就这样，我辞掉工作，跟老板说：你被炒了。

译者 龙江主教

So I Quit My Day Job, Dear Boss: You’re Fired

就这样，我辞掉工作，跟老板说：你被炒了。

Next year, my grandfather will celebrate his 40th year of self employment as owner of one of the longest running plumbing and heating businesses in his city. At the age of 74, he is still going strong as the oldest plumber in business in Boise, Idaho. Nonconformity and delinquency are still pumping fiercely through his veins.

明年，我的祖父将庆祝经营所住城市最大的管道供暖公司40周年庆。尽管他已经74岁高龄，但身体依然很健壮，是爱达荷州博伊西商界中最老的水管工。骨子里深深烙着不羁与叛逆。

My grandfather no doubt transferred his contagious thirst for autonomy to me early in my life. I guess entrepreneurship is in my blood.

毫无疑问，在我小时候，祖父那具有传染性的对自主的渴求传递给了我。我想我的创业精神是与生俱来的。

Just as my grandfather did 40 years ago, last Thursday I gave my boss my two week notice.

如同40年前祖父做的那样，在上星期四，我提前两个星期给了老板辞职通告。

I will no longer be requiring your employment services. My last day of work will be Friday, June 12th, 2009.

我再也不需要你的就业服务了。我最后一天上班的时间是2009年六月12号，星期五。

Thank you,

谢谢

Jonathan

乔安森

It started with a single intention

这源于去年大约五月份时我下的一个决心

Last year around May, I offhandedly made a goal to quit my day job by the following year, May 2009.

当时我不假思索决定要在明年，也就是2009年五月辞掉我的日常工作。

This wasn’t a serious goal at the time. I didn’t even know if it would be possible. I just knew that I wanted it, and you know what they say: you gotta put a deadline on your goals, right? So I put a deadline on it.

当时我并没有把它当真，甚至不认为它具有可能性，我只知道我想要这样。你知道的，他们都说：你会在你的目标上加上期限的，是吗？所以我加上了期限。

And it worked.

并且，这是有用的

Now I’ll never underestimate the power of intention. If you want something bad enough and are willing to do anything it takes to get it, there is NOTHING that can stop you.

现在我再也不会低估决心的力量了。如果你想让事情更糟，并且愿意做任何需要的事来实现它，没有什么事能阻挡得了你。

I still think that killing your ego-driven goals is a good thing, but the intention part of goal-setting is nothing to take lightly.

然而我还是认为，斩断自我驱使的目标是一件好事，但确定目标的决心是不能草率的。

A few other interesting coincidences

一些其他的巧合

It’s the year of the Ox. I was born the year of the Ox.

今年是牛年，而我是在牛年出生的。

I just so happened to be offered a business opportunity that would double my income, right near the beginning of this month, a few weeks before my deadline to quit would be passed.

就在这个月初，也就是我辞职期限快到的几个星期前，我碰巧获得了一个能让我收入翻倍的商业机遇。

Last May (the same time I made my goal to quit my job), I saw Lyoto Machida fight for the first time in the UFC and he immediately became my favorite fighter. Last May, I said “he is going to by the light-heavyweight champion, it’s just a matter of time.” On May 23rd of this year, Lyoto Machida beat Rashad Evans to become the light-heavyweight champion in the UFC. He said “if you have a dream, it is possible.” He said this right after I found out I had achieved my income goal to make it possible for me to quit my job, and pursue my dream of being a full-time blogger.

去年五月（也就是决定辞职的时候）当我看到町田龙太在UFC（Ultimate Fighting Championship 终极格斗冠军赛）的首次比赛时，他就成了我心目中最喜欢的选手。我说：“他会成为轻量级冠军，这只是时间问题。”今天五月23日，他打败拉沙德 埃文斯，成为UFC的轻量级冠军。他说:“有梦就有希望。”这番话是在我达到收入目标，可以辞掉工作并且实现做一个全职博客的梦想后说的。

How I did it

我是怎么做的

Some of you may be interested in hearing how I made this dream possible. I’ll briefly outline a few of what I think are the main keys to my success here. They may or may not work for you.

可能有些人对我是如何实现梦想感兴趣。我将列出几个我认为很重要的。它们可能对你们有用，也可能没用。

Here are a few of the big factors that contributed to my success.

以下是一些促使我成功的比较大的因素：

Focused on adding value. If I don’t have something worthwhile to say, I don’t write. I would rather not add to the noise. I always focus on providing unique, genuinely valuable content. When I’m writing, I’m always asking myself what the value will be to you, the reader.

关注于会增值的价值。如果我没有什么值得说的事，我就不会写出来，我不愿增加噪音。我一直致力于提供独特，真正有价值的东西。当我写作的时候，我总问自己这对于你们读者来说有什么价值呢

Clearly define what makes this blog unique. I’ve worked hard to try to set my writing and the culture of this blog apart from the crowd. I know that if I’m average, I’m invisible. I don’t want to be just another forgettable blog in someone’s feed reader. I aim to make all my content unmissable by thinking differently and acting in no-limit ways. I’m not afraid to push the edges and I’m not afraid to voice a contrarian opinion.

很明显这决定了我的博客有它的独特之处。我试着把我的文字和博客文化与外界分开。我知道如果我很平凡，就会被忽视。我不希望我只是一个被遗忘在订阅单上的博客。我要以与众不同的想法和无穷的表现方式，让所有内容都成为不可错过的。我不怕越界也不怕发出与别人相反的声音。

Wrote and sold an ebook. This was a huge milestone for me in my blogging quest. I made sure that I spent a lot of time researching what my readers would most likely value, and then I gave it to them. I even did a series on Living Your Dreams, before I wrote my ebook, Reclaim Your Dreams. Testing my idea helped me make sure that it was a hot topic and it would receive a favorable response. I also did a lot of research on how to effectively launch an ebook and spent a lot of time planning the marketing of the ebook. Right now, sales from Reclaim Your Dreams currently make up about one fourth of my income, and it’s steadily rising.

创作并销售一本电子书。这是我的博客探索之路的一个重要的里程碑。我确保我花了很多时间研究我的读者最看重什么，然后我就给他们这些。在写电子书《拿回你的梦想》之前，我甚至还做过“追梦”的一个系列。测试一下我的想法有助于让我相信这是一个热点话题，并且会受到好评。我还研究了如何才能有效率地着手电子书，并花了很多时间计划这本书的销售。如今，这本书的销售额占了我收入的四分之一，而且它还在稳步上涨。

Community and tribe unification. I used to try to write for everyone. That failed, gigantically. Now I write for and build a community around a tribe of people I most connect with. I seek to connect with unconventional, off the beaten path self-development seekers. Focusing on cultivating a community and connection with my “right people” has greatly aided the popularity of Illuminated Mind. Sometimes discrimination is the key to connection.

把社区与人结合起来。我曾经想要迎合每个人，但失败了，而且是惨痛的失败。而现在我只为一些与我最有关联的人而写，并且为这些人建立了一个社区。我寻找那些追求新奇事物，不走寻常路而自我发展的人。关注于壮大社区并与“对的人”接触在很大程度上有助于普及心灵的启发。有时候，偏见才是联系的要害。

Saved an emergency fund. In the past year, my wife and I have worked to building an emergency fund that would support us for several months once I quit my job, if the income from my blog completely dropped off. Having this safety net gives us some peace of mind and helps ease the calm-panic when faced with the unknown.

建立应对突发事件基金。去年，我和我爱人为了突发事件基金而努力工作，以应对辞职后，如果博客的收入完全下降的几个月的生活。有了这个安全网，当遇到未知事故的时候，我们就可以冷静的思考，不至于恐慌。

Transition. I made my first goal to create an income of $100 through this blog. Once I reached that goal, I aimed for $500. Then $1,000. I steadily increased my goal and refined my methods until I reached the next, bigger goal. I also transitioned from 40 hours a week at my day job, to 32 hours a week. That extra day a week allowed me to spend more time on the blog and helped ramp up my efforts to increase my income.

过渡。我把第一个目标设定为：依靠这个博客赚100美元。当我完成这个目标后，我把它改为500美元，再是1000美元。我一直在增加目标并改善方法直到我达到下一个更大的目标。我还把日常工作每周40个小时，缩减为32个小时。在每个星期一天的休息日能让我花更多的时间在博客上，并让我为了更高收入更加努力。

I stole Leo’s mantra. Last year, my good friend Leo quit his day job and revealed that the mantra that helped him do it was the word “Liberate.” I had to admit that this was a pretty badass idea. So I stole it, and made the word “Liberation” my mantra. It was my reminder of the reason I spent hours responding to email through dinner and working on my ebook on the weekends.

我偷了里奥的咒语。去年，我的好朋友里奥辞掉日常工作，揭露让他做到这点的咒语是：“解放自我”。我必须承认这很混蛋。然后我偷了他的咒语，把“解放”当做我的咒语。这是我之所以用好几个小时在吃饭的时候回复邮件，在周末写电子书的原因提示。

I wanted to get paid to exist. I’ll be the first one to admit, getting paid to exist is not easy to do. Most jobs want you to do something more than just existing. Since I’m not too keen on that, I realized I would have to create my own “job.” So that’s what I set out to do: to create a life where I get paid to be me, where the value I give to the world by just being me is a way for me to feed my family.

我想要有人为我的存在付工资。我会第一个承认，存在就有工资不是一件容易的事。大多数工作要求你做一些不仅仅是存在的工作。因为我对此没有太多的兴趣，我意识到我必须开创自己的“事业”。所以这就是我将要做的：创造“做自己就有工资，向全世界展示自己的价值就是养家糊口的方式”的生活。

I also did things like put myself on auto-response and I ruthlessly stopped caring about a lot of things (to make psychic space for my primary aim of liberation). That’s about the gist of it.

我也会做一些像把博客调成自动回复，残忍地忽视很多事（让我最初的解放目标有个心灵上的空当）。这是要点。

What’s next?

In the next few weeks I will be officially open for business with coaching. I will be taking on a 3-4 clients a month so I can focus on providing as much highly-targeted value as possible. If you’re interested in signing up before the sales page goes live, contact me and let’s talk — my hourly rate will be $97 per hour.

I have another ebook that I’m working on and a few other ideas for expansion that I’m currently mentally toying around with.

接下来是什么呢？
接下来的几个星期我会正式开设指导事业。一个月我将接待3到4个客户，这样我才能尽可能提供高针对性的价值。销售页面还没建好，如果你有兴趣报名的话就联系我，让我们谈谈——每小时收取97的时费。

我有一些正在创作的电子书，和最近想到的一些扩张的想法。

I have some ideas, but honestly, I’m not sure what exactly the future will hold. That is the best part, I think, about self-employment. When I went to my boring job every day, I always knew what to expect. I knew the schedule, the routine. I knew the same tasks would be waiting for me each day. And when I finished them that week, they would renew themselves next week. My job was predictable, and that was part of what made it so painful.

我有一些想法，但实话说，我不敢保证未来会怎样。我想这是自我发展最精彩的部分。之前，当我每天做那些无聊的工作时，我总能知道将要发生什么。我知道时间安排，我知道例行程序，我知道每天都有一些一样的事在等着我。当这个星期我把他们搞定了，下个星期他们还会自动出现。我的工作很乏味，这正是它如此令人痛苦的原因。

That reality is gone. Uncertainty is on the wind now, and while I have my ear to the ground, I’m not sure what the next week or month will bring. While this might be daunting to some, I love it.

那种现实已经过去了，不可预知的生活正快速起航。虽然我注意观察它的动向，却不能确定下个星期或者下个月生活会给我带来什么。即使它会使一些人沮丧，我还是热爱它。

This is what I do for a living now. This whole blogging, ass-kicking craziness is now my gig. And I have to say, causing trouble for a living is a highly favorable condition. If you can find create a way to make it work, grab it by the tail and prepare for a ride.

这就是现在我谋生的工作。这种完全博客化，该死的拼命工作是我每天的节目。而且我必须说，为了谋生而制造麻烦是一种我非常喜欢的状态。如果你能够找到一条实现它的道路，掌握它的路径，然后就准备上路吧。

Lastly, THANK YOU

最后，谢谢你们！

Thank you for reading. Thank you for supporting me in my dream. If you have a dream, it is possible.

感谢你们的阅读！感谢你们在我的梦中支持我！如果你有梦，就有希望。

My time is now completely yours; there is no more renting out my mind and diluting my mission. Instigating self-actualization is what I do now. And I am unconditionally devoted to making that happen.

现在我的时间完完全全是你们的了；我的思想没有租给别人，我的使命没有被淡化。我现在在做的就是促进自我潜能。并且我无条件地致力于让这一切实现。

Freedom tastes as good as they say it does. Now I know the price is worth the promise.

自由的味道如同他们所说的那么美好。而我现在知道希望是值得你付出代价的。

[Note: If you're interested in a thorough guide of how I built this blog and business to allow me to quit my job, please let me know. I'm considering doing a free ebook about this is if there's enough interest.]

（注：如果你对如何建立博客的详细指导或者使我能够大胆辞职的事业有兴趣，请告知我。如果有足够多的人感兴趣的话，我将考虑写一本关于这个的电子书。）