Echols Alex - The Two-Week Notice: How to Discover Your Passion, Quit Your Job Impact Our World

Copyright Alex Echols, Andrew Gottlieb, and Sulinya Ramanan 2015

All Rights Reserved.

No part of this text or the images herein may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse engineered, or distributed without the express written permission of the authors.

The Two-Week Notice is your guide to unapologetically stepping into your greatness in your business and life.

-Lisa Nichols, best-selling author of Abundance Now

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1

Section I

Finding the Entrepreneur

Chapter 2: How to Discover Your Passions

Chapter 3: The Shift

Chapter 4: How to Quit

Chapter 5: Transitioning Out

Section II

Nurturing the Entrepreneur

Chapter 6: Changing Tracks

Chapter 7: Entrepreneurial Depression

Chapter 8: Mindset, Self-Trust and Emotional Health

Chapter 9: Good Physical Health

Section III

Connecting the Entrepreneur

Chapter 10: Connecting More Authentically

Chapter 11: Outgrowing and Elevating Your Network

Chapter 12: Finding a Mentor

Section IV

Growing the Entrepreneur

Chapter 13: Building Collaborations and Partnerships

Chapter 14: Build Your Brand

Chapter 15: Find Your Tribe

Chapter 16: Finding Joy in the Entrepreneurial Journey

Section V

Bonus Chapters

Chapter 17: Women in Entrepreneurship

Chapter 18: Savings Accounts & Good Health

Chapter 19: Creating a For-Benefit Org

Why We Wrote This Book

Did you know that only 13% of all people worldwide enjoy going to work (McGregor)? If you are one among the overwhelming majority of people who do not, you are projected to spend an average of 90,000 hours of your life doing work that you dislike (Shontell). If you are reading this book, you clearly value your time, missions, impact, and freedom too much to allow these statistics to become your fate.

Nonetheless, you have probably been handed a standard model of work that just does not fit your definition of a passionate, fulfilling life. You might have had jobs in which you have felt trapped and unhappy, or you might be working such a job right now. Perhaps you are even one among the two-thirds of young workers who, on the first day of their new jobs, have already started to think about alternative employment (Carroll). Irrespective of your situation, you are reading this because the standard work model has failed you. And, in fact, that model has been failing for a long time.

Let us first look at the financial return on investment of education in the current job market. At the time of this books writing, Millennials have amassed $1 Trillion in student loan debt (Louis). That is more than five percent of the United States Gross Domestic Product (World Bank). On average, Americans in their twenties have $45,000 worth of debt, the majority of which comes from student loans (Berman). As a result, Millennials are on track to become the most educated generation in American history and yet have an unemployment rate that is nearly twice the national average (Picci). And of those who are employed, sixty percent of Millennials feel they do not make enough money (Pew Research), and rightfully so. Very often, salaries do not keep up with inflation, and half human of all resource departments have not adjusted recruiting salaries in the past 3 to 5 years (Schawbel).

If you are female or a minority, your return on investment is projected to be even worse. Wage inequality remains an enormous problem. In 2012, women made only 77.5 cents for every dollar that men earned while working the same jobs (Graves). Women still represent less than five percent of CEOs at major American companies (Fairchild). Racial and ethnic disparities are even more striking. In 2013, the median net worth of the average white household was ten times as large as that of the average Hispanic household and thirteen times as great as the average black household (Fry).

There are other problems, too. Our jobs take a serious toll on our health and wellness. Nearly half of Americans report that they have gained weight at their current job. Forty percent of employees state that their jobs are very or extremely stressful, and the illnesses that result from stress cost companies more than 13 Million working days (Shontell). Negative job environments also lead to vastly higher divorce rates and unhappy parents are strongly correlated with children who become bullies in school (Dinsmore).

Do you want to leave your emotional, physical, and financial well-being in the hands of the job market described above, or do you want to reclaim your power and create the life you desire? Do you want to move through life as a corporate marionette or do you want to direct what you create? Do you want to allow social corruption to stay as it is, or do you want to uplift society and leave a lasting mark on the world? If you picked the latter choice to either of these questions, you are in very good company.

We are the generation of change-makers. For the first time, sixty-one percent of the emerging generation of workers feels personally responsible to make a difference (Nelson), and eighty-four percent state that doing so is even more important than professional recognition. Ninety-two percent believe that business success should be measured by metrics other than just financial profit (Schawbel). We are unlike any generation in history.

Lastly, like sixty-nine percent of young people, you very likely want more freedom at work (Rasmussen College). You want your efforts to be measured not by hours at a location, but by the output of what you do. Sixty percent of Millennials desire location freedom and schedule flexibility. In fact, a study by PwC reports that many Millennials would give up pay or delay a promotion to achieve an ideal schedule. And a third of young professionals prioritize social media freedom over salary in accepting a job offer (PwC). Unfortunately, if you desire any of these features, only a small section of the job market will afford you these benefits. Overall, the economy is slow to restructure itself to changing demands.

The good news is that taking control of your dreams is more doable than ever before. Nearly half of Generation Y wants to start a business in the next five years, and over one-third of employed Millennials have already started businesses on the side to supplement their incomes (Schawbel). If you have big dreams, you do not have to wait to bring them to life.

The goal of this book is to show you how to do that and to tell you what being an entrepreneur feels like. This book is not written from the perspective of someone who made it years ago and is giving you an account that has become rosier with age. Instead, we are people just like you who are providing you with a raw and immersive journey of three young entrepreneurs with all their joys, trials, and uncertainties. We show you the lessons that we have learned through real experience. We are here to inspire and empower you to take the passion in your soul and turn it into something extraordinary.

You define the new economy. Lets go.

Awakening the Dreamer

All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. -Walt Disney

It truly feels like just a few days ago.

Imagine a chubby little boy being sent home with a bad behavior notice for sitting in class and daydreaming, mumbling to himself, and joking with others. One would envision that such a kid would be quite the class clown and chaos maker.

But there was something different, maybe even a bit odd, about this young boy. He did not intend to be a rabble-rouser he was just a youngin who had not learned how to contain his curiosity and happiness within the school setting.