I need to quit my job
AND START A COCONUT FARM
Consider a VP of marketing at Google and her desire to quit her job and start a coconut farm.
She’s worked hard to get into this field, this company, this job title, this job. She’s worked hard to be taken seriously as a professional. She’s been working to get here since she was a little girl.
And now that she’s arrived, she hates it.
She wants to start a coconut farm, but thinks the idea is too stupid to even consider.
This woman, let’s call her Joy, works in a stressful environment, with lots of responsibility, every day solving complicated problems. But ask her the question, “is something different possible for your professional life?’, and you will see the face of a child. The one that is seeking approval from a parent. The one that has already answered “no, it’s not possible to start something different in my professional life.” Joy is sad and frustrated and embarrassed. She's bordering on hopeless.
If you’re a VP of marketing at Google, can you quit and start a coconut farm? Yes, yes you can. The thing to do is start researching how one starts a coconut farm (I reintroduce you to the internet). Then you start to break down each step of beginning the coconut farm. You can use spreadsheets, Slack, math, human networks, AI, Asana, and conference rooms. In other words, everything you’re already using.
Then you assess risk. You could quit right now. That’s an option. Is it the best option? Well, that depends on your research and your assessment of risk.
Every step in a major career change is a small step. I offer the space for you to consider taking these steps. I will not judge you for wanting to start a coconut farm (it does not matter to me that your PhD from MIT is in neuroscience). I have no agenda for you. If you stay at Google in the same job after you consider things, great! If you move to another team at Google, great! If you move to Meta Apple Amazon Uber Netflix, great! If you quit today and start a coconut farm, great! Smart people start weird stuff. They do it all the time. They do it because it’s fun and hard and true to their own being.
You don’t have to start your coconut farm. But don’t close it down before even one theoretical coconut is allowed to grow. 🙂
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