When to Jump, an independent media partner of The Huffington Post, is a curated community featuring the ideas and stories of people who have made the decision to leave something comfortable and chase a passion.
In my case, my jump was something closer to a walk. And no, that's not a figure of speech, I mean that quite literally. My jump was a walk -- a long one, finishing 2,185 miles later.
Three years out of college, I found myself working a job I found unfulfilling in a city I found uninspiring. From the perspective of my friends and family, I was living any young professional's dream -- working a great job in finance in one of the greatest cities in the world, none other than New York. It took a while for me to finally admit my unhappiness to myself, but even then I wasn't ready to jump.
The pivotal decision point came as a real life Devil Wears Prada moment when my Miranda Priestly-like boss looked over and said, "Drew you are going to need to focus if you want to be successful in this business. If you want to be like me, you'll have to make some changes."
What changes?
And then I, playing the role of Andy Sachs, thought for a second. I realized then that actually no, I absolutely did not want to be like my boss Miranda. At all.
Turns out I did need to change -- just not the way my boss was expecting.
A short while later, my legs followed my brain over the edge as I jumped out of the corporate world. I packed my bags and set off on a journey of a lifetime from Georgia to Maine.
Six months and 2,185 miles later, I found myself standing on a mountain in Maine, having hiked the Appalachian Trail, start to finish.
That walk led me west afterward, and I'm proud to be serving as a Member Leader at Jump Club I: San Francisco on October 9th, helping others take their own first step.
When to Jump, an independent media partner of The Huffington Post, is a curated community featuring the ideas and stories of people who have made the decision to leave something comfortable and chase a passion. You can follow When to Jump on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. For more stories like this one, sign up for the When to Jump newsletter here. (Note: The When to Jump newsletter is not managed by The Huffington Post.)