Earlier this month, I informed my partner at my firm that I had decided to leave. I have been with the firm for over 9 years and had never given any indication to anyone that I wanted to go, beside one senior manager. Needless to say, he was surprised. I’m not a vocal complainer and tend to keep to myself, so there weren’t any rumours about me going around. I also try to be a high-performer regardless of whether I’m satisfied with work or not, so there was no indicators on that front neither.

Probably due to my poor Japanese and to the fact that I really don't have a ’traditionally acceptable’ reason to leave (such as a definite better opportunity), I wasn't able to explain to the partner, nor to the more English-proficient senior manager why I had arrived at this decision.

So WHY HAVE I? Or better yet, how have I tricked myself into thinking that this is the best choice for now?

You can probably blame it on Tim Ferriss and The Four-hour Workweek. In the book he defines “laziness" as “to endure a non-ideal existence, to let circumstance or others decide life for you, or to amass a fortune while passing through life like a spectator from an office window." (Let’s ignore the fact that we’ve just defined a verb while “laziness" is a noun. You get the idea.) I have gotten lazy and the best way out was to create a fire under my ass, like not having a steady income.

Since graduating from university, I have always wanted to own a business. My parents owned their own business and I saw and experienced the benefits such as accrual of all benefits - i.e., if you work harder and the business makes more money, then all that accrues to the owner, as opposed to busting your ass as an employee to pay for your bosses’ golfing habit. I also saw the disadvantages, such as being tied to the business and never being able to step away, like I saw happen to my dad. However, I chose to get married at 26, have kids, study to be an accountant and got a job at my current firm. To keep everyone (wife, in-laws, maybe parents) happy, I put aside the “owning a business" plan to be a responsible husband, father and main breadwinner.

The first few years were tight and there wasn’t much to spare with a mortgage and kids, so I focused on working hard. The result was that the pay check grew until it passed the "Happiness point". Then Maslow’s hierarchy of needs kicks in and self-actualisation started becoming more important. I thought I was good at what I did, but I was just good, not great. In my time outside of work, I was learning stuff more interesting than what I was doing at work. Along with the hours (which made me feel guilty about missing my kids' childhood, something I promised myself that I would not do), and stress, there was a growing discomfort and boredom with my job.

You're probably thinking that starting and owning my own business still won't help with the hours, and you are right. The business may become my job and I will spend all my time dealing with it. However, The Four-hour Workweek, along with The E-Myth, shows ways to minimize this. It is a risk that I am willing to take for the benefits of being in control. And I figure, if it gets too much, I can always just call it quits and go back to a job.

Of course, owning the business is just the means. The ultimate goal is to start really enjoying life, NOW, while I’m young and can take advantage of the energy I have. There are so many other things that I want to do, learn and experience that it would be a waste to spend it tied to a location and a job. I know it can be done. Others have done so. So the question is, “Can I (and my family) do it?"

So I quit my job to try to really start living and enjoying life. I started this blog hoping that you’ll join the journey with me. There will also be many side trips along the way about, mostly about Japan. Any comments and ideas you care to share will just make it that much more interesting.