So things have really changed drastically for me in the last few weeks. I mentioned the Massively gig, and some upcoming projects, but I thought I’d take some time out and give my personal blog some much-needed love.
When I started writing at Massively, and even before that, I’d had my eyes set on making that a full-time gig eventually. I thought it’s certainly doable in a few months, or maybe a year, right? Well after I’d been hired, I learned of the potential to write even more for more money. They’re always looking for more feature articles or news stories. Plus, I discovered they have “sister” sites with various topics. The one that caught my eye was GreenDaily.com, because, as you may know, I’m way into green living. So I emailed the lead at GreenDaily and I’m happy to say that I’m now writing for them as well.
With all of this potential for more work looming overhead, and my day job getting more and more stressfully busy, I finally took the plunge and left my day job for good. I didn’t work out a notice. I didn’t tell them anything. At the end of the day (or what was supposed to be the end of the day, but with that job, you never knew when the end of the day really was) I told my manager that I’m going home, and not coming back.
He laughed at first, then when he saw me walking towards the door, not laughing, he asked me if I’m serious. I told him I was, and walked out. They called me as I was driving home, to let me know what a terrible mistake I was making, and how badly I was screwing them over, but I figured it was par for the course.
I’ve only quit one other job ever in my life, so this isn’t exactly a regular practice of mine, but I knew it had to be done. In order for me to better myself and live the life that would make me the happiest, I just went for it.
So currently I write for Massively and Green Daily, plus I am the editor and co-host for the Massively Speaking podcast and soon-to-be editor for the MMOG Nation Broadcast.
I’m finally getting paid to do what I most enjoy, and I don’t regret anything.
April 28th, 2008 at 9:08 am
Congrats Shawn, finally getting to make a living at what you enjoy is something that most people want to do, but for the most of us we just tolerate what we do and tell others we enjoy it, when deep down we’d rather be somewhere else. Its a hard step to turn loose of the working for someone else in a standard position to that of pretty much being self-employed, and having to motivate yourself to constantly produce quality work that others are interested in. I know you will have no difficulty in this area, as you have been aligning yourself to do just this for years, honing your skills on the various podcasts and blogs for years, and now that hard work is paying off. Again, congrats on making that dream come true for youself.