Why Tom Ripped His Pants: 10 Beliefs That Led Him To Quit His Job

Tom needed new pants. He had been wearing the same Dockers for way too long and they looked pretty tattered. However, Tom hates to shop, and unfortunately, so do I. 

So when Tom needs new pants, he’s on his own. But when faced with the option to go buy new pants or do pretty much anything else, he undoubtedly chooses "anything else.”  

One day about two years ago, Tom recognized that he needed to force himself to go shopping. He knew that if he were sporting new pants, I wouldn’t be able to resist squeezing his little ass, and then he'd be glad he shopped. 

So what did Tom do? 

He walked into the bedroom picked up his Dockers and ripped them down the middle. He looked at me as I stared back at him in shock and he said, “now I have to go buy new pants today.” He gave himself no other option. 

From that day on, “ripping your pants” became a metaphor in our family for intentionally doing something in order to leave you no other option, but to do the very thing you don’t want to do, yet know is best. So when Tom quit his job last week, he “ripped his pants.” 

He left us no other option but to continue our plans to travel. We no longer had his job as a security blanket on which to fall back. We no longer had a reason to stick around Southern California.

Now people keep asking us how we could leave “good” jobs. Below are 10 beliefs that led us to our decision. 

For years we said we held these beliefs, but we realized that we weren't acting accordingly. So we finally decided to align our actions with our beliefs and the result was quitting our jobs to travel:

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1. Our identities are not determined by what we do for money from 9am to 5pm.
2. Having a job does not give us financial security.
3. Good is the enemy of great.
4.  There is a level of discomfort and inconvenience that is good for us because it spurs growth and develops our character.
5.  The amount of money we have and things we own do not determine our self-worth and value.
6. Busyness does not necessarily mean importance.
7. Retirement is not certain and having the health to do what we want in retirement is even less certain.
8. Tomorrow holds no guarantees.
9. Fear is not a good reason to either take or not take an action.
10. Success in a career is not the only indicator of a successful life

If we are honest with ourselves, most of our actions (mine included) are motivated by two objectives, finding pleasure or avoiding pain. To intentionally look beyond these and act according to what we believe to be true requires discipline and determination, but it is so much more rewarding and often necessary in order to achieve our dreams. Sometimes we just need to "rip our pants."

Is there something in your life that you need or want to do, but it requires either pain or a temporary lack of comfort and pleasure? Do you need to rip your pants?

*I know some of you are reading this blog because you want to know exactly how we left our jobs and how we can afford to do so. Don’t worry, I’ll get there in future posts, I promise.