I Don’t Like To Work – How It All Started
Apr 22, 2008 How It All Started, I Don't Like to Work
Maybe you’ve had an experience like this before…
I remember when I graduated and was actually excited about working. Can you believe it? Fresh out of college I was working for an insurance company and really looked forward to waking up and seeing what the new day would bring. Earnest. New. Jacked up. Then it happened. After a few years it was A LOT less exciting than before. I remember driving away from an appointment, a random meeting, and thinking “what the hell am I doing here?”
It was just one of many, but that thought as I was driving home for the day kept coming after me. I couldn’t escape it. I was even making decent money, but that thought was the seed of extinction for me and regular jobs. It grew bigger and bigger. I finally told Kelly that I was done, and she like me wondered what we were going to do.
I wanted to do so much. I envisioned myself really making an impact in the world making a difference! I knew I wasn’t doing it working for someone else, and worse yet , HATING every minute of it. I admit, it took a few months for me to actually pull the trigger but I remember the day as if it happened just a few years ago wait a second , it did happen just a few years ago.
Most people know this, I have a stuttering problem, and on some days it’s worse than others. Well this was one of those bad days. Listen cause this is funny.
It was about 100 degrees on a super sweaty July day. I had to drive over a prospective clients house that I had never met before, and when I got there it was straight out of a scene from Beverly Hillbillies. Actually a better description would be to imagine a movie where Larry the cable guy (git r done) is the most polished one in the room. I thought I’d fit right in, speech impediment and all.
As I got there Karen (her real name) invited me in and even though the place looked less than inviting I accepted , reluctantly.
I should have turned around, but actually this was THE appointment that cinched me getting into real estate.
I spent an hour trying to explain her options to her and when I wasn’t wiping away the sweat from my face, I was trying to get her 10 yr old bratty kid to stop shooting spitwads at me. She seemed oblivious to the whole thing, but this kid was having fun at my expense and after she so eloquently declined my offer I packed up my briefcase and started to put my shoes on. She disappeared. But he was still there , the little demon. I wish I could say something nice about him, but I. can’t. Note: the written stutter
As I’m lacing em’ up the kid walked up to me and said “you talk funny” and I said the ONLY thing that came to mind “no, you talk funny” and on we went back and forth all the way out to the car. As I got in and drove away, I realized that:

1. I couldn’t stand doing this anymore
2. I needed to FEEL true freedom
3. I loved all God’s creatures except for one
I was at the end of their driveway and my briefcase started to ring. Now this would make sense IF my cell phone wasn’t squarely in my hand feverishly dialing Kelly’s number about to tell the mother of my two children THAT we were moving to Mexico. But, it was, and so that meant something entirely different.
In my haste to get the hell out of dodge their cordless phone got shoved in my briefcase. In the approximately 2 minutes since I saw Karen, she had ordered a large pizza, and for obvious reasons (I’m sure she has a little non-payment history with the local pizzeria) they called back to confirm the order.
Now I don’t know what’s up with me and salt, but I’ve been known to dump it in friend’s and even non friend’s beers, sodas, waters, whatever when they get up to use the bathroom. So what did I do? You’re probably thinking something that had to do with salt. Unfortunately no¦ I just hung up. Drove back to the office, waited the customary 3 weeks and 6 days, popped the phone in a fed-ex package and thought often of little Jake and his impact on me, my family, and everyone around me.
WOW what a difference a kid can make!
That was the END for me, but what’s happened since then has been a whirlwind. I’ve honestly thought of myself as a little bit of a slacker, and often looked for ways to get out of work. So, I figured the best way for me to start this new blog off would be to tell the story of the day I really did stop working!
Tell me about the day you took the plunge OR the day you will! If you’ve got a cool or funny comment or story just leave a response below¦
Thanks, Greg
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Tags: greg clement, quit your job, real estate, Real Estate Investing, realeflow, stop working



















April 22nd, 2008 at 6:10 pm
That is a very funny story. When I left to become a full time investor I took great pleasure telling my boss to stick it where the sun don’t shine.
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Great story, but I am waiting for the other shoe to drop….. What happened next and what RU doing now?
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:37 pm
I didn’t have the guts to quit all at once. I left my corporate job in two steps. First I went part time (3 days/wk) and then about a year after that I quit. Quitting involved less anxiety than going part time. I figure it would be the other way around.
18 months after that, my wife Ann got “right sized†from her 19 year corporate job. The severance kept us going while we built up our short sale pipeline. We’re kind of slow-and-steady folks – pretty conservative, so we didn’t exactly tear it up. But we’ve now completely replaced both of our $100k/yr incomes and have two full time employees. This is a great business and if I every had to go back to work, I’d be miserable! A HUGE part of our success has been the things we’ve learned from Josh and Greg. Invest your time and money into education, put in the action and it will pay off.
I just got an email from another of Josh & Greg’s coaching students who left her job 10 days ago!
Go make it happen.
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Well done. I too am looking forward to the day when I can also leave my place of employment as well.
Don’t get me wrong, I love what I actually do (I work in commercial TV in my local market), but between the negativities of some of the “lifers” and the slackers/morons that I’m surrounded with, it’s tough, especially when it’s PT & @ $9.25 an hour for the icing on the cake. Basically, love doesn’t pay the bills =)
Call me a white-collared mind in a blue-collared world…it’s NOT a good combination.
My goal is to get my real estate bit up and running fully and get a few properties under my belt (wholesaling-wise), where I can then continue to be here for a short timer afterward and then leave on my own terms…I’m penciling that in by the fall of this year at the earliest. And like most every spot, they’re all sad that you’re leaving, how will you be replaced, etc. etc. Shame. Oh well.
You have to look out for yourself, because effectively no one else will in the end.
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Great Story!
I decided to quit my corporate job the day I went to five retirement parties at the research center and I asked all five guys what they planned to do.
Their answers were identical: travel in Europe.
Now I don’t know about you, but I would much rather walk around Europe at 30 then toddle around on 65 year old legs with the typical GI problems, etc.
I had already doubled my salary with my part-time business but I decided on that day to quit.
Now I am definitely unemployable. I work just as hard as before and love what I do–and the freedom to decide when I do it.
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:42 pm
I tried to quit once before. I started investing in real estate a few years ago, and when I was consistently making money every quarter I approached my boss about leaving. He offered me part of the company and I couldn’t resist. So in all reality this was the best thing I could have done as I am now a partner and have significantly increased my net worth. Investing is great and I’m starting to get the itch to do somehting else. I’m wondering how many people out there who like their jobs quit to invest FT in real estate? that’s the question.
April 23rd, 2008 at 6:00 am
For those quiting their jobs to do something else, congrats. But if you dont have one (a job) get one first !! A steady and constant cash flow is better than nothing at all. If you try to do real estate without any form of income, its going to cause a lot of frustration. If you notice, thats what all these other people have in common !!!
One simple word of advice.
November 24th, 2009 at 6:17 am
Just accept a shout out from the sunshine state, great information. Much treasured.