Cube Farmer needs help

VEPS

This might be the wrong place for this post, but I need help.
 
I have worked in a cube for the same huge corporation for about 12 years.  Good salary, benefits, pension, mindless job (meaning I could focus on hobbies and family), low stress, 401 K, retirement benefits etc...The perfect job if I was my father 30 years ago...
 
Needless to say, pension has been taken away, health after retirement gone, raises and bonuses have been brutal, lay-offs like crazy, working environment is not fun anymore...I am sure some of you know where I am coming from...
 
I started an activity about a year ago, that I didn`t think I could do.  Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  I don`t want to get into the specifics of the sport.  But the bottom line is you literally fight (on the ground/grapple) your training partners every class for about 30 minutes total...That is not including, warm ups, stretching, and the intsructional portion.  I lost 40 lbs, I am in the greatest shape of my life...I achieved/am acheiving something I never thought I would be able to pull off.  I love the sport as much as my wife and 2 children.  I am addicted and go at least 4-5 times a week (even went Valentine`s Day to class, which did not go over well with the wife). 
 
With that said, it has opened my eyes...I see the world a bit different.  I am ansy.  I don`t want to be a zombie and march off to work and "please" someone else.  I look at my coworkers and laugh now...This working lifestlye is trivial and meaningless to me.  Hard to explain, but again, hopefully some of you know where I am coming from... I want to achieve more for myself and family like I did for my mental and physical well being with jiu jitsu...
 
Problem is, I have 2 small kids.  I can`t just up and walk out.  The economy isn`t the best for starting a business from scratch IMHO.  And although my wife (speech pathologist) and I make a very good living I don`t have tons of money to throw around on a new business...
 
My wife says to me "you spend so much time at BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) and you love it, try and make a few extra dollars that way."  I can`t.  There is nothing I can do.  I am a beginner and will be for years...so teaching it is out.  Selling clothing, I researched, on here even, it may be a niche market but expensive to get going and it is hard to break in...etc...My opportunities are limited for the thing I love....
 
In any event I have looked into the MLM scams, I have racked my brains, even just to supplement our 2 incomes with another 1000 or 2000 a month...nothing.  I am itchy, but don`t know what to do...I know this is not what I want for myself or my kids, but I am also a practical man and I am not walking away from this gravy train of a job I have unless  I am semi-confident in something else...(If I was single maybe,  not with 2 little kids)...
 
I have an MBA, a psych degree, a Project Management Certification, but you know what big deal....I want to explode sitting at this 9-5 job.  I took all the questionnaires about what is right for me, etc...I know the rhetoric...I am in a vicious circle and I want to be my own person not a number on a paycheck....I know nobody but me can find the answer...but HELP anyway....lol

RetiredMember5

It does sound like you are torn given financial and family commitments.  However, you should leverage your assets and possibly consider a part-time business.   Check out our FREE entrepreneur guide as to how to start, operate and grow and business.  This will answer ALOT of your questions as to the transition and creating your freedom and dynasty of doing what you love. 

rbmtbjj

Hey there...
You`re certainly not alone, but I suspect you`re not fully appreciating
what`s going on. There`s a huge movement (generational, actually)
toward the precise self-awareness you`re finding. It`s not political,
it`s cultural and a result of all sorts of historic things that have
been happening during the past 45 years.
What catches my attention is your certainty that you "can`t just walk
away." You list all the excuses and reasons, most of which are
completely valid. So try this instead:Suppose you show up for work this week
and discover a pink slip. You`re laid off, as of 2 weeks. That`s it, no
appeal...done. What then?
Which is more important in life---and to you in particular: your job
and security, or your family? Now try reversing that, and ask your wife
which is more important to her---your job and security, or you and your
marriage?
I think you`ll find that security is a false illusion. All of us are
subject to total life changes nearly in an instant. You could be hit by
a car and end up in wheelchair, blind, or deaf. You could be fired, or
be shot in the arm. All kinds of catastrophic things could happen, the
LEAST of which is to be laid off! If you walk away, you still have your
health. Without that, all else is moot.
But if you take control of the timing, you do yourself a lot better service than to allow circumstances to dictate that timing.
The first, most important, and all-abiding start to your problem is
serious and on-going discussion between you and your wife. She and you
both are resources for creating products, making money, earning money
(not the same as creating it), and managing your lifestyles. How you
live is your choice. It isn`t a given, it isn`t automatic, and it isn`t
an entitlement.
To my mind, there`s little question that the economic climate we see
today is only the tip of the iceberg. Business will become much worse
in the coming years than it is now. And starting a business will be
much more diffcult due to the stampeded by everyone to do the same
thing.
So you should move right now. That means examining a scenario where you
lose your job within 14 days, as you work through the logic,
probabilities, and brainstorming. What would you do? How would your
wife be able (and willing) to help?
From there, consider each week a 7-day extension. Stockpile as much
money as you can for startup capital, and cut as much debt as possible.
Reduce your lifestyle to minimum while you`re working out what you`d
like to do. Because whatever  it is, it`s going to cost money. And
you likely won`t be able to borrow that money easily.
What if you went into foreclosure in 20 days? The sheriff`s department
shows up, posts an eviction note on your front door. You come home, and
all your furniture is out on the street. What then? What`s your plan A,
B, C, D, E, and F? And what happens if Plan F collapses?
Each week that passes, consider that while you`re working, if you start
a business, you`ll have a better option in terms of credit and loands
toward starting your eventual business.
Take control of your life. Use the new agility you`ve trained for in
your body, and allow it to move through your mind. Understand that your
body is how you directly connect with reality and the world around you.
But your mind is how you assign thought, reason, logic, and vision to
what you`re experiencing each moment. The two work together.
You have a huge number of skills, and might enjoy reading "The Three Boxes of Life," written in 1978 and an excellent initiation into solving your problem.

this is some of the best advice i have ever read.  Just like the thread starter I am into BJJ, hate working a 9-5, and have my Bachelors in social sciences.  anyways I hated my job(first job since graduation) from day one and thought i needed to figure out a business plan but i kept on putting it off.  I felt like i was lucky to even have a job so instead of getting my act together I just kept going to my boring job working for the man.  Long story short my company downsizes and i find out I am no longer needed.  Boom! just like that im out of a job.  I wish i would of read your post 5 months ago.  Its not too late for me but I just need to get my priorities straight for 2009