Dropping Out Of the Rat Race Has Benefits

There is a good article in this morning's Wall Street Journal by Sue Shellenbarger titled "Men on the Daddy Track Find A Place of Their Own at Home."  I was interested in the article because four years ago I made a decision to drop out of full-time corporate work in order to place higher priority on other parts of my life, and I can say without a doubt it is one of the best decisions I have ever made.

At the time, my two sons were 8 and 11 years old.  Like a lot of families, my wife had been the primary care-giver for the boys, but now she was itching to get back into full-time work.  I was seeing my boys grow up and recognized that I had spent very little time with them, and wanted to try to fix that before it was too late and they were fully grown.  Also, I was looking for more meaning in my work, and was feeling the tug to do non-profit work.  However, the status quo would never satisfy these needs, as I was often working overtime as an exec at Level 3 Communications. 

Over a period of several months, my wife and I made the decision to send her back to work as a full-time teacher while I dropped out and became a part-time consultant, part-time non-profit executive director, and full-time Dad.  It wasn't an easy choice: intentionally cutting your family income by over 50% is never an easy call.  It helps that I have the best wife in the universe, and that we are really very much on the same page about what is important in life, and together we were able to identify the things we would not spend money on, like a bigger house or newer cars.  It also helped that my wife and I are both pretty frugal and had enough savings to buffer the ups and downs of my part-time consulting income.

It really has taken some adjustment for me, too.  There are many days when I am dying to jump back in to a full time role in corporate America, to feel the rush of business success in a growing company again.  I do think that I will jump back in some day, but as the years fly by, I recognize the benefits of the decision to drop out.

My sons are doing great, and we have achieved a closeness in our relationship that I can't imagine we ever could have achieved had I continued in full time corporate work.  The non-profit I work with, Global Hope, continues to provide homes and parental love for over twenty abandoned children in three homes in Romania, and is considering expanding to Africa. 

Dropping out of the rat race did cost major dough.  But investing in relationships is priceless.

Comments

[Ike Elliott]

Stevie-Ray, I haven't quite realized the golf benefits you have. Might be a lack of skill, and might be the fact that I only play 3 times a year! Go get an eagle for me.
Ike

[Steve Branch]

Hey Ike,

If you stay dropped out like I did, then it can really help lower your golf handicap too ;-)

stevie ray - the permanent dropout