“Should I quit my job to pursue my dreams?”

That’s the big question, isn’t it? 

The consensus online seems to be people saying, “Yes! You should definitely take that leap of faith! Your business is just a hobby if you don’t take it seriously!”

And while this is true, it doesn’t account for how you will have money if your business isn’t yet making enough to support you.

We’ve all heard horror stories of people who quit their soul-sucking corporate jobs too quickly, burned out, and went back to employeeship with their tail between their legs and maxed-out credit cards.

Just the other day in fact, I read a post on Facebook by a coach who had been on her own for YEARS and then had to face the fact that her business was not on a stable foundation, that her income was far too wildly unpredictable, and that she didn’t know how to fix it. The post was letting people know that she was going to get a corporate job to pay the bills and would be taking a break from her coaching business indefinitely.

I don’t know about you, but that’s the sort of story that terrifies me.

To have achieved some measure of success - to look (at least on the outside) like I have it all figured out - only to have to admit that I was basically a fraud and didn’t know what I was doing??

Cue the most massive case of imposter syndrome EVER.

The argument from the “leap of faith” crowd is that you have to take things seriously for it to ever become something.

While this is true, saying it as if it’s the gospel truth to the general masses is super dangerous and detrimental. Not everyone is at the same point in their journey, and giving - or taking - blanket advice is being irresponsible. 

There is a point where, yes, you have to put all your eggs in one basket, focus on growing that one thing, and leave all other opportunities behind.

But making that choice too soon - before you have any data on which option will do the best - will end up in a pipe dream scenario. This is why the saying “put all your eggs in one basket” is generally used in a negative way.

When you’re planting a garden, you start by planting as many seeds as you can… over and above the amount of plants you’d be able to support if they all grew to maturity. 

This would be like trying all the options you have available, looking for more opportunities, learning about more skills and interests. Sample everything so you know what you want to focus on and what you’d rather not.

Then, you let those seeds germinate and sprout. At this stage, they only have one or two leaves each (they’re SO CUTE). Would anyone suggest that you throw away all the food in your pantry at this point because you “have something getting traction” and you should “take something seriously?” Certainly not anyone in their right mind.

Some of the seeds won’t sprout at all. Some of the sprouts won’t quite have enough strength to fully push off their cotyledon husk and they’ll be weak and stunted forever. 

The percentage of seeds that successfully sprout and grow into seedlings is called the “germination rate.”

Germination rates are closely tracked to help determine viability of seeds and provide clues as to how well the incubation environment is being maintained. Among cultivated plants (your typical garden varieties 😉), the germination rate is usually 70-90%.

But we are talking about starting businesses in the big, wide world; where we don’t control the environment and we don’t know all the factors and we certainly don’t have everything tracked and monitored.

For us entrepreneurs, the germination rates of wild plants is a much better metric.

In natural ecosystems - even in stable environments! - the successful germination rate may average out to one seed per parent plant over its entire lifetime. Most seeds fail due to predation, competition, or unsuitable conditions. 

That matches the data I’ve seen personally: one entrepreneur will try and try and try and finally something will take off and be successful. They usually have several, if not tens or even hundreds, of failed attempts before and after.

Doing it once is no guarantee that the next project will see the same success. After all, the second seed is born into different conditions.

Those entrepreneurs who start businesses serially, who seem to have the Midas touch, have studied the factors of the environment well enough to begin to control them. They are moving along the spectrum towards cultivated plant germ rates, but even they have a success rate of only 40-60%.

Clearly, this ish is HARD.

So with that in mind, let’s go back to deciding whether we should quit our jobs to “take things seriously.”

We planted our seeds and some of them sprouted.

Some of the sprouts get stuck in their cotyledon husks, some drown, some are parched, some get eaten by bugs. Some might get accidentally stepped on by the gardener. 😬

The ones that are strong grow into seedlings: small immature plants that have 3-5 leaves.

At this point, you can begin to see which ones are the strongest and which are not. We thin out the weak ones so they’re not taking resources from the strong; and transplant the strong seedlings into the garden where they will grow into maturity.

Our seedling trees then grow into saplings: young trees that produce fruit, but are not yet completely mature.

The maturation rate is different for different kinds of trees: avocado trees take 7 years to fully grow.

Once they have grown up as far as their kind will grow, they continue to strengthen their trunk, growing wider, and spread their branches more as they also spread their roots. 

These mature trees stand like sentinels for hundreds of years. There are a few highly revered cherry trees in Japan that are over 1,000 years old. 

Trees don’t have to continue growing up and up and up. They grow to the size of their species, and then focus on sustaining that growth indefinitely.

The mark of a healthy tree is a strong root system, sound, healthy wood all through its trunk, and the ability to lose and regrow branches as the annual weather cycles dictate their environment.

Knowing what kind of tree we want to grow is imperative to knowing what to expect the end result to look like.

If you want to grow a redwood tree and end up with a cherry tree, your Fortune 500 world-wide conglomerate hopes will be disappointed with an info-product business.

If you want a cherry tree, but only get advice and strategies and pressure to keep growing until you reach redwood status, your creative cottage industry dreams will never fully blossom and will probably be crushed under expectations that are impossible for it to achieve.

So, finally, to answer the question: should I quit my job to pursue my dreams?

The answer is: only if you know what kind of tree you’re growing, and you know what phase of growth you’re at.

When your baby business tree has reached the Seedling stage, you will know for sure whether it will be able to sustain you or not, and you can take steps to transition out of your other work.

But please, for the love of everything that cares about you, don’t take a leap of faith.

This isn’t a “leap of faith” sort of thing. 

This is a data-collecting, emergency-fund-saving, better-safe-than-sorry, prudent wisdom sort of thing.

If you’d like to know for sure what stage of growth you’re at, take the Avocado Growth Quiz - it will identify where you’re at on the growth chart and provide resources, information, and action steps tailored for your specific level. 

Strengthen your tree and grow to the next level with the Avocado Growth Quiz! (Coming soon!)