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levelupinnovator

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What is the worst thing that can happen?
What is the best thing that can happen?
Worst thing that can happen: I somehow go bankrupt and get back up and keep running.

Best thing that can happen: I unlock my potential and produce great things for this world. I will build a business and a life that I am fulfilled with.

Thanks for the exercise.
 

Mutant

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You know what you need to do, & you know you can't not do it.

So you'll do it. The time will pass anyway, & in a few hours it'll be over.



Then it's time to get excited for the next challenge.

You got this.
 

levelupinnovator

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You know what you need to do, & you know you can't not do it.

So you'll do it. The time will pass anyway, & in a few hours it'll be over.



Then it's time to get excited for the next challenge.

You got this.
I hope I get to chat with you again one day on this forum. I really and dearly appreciate it.

You are right, although so many are against me doing this, I can't worry about what others think. I have to do it for me.
Last time before I made a decision I couldn't sleep on, my life changed for the better. This time, I think it will change for the better again. Take care. and once again, thank you. Best of luck on the rest of your journey.
 
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Odysseus M Jones

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Congrats on taking back control of your life.

I signed an invention agreement that basically owns anything I think of or create. They OWN me. I talked with the legal team in corporate to see if I could get around this hurdle and they pleasantly told me no and I have to submit anything I do to the company. The only way I could get around is if I submit to a board which signs off and it goes in circles for months before they say if they are interested in taking my idea or not.
If only you'd told us earlier.
As your swansong you could have made a prototype for the board to consider.
Emblazoned with their logo, a stunning neon sex toy.

And links to the Reddit thread you'd posted pics & asked for feedback.

Cest la vie...
 

Grinder20

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I hope I get to chat with you again one day on this forum. I really and dearly appreciate it.

You are right, although so many are against me doing this, I can't worry about what others think. I have to do it for me.
Last time before I made a decision I couldn't sleep on, my life changed for the better. This time, I think it will change for the better again. Take care. and once again, thank you. Best of luck on the rest of your journey.

@levelupinnovator, welcome to the forum! You seem to have a good head on your shoulders, you will do great! The fear is real, but normal and definitely use people's doubt as a catalyst! Keep your head down and do whatever it takes. Best to you!!
 

alexkuzmov

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Hello to all,

I wrote my resignation letter and about to print it out and give it to my supervisor this Friday.
I currently work at an employer in Texas as a mechanical engineer and they pay enough to get by with extra discretionary. They give benefits to me that take care of my health and I have a flex schedule. I was hired fresh out of college 2 years ago.

When I initially got the call that I was hired and they sent me the offer letter, I was ecstatic. My hard 4 rigorous years at engineering school had paid off. How naive. I make 74k + benefits a year. I look now, and have 30k debt, get paid for time not my results and I signed an invention agreement that basically owns anything I think of or create. They OWN me. I talked with the legal team in corporate to see if I could get around this hurdle and they pleasantly told me no and I have to submit anything I do to the company. The only way I could get around is if I submit to a board which signs off and it goes in circles for months before they say if they are interested in taking my idea or not. WOW. I am a slave. This in my heart has really messed with me. HOW can I INNOVATE with these shackles? How will the world ever get better with corporate slag and bureaucracy?

I have been unmotivated and lifeless at my job for the last 8 months. I keep hearing that I should wait from "mid-class" friends and family until the recession is over but honestly I can't see a recession, I see people who are either working and producing, pivoting and being reactive ooorrr people who just complain how hard it is.

However, in these 8 months I have been planning my escape and fine tuning what I am best at. I recently got my first client who is paying 4k for me to design and build a prototype and then I am getting a 5% of the idea.
I also have other clients that I am working with whose ideas and passions are worth millions of dollars. I have percentages of those ideas too. I know it will be a struggle and I will have pain and disappointment but I have to do this for my soul. There is nothing worse than living in this quiet desperation of never being able to have a shot at my dreams.

Can't wait to be a member to this community and share a lot more to come. Your support is welcome. :) Thanks.
Welcome :)

Struggle is good, comfort is bad: RANT - Savour the Pain

Good luck!
 
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fastlanedoll

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Not trying to be negative or anything.. but if it's solely the content of your agreement that holds you back, I'd advice you to get another job (whilst you have one) before you take that leap of resigning without one.

Entrepreneurship isn't always immediately profitable (more often than not, it is not), so you'll need some income to pay the bills before it is...
 

openwater

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My only advice would be to make sure you have something to run to and not just something to run away from.

What's your plan of action? What are you going to build, and how is it going to offer value? What is your roadmap to profitability? The magic number is usually around 3 years in. Can you bankroll yourself for 3 years?

I don't intend to be a downer, I'm coming from a place of personal experience. I quit my job in my early twenties to pursue entrepreneurship, but in reality I quit my job in order to quit my job that I hated, with entrepreneurship as my way of rationalizing this short-sighted decision.

After a short runway, zero profits, lots of stress and negative emotion, I got a full-time job again to realign myself and build up some savings before the next attempt.

Like a few posters above are saying, make sure you've thought this through. If you haven't you can always find a different job with less constraints for now. If you have thought it through, then go get 'em!

(But like any advice, mine is only worth about $0.02 ;))
 

Lucky Lu

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However, in these 8 months I have been planning my escape and fine tuning what I am best at. I recently got my first client who is paying 4k for me to design and build a prototype and then I am getting a 5% of the idea.
I also have other clients that I am working with whose ideas and passions are worth millions of dollars. I have percentages of those ideas too. I know it will be a struggle and I will have pain and disappointment but I have to do this for my soul. There is nothing worse than living in this quiet desperation of never being able to have a shot at my dreams.

I would advise you to be very careful with this and the paper trace on the dates. If the inventions turns into a big hit, you don´t want to expose your client or yourself to a legal battle regarding ownership on the patent.

This is not legal advise, just my uninformed personal opinion with the explanation you have provided.

Best of luck! and take the leap, it does not look like a good place to be and I believe you have already made your mind about that.
 
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Knugs

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I don't intend to be a downer, I'm coming from a place of personal experience. I quit my job in my early twenties to pursue entrepreneurship, but in reality I quit my job in order to quit my job that I hated, with entrepreneurship as my way of rationalizing this short-sighted decision.

I can back this up to 100%.

If you are not able to negotiate on the term to be removed you are quite rightly so to quit the job. But from my experience you are much better off to wait it out until you find a different employment offer: e.g part time employment. This way you have the following:

-A job that pays the bills and minimises risk of incruing debt/ keeps you afloat/ finances projects
-Time to work on these idees that have the potential to flourish.
-You wont have the innovation term in your contract and work freely on your projects.
-safety inbetween each steps/stages in your life.

If I didnt have the safety net I would have drowned in my project. Taking the financial aspect out of your business allows you also to grow it.
 

Plymouth Oyster

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Hello to all,

I wrote my resignation letter and about to print it out and give it to my supervisor this Friday.
I currently work at an employer in Texas as a mechanical engineer and they pay enough to get by with extra discretionary. They give benefits to me that take care of my health and I have a flex schedule. I was hired fresh out of college 2 years ago.

When I initially got the call that I was hired and they sent me the offer letter, I was ecstatic. My hard 4 rigorous years at engineering school had paid off. How naive. I make 74k + benefits a year. I look now, and have 30k debt, get paid for time not my results and I signed an invention agreement that basically owns anything I think of or create. They OWN me. I talked with the legal team in corporate to see if I could get around this hurdle and they pleasantly told me no and I have to submit anything I do to the company. The only way I could get around is if I submit to a board which signs off and it goes in circles for months before they say if they are interested in taking my idea or not. WOW. I am a slave. This in my heart has really messed with me. HOW can I INNOVATE with these shackles? How will the world ever get better with corporate slag and bureaucracy?

I have been unmotivated and lifeless at my job for the last 8 months. I keep hearing that I should wait from "mid-class" friends and family until the recession is over but honestly I can't see a recession, I see people who are either working and producing, pivoting and being reactive ooorrr people who just complain how hard it is.

However, in these 8 months I have been planning my escape and fine tuning what I am best at. I recently got my first client who is paying 4k for me to design and build a prototype and then I am getting a 5% of the idea.
I also have other clients that I am working with whose ideas and passions are worth millions of dollars. I have percentages of those ideas too. I know it will be a struggle and I will have pain and disappointment but I have to do this for my soul. There is nothing worse than living in this quiet desperation of never being able to have a shot at my dreams.

Can't wait to be a member to this community and share a lot more to come. Your support is welcome. :) Thanks.
Wow! This post hit a nerve. So many responses. I guess they're vicariously quaking in their boots.
And a little jealous.
Good for you!
 

levelupinnovator

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Wow! This post hit a nerve. So many responses. I guess they're vicariously quaking in their boots.
And a little jealous.
Good for you!
Much appreciated Plymouth Oyster. My supervisor just pushed back our meeting until Friday. Goodness, looks like I have two more sleepless nights and anxiety! I need the support. It seems like not many people in my life are happy or disowning me from my decision. It's hard, but honestly I hope I can prove them wrong.

Thanks.
 
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levelupinnovator

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I can back this up to 100%.

If you are not able to negotiate on the term to be removed you are quite rightly so to quit the job. But from my experience you are much better off to wait it out until you find a different employment offer: e.g part time employment. This way you have the following:

-A job that pays the bills and minimises risk of incruing debt/ keeps you afloat/ finances projects
-Time to work on these idees that have the potential to flourish.
-You wont have the innovation term in your contract and work freely on your projects.
-safety inbetween each steps/stages in your life.

If I didnt have the safety net I would have drowned in my project. Taking the financial aspect out of your business allows you also to grow it.
I have a bit saved up for about 6 months. I am trying to start proving my income in 3 months since I have had an 8 month head start :)

Thanks for your thoughts! Definitely will try to get a part time job where I can keep my time free. That is more valuable than money at the current moment to me.
 

levelupinnovator

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I would advise you to be very careful with this and the paper trace on the dates. If the inventions turns into a big hit, you don´t want to expose your client or yourself to a legal battle regarding ownership on the patent.

This is not legal advise, just my uninformed personal opinion with the explanation you have provided.

Best of luck! and take the leap, it does not look like a good place to be and I believe you have already made your mind about that.
I have been very careful about these components. Nothing I have done or talked through is on company software/hardware. I did not even mention anything to anyone. I also think that it would be pretty hard to scrutinize me after they aren't paying me anymore. If a huge corporation can be so nimble, I'd be surprised. Thanks.
 

levelupinnovator

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My only advice would be to make sure you have something to run to and not just something to run away from.

What's your plan of action? What are you going to build, and how is it going to offer value? What is your roadmap to profitability? The magic number is usually around 3 years in. Can you bankroll yourself for 3 years?

I don't intend to be a downer, I'm coming from a place of personal experience. I quit my job in my early twenties to pursue entrepreneurship, but in reality I quit my job in order to quit my job that I hated, with entrepreneurship as my way of rationalizing this short-sighted decision.

After a short runway, zero profits, lots of stress and negative emotion, I got a full-time job again to realign myself and build up some savings before the next attempt.

Like a few posters above are saying, make sure you've thought this through. If you haven't you can always find a different job with less constraints for now. If you have thought it through, then go get 'em!

(But like any advice, mine is only worth about $0.02 ;))
Great thoughts. Great questions. I do intend to get a part time job to free up my time that has been demanded from a corporation and a supervisor.

My plan of action is to keep project design based income coming in while asking for a small percentage of ideas (to build some passive income, I have a one high chance opportunity that could give me royalty checks of 40k per quarter) . My wife is done with grad school in 2 years so she will be cashflowing as a PT ~ 80K a year so in due time, we will have more money coming in.

Since I am around 8 months from awakening, I think I am closer to my goals and decided to jump with 100% of myself into it. Average, half efforts can't free me, I need high speed and strong results.

I am an ethical person and I am realizing that I spend more time thinking about my ideas rather than actually working at my job, has messed with my heart and the integrity of who I am. So to solve this issue, I am going to do what my heart is telling me, after my brain calculated that this can workout.

THANKS, IM FIRED UP NOW!!!
 
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Odysseus M Jones

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Knugs

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I have a bit saved up for about 6 months. I am trying to start proving my income in 3 months since I have had an 8 month head start :)

Thanks for your thoughts! Definitely will try to get a part time job where I can keep my time free. That is more valuable than money at the current moment to me.

Hopefully you were able to calculate your runrate correctly. I used the app financeguru to find out that there were so many additional expenses (yearly e.g car insurance) that killed my runrate.

On the other hand just consider that it is really painful to slowly witness how your hard earned saving are dissapearing slowly month by month. I also had unexpected costs and had to blow 12k in one month to my project; that really hurts. Seeing how your savings go down are really demotivating and cause a lot of stress. Its good you have savings but I would still advise a part time job strongly. (it can also only be 25%)
 
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scott wisniewsk

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Great thoughts. Great questions. I do intend to get a part time job to free up my time that has been demanded from a corporation and a supervisor.

My plan of action is to keep project design based income coming in while asking for a small percentage of ideas (to build some passive income, I have a one high chance opportunity that could give me royalty checks of 40k per quarter) . My wife is done with grad school in 2 years so she will be cashflowing as a PT ~ 80K a year so in due time, we will have more money coming in.

Since I am around 8 months from awakening, I think I am closer to my goals and decided to jump with 100% of myself into it. Average, half efforts can't free me, I need high speed and strong results.

I am an ethical person and I am realizing that I spend more time thinking about my ideas rather than actually working at my job, has messed with my heart and the integrity of who I am. So to solve this issue, I am going to do what my heart is telling me, after my brain calculated that this can workout.

THANKS, IM FIRED UP NOW!!!
If It feels right in your gut nows the time , go for it . You dont have to have all the answers to every possiable future problem . Go with your heart and know your going to be free!!
 

Odysseus M Jones

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If It feels right in your gut nows the time , go for it . You dont have to have all the answers to every possiable future problem . Go with your heart and know your going to be free!!
Member 127
I did wonder how many unicorns were left.
Anyone know who's the oldest active member?
Apart from no 1
PS I'm member 76768, that's kinda cool number
PPS I'll be making the forum's 1,000,000 post
 

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