Stability Is a Business Decision
Hey Reader,
It’s trendy right now to quit your job.
Be an “entrepreneur.” “Quit your job and farm”. “Quit your job and start a business”. “Quit your job and follow your passion”.
The YouTube algorithms are full of it. The influencers are selling it hard.
I’m here to tell you that’s mostly nonsense.
Your job provides a paycheck. Health insurance. Retirement. Stability for your family while you figure out whether the farm can actually support you — and that process takes longer than anyone on the internet will admit.
And here’s the thing about trends — when everyone’s piling in, that’s usually a red flag, not a green light.
My daughters and I sell comics and trading cards on the side — Pokemon and Magic the Gathering. The moment I saw Pokemon cards for sale at Ace Hardware and propped up at the register of my local Chinese restaurant, I knew it was time to pivot. That’s what a trend looks like at its peak.
I saw the same thing happen in farming — especially during and after Covid. Back to the land. Grow your own food. Sell at the farmers market. We got flooded with emails asking for farm tours and advice from people who’d caught the bug. It became a movement. And movements are tricky things to build a livelihood on.
Here’s the bigger lesson underneath all of it: boring is usually best. We just don’t want to believe it because boring doesn’t get clicks.
401Ks make you money. Slowly. Quietly. Without asking anything of you. Bonds, precious metals, IRAs — they work by doing almost nothing. Your money sits there and compounds while you sleep. Nobody makes a YouTube video about maxing out their Roth IRA because it’s not exciting. But it works. It has always worked.
The same principle applies to the farm. And to the job that funds it.
It took me a long time to make peace with the W2. I still think about building something bigger. I still chase the goals. But I’ve learned that the steady paycheck isn’t the enemy of the dream — it’s usually what funds it.
I just finished filming 11 videos about building a farm business. The honest version of that story includes the fact that I still work as a PA. On purpose.
You are not less of a farmer because you have a job. You are not failing because the farm doesn’t pay all the bills yet. Don’t let anyone — especially someone selling a course or asking for clicks — convince you otherwise.
It might take longer than the highlight reel suggests. It might mean keeping the job for another three years. That’s not a consolation prize. That’s a smart plan.
The journey is the thing. And for most of us, the journey includes a day job for a good while.
That’s not settling. That’s not giving up on the dream. That’s building something real instead of burning everything down for a highlight reel that doesn’t show the debt, the stress, or the 2am moments where you wonder what you were thinking.
Keep the job. Build the farm. Do it on your terms.
That’s okay. Actually — that’s the smart play.
with my appreciation,
Jason
Aka: The Part-Time Farmer
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AI Disclosure: Every idea and opinion here is 100% human. I sometimes use AI to help with formatting, editing, or trimming things down—but the message is fully mine.