hey guys, I'm excited to bring Grant Baldwin on today and we're going to talk a
little bit about, um, you know, kind of what to do when you're looking to get out of a
job that you hate or you know, finding work you love and that whole process. I went through
a little bit of that myself and I'm in grant is uh, I dunno, I think he's an expert in
this area. I mean he travels all around the country speaking, talking about this and things
like this. Um, so anyway, I'll let him kind of go into a little bit more what he does,
but he's a runner. You run marathons, I believe. Is that right?
I have run marathons. I ran marathons I guess so I wouldn't consider myself a marathoner
as an ongoing experience, but I have, I have crossed the finish line for a few.
Well that's awesome. And then you're also a magician, is that right?
No, I'm fascinated by it. All right. Now you're just going through all the good
stuff there. So I, um, I get so much grief from my family because I, like, I learned
a couple of decent card tricks and they're like, you're adorable, but what, what are
you doing? And I was like, God, I'm just intrigued by it. I'm fascinated by it. So I, I could
do a card trick or two, but that's about the extent of it.
Okay. My father in law is a magician. I mean, does magic shows and things like that.
So, um, so yeah, so you can see, reveal anything to, you know, it's against the rules.
I haven't met enough. It's like with family he can tell you or
he might've told my wife one or two, but I think it's against the rules. But anyway.
So. Okay. So how about this tell us and the readers a little bit more about yourself.
I went, I did a little bit of it, but just chat a little bit about yourself, what you
do and then we'll go from there.
Yeah. So the nutshell on me, um, growing up, my, my youth pastor had a real big impact
on my life and so wanting to be a youth pastor went to Bible College. Did that for a bit,
parts of it. I liked parts of it. I didn't. One thing I really liked there was, I really
liked speaking, um, I really like working with students, so I'm really kind of why I
left that position at the church and just trying to figure out like, what do I, like,
what do I want to do now, what do I want to be when I grow up? And it was a really, it
was a really difficult transition because I'd gone to college for this one deal. Uh,
I didn't really enjoy it, you know, again, parts of it I did parts of and I didn't, I
didn't really want to go back and find a different church where, you know,
to be a youth pastor again.
So it just kind of felt like I was back to the drawing board of what do I do now.
So, um, so yeah, that kind of sent me on a journey of just trying to figure out what,
you know, what I want to do with my life. And so, uh, for the past eight years or so,
been a, a, a full time speaker, so I travel all over the USA speaking primarily at
the high school and college kids, just helping them think through prepare for life after
high school, kind of where their life is going and a lot of motivation stuff with that. Uh,
you know, like your life can be whatever it is you want it to be, but it's up to you.
It's up to you to make it happen. So, um, yeah, so that's kind of what we've been doing.
We've got a podcast now that called. How'd you get into that? Where we're just
interviewing people, just figuring out what is their story, what is their journey? Because
one of the things I've noticed is, is there's a, there's far too many people that are doing
work that they hate. They just live life was like, thank God it's Friday to, Oh God, it's
Monday. And just live, live like that. Like that's just a, it's just a bummer. So, uh,
if we can help people figure out what it is that they were put on this planet to do, it's
a fun, fun journey to help with.
Yeah. And so, okay, that brings up a really good point. I wrote an article a while
back. I'm titled what to do when hate your job because I was well acquainted with that.
I have had multiple jobs. I think that I really, I mean, somebody didn't like and a couple
that would qualify as you know, maybe hating where every Friday it's like the most glorious
thing in the world because I have two days where I don't have to be at my job and then,
you know, Sunday afternoon it's like, oh, it's coming, it's dope. And um, you know,
remember Dan Miller wrote that book no more Mondays and it just resonated with me. Just
the idea of not having to dread Monday is just an amazing thing. And so, so I've been
there, um, I know the feeling, um, you know, I'm sure lots of people you talked to, lots
of people I've talked to have that same kind of thing that they're trying to work out of
and maybe something that they want to do, feel called to do whatever. So what do you,
what do you suggest as a first step starting to work out of that?
Yeah, yeah. I mean realistically nobody, nobody who's in a spot where they, you know,
I think some people, they really just hate what they do and other people were like, I
don't hate it, I just don't love it and I don't know what I'd rather be doing instead,
you know. So I think there's a couple things. One, just realizing that the process takes
some time, you know, and so things, things that are marinated, tastes better than things
that are microwave, you know, so let things simmer and stew. And so if you're just pondering
and thinking about that, that's a good, it's a step in the right direction because realistically
you won't quit a job that you hate on Friday and on Monday you magically wake up and it
all just works out, you know, if you found this thing and it just doesn't work like that.
So, uh, I always tell people to ask themselves a couple of questions. One, what
is it that you're passionate about? What is it that gets a reaction out of you? What are
those hot buttons? So box issues were that you just get fired up. You're like, don't
even get me started on this. I will go off on, you know, so what does that mean for you
to just like, I don't know, I just get stored up. Maybe it's environment, maybe it's a,
um, uh, maybe it's the planet, maybe it's nutrition, maybe it's kids, maybe it's health,
maybe it's, um, it can be any number of things, you know, what is that thing for you that
you just really get passionate about? A second question to ask people is, what are you good
at? What are the things that just come easy to you? What are the things that you just,
you just get, they just click.
It just makes sense for you. Because I believe we all have talents. We all have
abilities, we all have giftings. There's, I mean there's a parable of the talents of
just like everybody got something, you know, it's not like you got short change and all
these people are always all blast and you got the shaft. It doesn't work like that,
you know, everybody has something. So what are the things for you that just naturally
come to you? Um, another question I ask people is like, what do you enjoy doing? You know,
again, there's, there's far too many people that are doing something just for the sake
of a paycheck and we all got to work. We are going to make a living gotta get a check somewhere.
I'd rather do something I enjoy, you know, I want to, I want to look forward to Mondays
and uh, I know there's so many people, so many people do as well. So just figuring out
what are you passionate about? What are you good at, what do you enjoy doing? And then
how do those things began to translate into a career? So I think that's a great place
to start.
Yeah, that's really good advice. Tend to bring up the thing about, uh, you know,
find out what you're passionate about because I, a lot of readers I've talked to have asked
or who aren't sure about what it is they're passionate about and they and I, I dunno,
it's like they haven't, they can't figure it out or whatever. And one of the things
that, um, that I've always suggested to people is if you don't know what you're excited about,
maybe you should ask the loved ones around you. Ask Your wife or your husband what they
think you're excited about in a lot of times that will review, reveal like some clues.
I don't know. Are there any other tips that you have or suggestions
people as far as. No, I mean that's what, that's what I was going to suggest and
I think that's a great thing is sometimes we're too close to ourselves to recognize
what's obvious to other people. So think of it like this, you know, if, if you had or
if you had a best friend who had some type of like life issue going on, you may be really
good at giving them advice for that situation, but if you had the exact same situation in
your own life, you'd be a disaster. And recognizing the advice for yourself because you're just,
you're right there, you know. So I think the same thing is true is just talking with find
five people that really know you well, like people that really are in the trenches. They
care about you and talk to them and say, what is it? What is it that you just recognize
about me?
You know, now having said that, I think you just all, you also have to weigh that
with your own feelings, you know, because they may say something that you're like, you
seem really passionate about this. And you're like, no, that doesn't resonate with me at
all. Or they may say something. You're like, wow, you know, I hadn't thought about it.
But now that you mentioned that, that totally clicks with me. Um, so you have to kind of
run that through your own frame of reference on your own filter. But yeah, I think getting
outside perspective as a is a great, great thing to do.
Okay. So this is okay. So this is a challenge because I'm sure some of the people
are listening or watching are maybe in a situation where they're pretty far along in their career,
they're kind of established and they feel like they're kind of at a point of no return.
You know, I've been doing this for 15, 20 years, I really don't like it, but how do
I get out of this situation? How do I get into scuba diving instructor or whatever that
I really, really love and I'm passionate about. Um, you know, what would you say to somebody
like that?
Yeah, there's definitely plenty of people in that spot. And obviously the older you
get, the deeper that you're in, the more dependents that you have that you're trying to feed,
the more difficult it is to, to make a change. If you're a single 20 something, yeah, it's
pretty simple to start figuring out what your exit strategy is, but if you're a high level
in a company and you've been doing it for awhile and you've got three kids, it can be
a little more difficult for sure. So I don't want to take anything away from that. That
being said, I, I know it's not impossible to do, you know, for example, um, we had just
interviewed recently a guy on our podcast who is a successful lawyer. Then the lawyer,
his entire career was probably in his probably mid, mid, upper forties or something when
he was just like, I'm just burnout.
I'm tired of it. It was a criminal defense attorney, like defending like murder trials,
like big hardcore stuff, like really stressful stuff. So he ended up leaving that role as
a successful attorney and started a chocolate factory. So today is a, is a chocolatier.
Um, and so we were even kind of just talking through that transition of how do you, like,
how do you make that leap? I was like, what do people think? Like you're a successful
attorney, you're at the top of your game and now all of the sudden you have to become
Willy Wonka. Like people like, like just worried about you or what are, what are people thinking?
And he said, you just, you know, I couldn't keep going down this path that made me miserable
in order to keep everybody else happy, you know? So yes, it's much more difficult to
make that transition at that stage in life, but it's not impossible.
So I think you just have to kind of think through your exit strategy, what's your
plan is. So typically people will either figure out I need to figure out what my living expenses
are and just figuring out how much I have in savings and what my runway is, or just
figure out what that thing is that I'm going towards. And being able to build that up on
the side so that realistically for a season and you're kind of working two jobs, you know,
I've got my business, but then I'm also building up my new thing over here until it's at a
point where I can cut back on the, on the, on my job, you know, so um, you can do it
one of two ways. Again, the band plan is just to be like, well, you know, I don't like this
job, forget this, I'm out.
And then just like I'm going to go find myself, you know? Well, okay, but you still
have to eat and live indoors a, so you have to have something that's still coming in on
a regular basis. So I think that's where you can make the transition, but you just have
to be a more strategic and think through how you're going to actually make that transition.
Yeah. Yeah. And that's really good. I mean, it's a good point you bring up about the practical
side of the financial aspects of this because you know, that really can help you think through
this rather than just jumping ship like a, I love to eat and live indoors and maybe think
of those things are important. Maybe think of a couple of those wilderness shows where
people don't live indoors, but anyway. Um, so, uh, okay. So all that said, um, what do
you have in mind or what do you recommend as far as additional tools and resources?
I mean, maybe some books you've read or things along these lines that have proved
to be very helpful. Yeah. Well, I, you know, in our own transition, a lot of Dan Miller
stuff was very impactful and helpful. Um, know 48 days of the work you love. No more
Mondays were great books, great resources. I think one thing that, a lot of that was
really helpful for us that, um, that I don't think a lot of people take the time to do
is, is writing. And I'm not, I don't consider myself a writing a writer. But, um, and whenever
we say writing, a lot of times we think like it's this thing that has to be published and
it's the thing that's going to be red and it's no good know, like some of some, sometimes
the point of writing and journaling specifically, it was more just kind of getting thoughts
out of your head.
So one of the things that I've found is that when you're carrying around all these
different thoughts and ideas in your own head, it just, you're, you're carrying around a
lot, you know. But I've noticed like, um, when I get things out on paper, whenever I
scribble stuff down or I type stuff out that creates space, think of it like a computer.
You know, you've got only so much memory in that computer. And so the more, the more things
you have running, the more ineffective everything runs. But the fewer things that are up there,
the easier and smoother everything operate. So, you know, maybe you've had it happen and
I'm sure some of the viewers and listeners have had this happen where I'm like, they
have a conversation with someone, um, and they, like, they spew out everything that's
going on in their life and they're like, ah, I just, I feel so much better now just talking
it through.
And even if the other person didn't say anything, they're just getting it off
their chest. They're getting it out of their head. Um, I've had people who sent me emails
who said, just writing this email has helped me to process this whole thing. So I always
tell people when we talk about those questions earlier, what do you, what are you passionate
about? What are you good at? What do you enjoy doing? It's one thing to just sit down and
like, hey, what am I passionate about? What am I know? It's something totally different
to know I'm going to stare at a blank screen and I'm just going to start puking on paper
here, puking on a screen of what am I actually, if I could do anything of time, money, location,
where all irrelevant, I was guaranteed success. What is it that I would want to do? So taking
the time to actually do some writing, uh, I've found to be really, really helpful.
Yeah. You know, it's interesting. I was just thinking about this as you're saying
that, thinking back to something you were saying a bit earlier, but as far as the financial
aspect of this, I think a lot of people will find. One of the books I read that I found
really helpful was your money and your or your money in your life or something like
that. And in one of the things, one of the exercises they had in there was figuring out
your, um, your real salary. And that was bay. That was basically calculating in your drive
time, your cost of clothes to go to your corporate job, you know, the day day care, like all
these different things. To actually figure out what you're actually making and it's an
astounding exercise. I mean, particularly for people maybe working in corporate jobs
or in jobs that have a lot of requirements and things like that.
Additional expenses that come with them. And what it does is it shows you, um, that
you're earning possibly a whole lot less than you thought you were and you could get by
on a salary a whole lot lower. I'm doing something else. And so anyway, so it, it's, it's caused
me to look at things differently. And when I went through this process and I remember,
you know, figuring out how much money I need to survive in it ended up being so much less
when I was working from home than when I was driving 30 miles to my corporate job and I
had to have a really dependable car because if it broke down I couldn't make it to work.
And then the world
comes to an end type of thing. Um, so anyway, so that's something that I assume
that you've had that experience or seen people who've made this transition kind of maybe
stepped down to a lower salary in, have been okay with it. Right? Yeah. You know, I think,
I think that's a great exercise to figure out. Um, you know, just from a budgeting standpoint,
you know, before you make a budget, you gotta figure out where does your money actually
go. And so I always tell people where you think your money goes, where your money actually
goes, or two totally different things, but you don't know unless you actually keep track
of that unless you actually write it down. But once you kind of figure out like what
your base is, then yeah, then you can kind of backtrack and figure out what do I actually
need to make to make it work.
You know, a lot of times people are nervous about leaving the safety and security
of their, you know, their current Gig, knowing that, well, I don't really know what I'm walking
into the unknown, but you know, if you really boil it down to like, what's the absolute
worst that could happen? I mean absolute worst that can happen. What are the chances of that
thing actually happened is really, really small. And so the trade off there is while
I leave the safety security of what I've known, which I think we could argue and debate whether
or not that is safe, insecure, but if I leave that thing that I've known and go to the unknown
and let's say that worst case scenario, I make less, but I'm happier and um, I enjoy
my life more. Like I found that most people would rather make less but love what they
do than make a lot of money and hate their life.
You know, there's a lot of rich people that hate what they do and money's nice. And
I'd prefer if we all go to work, I'd rather make more than less, but, you know, I'd rather
really, really enjoy what I do as well. Absolutely. Yeah. That was, I still remember my transition.
I was building up this website, Christian pf and um, I was about, I had been working
on about a year, year and a half, and then I had gotten laid off from my job and, and
I decided I'm going to go at this full time. We're making a little bit from it, but I wanted
to just push it and see if we can make it a full time gig. And I'm in our member just
like the first or second day of, after being laid off and my freedom. And I, I remember
thinking this is so amazing.
It's like I don't care if I make $8 an hour my entire life. Just the freedom of
not having to go to a job I really didn't like was worth it. It's absolutely true to
that that it's so much more important than money. Like there's so much more there. So
yeah, for sure. I think it's just you just, um, you know, again, leaving in anything in
life, you know, in business and relationship and whatever, going from the known to the
unknown is a massive, massive leap. But, um, you know, that's, I think that's, that's,
that's part of the journey of faith as you don't always have it all figured out and you
just Kinda, you kinda some of it you just kind of blindly follow through and, and stumbled
through and figure it out as you go. Yeah, absolutely. Alright, well tell everybody where
they can find out more about you and.
Yeah, yeah. All that jazz, all that. Yes. We uh, so the podcast is called. How'd
you get into that? Now? We do two episodes a week. Just again interviewing people. Just
interesting, inspiring people like the, uh, the lawyer turn Willy Wonka people. Just do
an interesting types of work just to hear their story and journey of how they got into
what they're doing. Uh, so you can find all that at GrantBaldwin.com. Hit me up on
twitter: @grantbaldwin, or feel free to email me as well: grant@grantbaldwin.com
so anything I do to help you and support you, let me know.
All right, Grant. Well I appreciate you being on. I think this is really good and I'm excited to share it,
so thanks for being here.
Thanks buddy.
All right, take care.