PART ONE: Before the Jump It's Time for a Change Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance. -STEVEN PRESSFIELD If you're reading this, I'm going to make an assumption about you: Life is not how you thought it would be. This probably won't come as a surprise, but your experience is actually pretty common, especially among people our age (the not-so-recent graduates, twentysomethings, and young professionals of the world). There's even a sociological term for it: quarter-life crisis. That's right-you don't have to wait until midlife to have a crisis of your own anymore. And, unlike in the crises of midlife, you probably don't have nearly enough money just yet to distract yourself with a shiny new sports car, plastic surgery, or a set of golf clubs.

The quarter-life crisis-characterized by insecurities, disappointments, loneliness, and depression-typically strikes twenty- and thirtysomethings shortly after they enter the "real world." In fact, a recent study by the Depression Alliance (like the Avengers, only really sad) found that a third of all people in their twenties feel depressed. Why? All sorts of reasons, but it all boils down to a feeling that your life is on the wrong track. You're drifting toward a distant shore you have no desire to reach while your real dreams fade further and further into the unreachable distance. Which is confusing and, honestly, just doesn't seem fair. You really aren't asking for much: You just want a job that combines your passions and skills, provides a reasonable income, and allows you to spend time with people you love. And the dead-end, soul-deadening job you've been clocking into for the last few years isn't exactly all you'd hoped and dreamed for yourself. Work isn't your life, you say, yet (like it or not) it takes up a pretty big chunk of it-about 33 percent big.

So … why are you spending a third of your life doing something you never wanted to? You've barely lived three decades and you're already wracked with regrets. Maybe you don't even hate the work itself. You may even like your boss and consider many of your colleagues your friends. What you hate is that forty, fifty, sixty hours of your week don't feel anything like the few hours you get every now and again when you find time to do the thing you really love. You hate that you have to lay your dreams aside every Monday morning. Still, you probably have your reasons for staying in that job that's making you miserable: You need a steady paycheck and health insurance, or you'd rather tough it out in a bad situation you're familiar with than risk something new. I get it. But here's my advice for you: QUIT.

You can quit, you know. It's okay. Forget what you've heard about winners never quitting, because that's just not true. Smart people quit the right things at the right time. And, let's be honest, how's the whole "sticking it out" approach working for you? Do you feel like a winner right now? Or completely defeated? Here are three all-too-common signs that it's high time to call it quits and move on: You're unsatisfied Don't worry, you're not alone-most surveys over the last three years agree that less than 40 percent of Americans are satisfied with their work. Generally, the numbers are even worse for those under the age of twenty-five, where we're posting the lowest job satisfaction rates since 1987. In other cheery news, worker unhappiness has shown a consistent upward trend in that time. Now, maybe you're unhappy because you're just a grouchy person; but I believe most people are unhappy because they're just not doing what they know they should be.

You're bored Another prime indicator is boredom. A report from the Conference Board found only half the U.S. workforce even finds their job interesting. To me, that's shocking and sad. But let's face it: A lot of boring stuff happens at most companies, which means you're probably asked to work on a lot of it. The fact that the work is relatively easy or that it pays a lot doesn't really compensate after a while, and you start to feel like you're wasting your time. If your work doesn't challenge you or make good use of your strengths, I think it's time to go.

You're stuck As many as a third of all American workers feel like their careers have reached a dead end. You could even be content with your pay grade and indifferent to "climbing the corporate ladder" and still feel like there's no room for you to grow. If you've learned everything you can, contributed everything you have to contribute, and continue to clock in only because you don't know what else to do or where to go, start planning your exit. There are a thousand other subtle signs it's time for a change, but one of them in particular is my favorite and, really, the heartbeat behind this book. One of the best reasons to change directions-to Jump Ship, so to speak-is because you know there's something you actually care about. If you're more excited about your hobby than you are about your job, look for a job related to your hobby. If you have a gift or a skill that makes your heart sing like Taylor Swift every time you use it, get paid for using that gift. If you've always dreamed of owning an animal shelter or working as a Hollywood makeup artist-and you've got the talent for these things-drop what you're doing and start pursuing it now.

It's going to take a while to earn success, so why not start earning it now? Walking into work on Monday and wishing you were "anywhere else" is one thing. Ordinary discontent, maybe. But walking into work on Monday and wishing you were writing, speaking, cooking, gardening, decorating, designing, strategizing, building, investing, or teaching-some specific desire that wells up inside you and pulls at the corners of your mind-is something else entirely. That is a dream longing to be lived. I Believe That You Were Born with a Purpose You were created to make something of your life that no other person on the planet or in the history of the world ever could. If you don't do it, it might never be done. And you, and only you, know what that thing is. This is your dream, and if you don't bring your dream to life, your dream dies with you.

I dare you to deny that it's true. Deep in your heart, you know that this thing-this dream-lives within you. And you have to pursue it. You have to at least try. The fact that you haven't tried is, I believe, why you're so bummed out and discouraged about your life right now. The life you were born to live remains unlived within you. It's important that you hear this: It's not too late to pursue your dream. And, nine times out of ten, it's probably possible to get paid for it, too.

I'm not saying you'll get rich (although you may). But having the whole world means nothing if you gain it at the expense of your soul. I know that sounds serious, but that's because I take all this pretty seriously. I've seen what a difference it can make in a person's life when they're working a job that makes them come alive. Many of my friends and peers have made the jump. I've helped dozens of people like you make the jump and documented the process to encourage others to do the same. So many people in your shoes do nothing. Remember how I said earlier that fewer than 40 percent of Americans report feeling satisfied with their jobs? Another study done in early 2012 by Accenture found that 70 percent of unhappy employees planned to stay put .

If you're a normal human being, raised with school counselors telling you exactly what grades would get you which scholarships and which college programs would get you which careers, you probably have trouble cutting through all the stuff programmed into you. You might not feel like you have permission to just abandon the norm, Jump Ship, and go after your dreams. After all, according to tradition and honor … Captains Go Down with Their Ships Or so the saying goes. Turns out that there's actually a lot of legend and misinformation surrounding the whole idea. And, for the sake of this metaphor, there are a few other things we ought to clarify. There was an embarrassing and rather tragic incident in January 2012 where the Costa Concordia, a 4,200 passenger Italian cruise ship, ran aground off the coast of Italy when a combination of "human error" and "violations" of the company's safety guidelines brought the vessel too close to shore. Basically, the captain was an idiot. To make matters worse, he was one of the first persons to abandon ship, leaving the crew and passengers behind in chaos.

He later claimed that he had "left the ship accidentally" after tripping and falling into a rescue craft. Poor man. From his story, I suspect he has a long history of similar misfortunes; I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that, as a child, his dog often ate his homework. Following this incident, however, there was a sudden interest in the old phrase "a captain goes down with his ship," where it comes from and whether it has any basis in la.