Want to Quit Your Job? My 5-Step Strategy to Exit in 15 Months Instead of 7 Years

The Table with Anthony ONeal

Anthony O'Neal outlines a five-step strategic framework designed to help employees transition out of traditional employment in roughly 15 months instead of years by prioritizing debt elimination and calculating a

Key takeaways

• Anthony O'Neal defines the 'freedom exit number' as three to six months of net take-home pay, not total essential expenses.
• Carrying consumer debt like car payments and credit card minimums can extend a financial independence timeline from 15 months to seven and a half years.

Main topics

• Freedom exit number calculation
• Consumer debt elimination strategy

Notable quotes

"Never quit on a feeling. I need you to quit on a number."

Conclusion

The episode provides a actionable, math-driven roadmap for leaving emp

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) Nobody taught you how to build wealth and how to secure financial freedom, what a lot of people told you was just to budget better and then they left you hanging. Here is the truth that I need to say today. You can't fix what you refuse to look at. The first step to true financial freedom, I'm going to be real with you, it's not a budget. It's knowing your real numbers. When you finally see your starting point, your debt, savings, and investments all within one particular place, You stop guessing and you really start moving forward. There's no more lying away, doing the math in your head and stressing. There's no more avoiding your banking app. There's no more of that sick feeling when you go to your mailbox and a bill shows up and you don't even know if you can cover it. But if you keep avoiding it, the debt doesn't sit still. A problem that you could face today at a smaller number becomes a bigger, heavier number in a year. This isn't theory. You see right now in our brand new community called Freedom Circle, real members within this particular community have tracked $10.5 million in consumer debt that we're going to be eliminating here soon. Over $1 million in emergency savings and nearly $12.2 million in investments. These are real numbers and real individuals like yourself. But here's what I've learned. Tracking your numbers is just the beginning. The real shift happens when you stop doing this, what we call building a loan. You see, every Thursday we meet for a masterclass. Every month, new courses and material being added to help you hit your freedom goal. And every quarter we meet in person here in the United States, UK, and even across Ghana, simply in your area. And if you want it, we are providing some one-on-one coaching available too. So you can start free today. I want to invite you to join this amazing community called the Freedom Circle. You can do this by going to AOFreedomCircle.com. Again, that is AOFreedomCircle.com. And when you go there, I want you to take the Freedom Score assessment today. It's 100 % free, no banking connections required, no payment required. And when you're ready to be a part of the official community, your seven-day free trial of culture membership is waiting for you too. Here's the thing. I need you to know where you stand because I want you to help. yourself, build your next chapter with the community. Go to AOFreedomCircle.com. Speaker 1 (2:11) Today's show is going to be a transparent Speaker 2 (2:12) one and honest one. Speaker 2 (2:16) I was making six figures and I couldn't afford to quit my job. Speaker 2 (2:20) You see, I would get paid only 15th of the month. Speaker 2 (2:24) And by the 26th of the month, I was broke. I had 11 days of my paycheck, but I still had 19 days of the month left. Speaker 2 (2:37) Every time I think about that, I get a little disappointed in the younger Anthony O'Neal. Speaker 2 (2:46) Online, here's what a lot of people are telling you. Before you quit your job, save six to 12 months of your expenses. And I do not teach that. I teach I want you to have at least three to six months of your take-home pay. And I know that sounds like the bigger number. So let me say this up front in today's episode. For most of you, it's actually going to be a smaller number. It's one number off or one number of your direct deposit. It doesn't ask you to live small. And I'm going to prove on today's episode, both of those to you in the next three minutes. Speaker 2 (3:29) I really need you to dial in because I do believe that God is calling a lot of you off of your job and into entrepreneurship. Or watch this, off of your current job and into your career, into your purpose. Speaker 2 (3:45) But after I give you those numbers, I'm going to show you how to get there in 15 months instead of for seven years. I have five rules that I need you to dial in and listen to. Because. This is what I did. I've never talked about this on a show before. Speaker 2 (4:07) You all know I've been saying this recently that the first car I ever lived out of was a 1987 Nissan Maxima. I was homeless sleeping in the back of my car in Southern California. And about six years later, I'm making six figures a year. And there is a brand new Nissan Maxima sitting in the driveway that I'm making payments on. I had the same badge, but two very different price tags. And I was stuck both times. That's the part I really want you to sit with today. The car changed, but the plan didn't. And if I had walked into that office on a Monday and resigned, I could not even cover 15 days. Speaker 2 (4:49) 15 days. Speaker 2 (4:52) So here's the number I use now. And I call this your freedom exit number. This is not like your freedom retirement number. This is your freedom exit number. You see, your freedom exit number is your monthly take home pay times three to six months. Say one more time. Your freedom exit number from your current position is going to be three months of your take home pay. This is what actually hits your bank account. Not your essential essentials, not a budget worksheet. You're going to abandon in 11 days the money that actually lands in your account after after taxes and after your insurance comes out. Speaker 2 (5:36) And watch this. I'm gonna go deeper. Speaker 2 (5:39) after your tithes and offering. Speaker 2 (5:43) Now, most people in the industry will tell you to add up your essential expenses and save six to 12 months of that. Speaker 2 (5:51) I want you to look at what that's actually asking you to do. It's asking you to plan for a stripped down version of your life during the single most important decision of your career life. Speaker 2 (6:08) I want that to sit with you for a little bit. Speaker 2 (6:15) And let me say this. Speaker 2 (6:18) Because I'm being sensitive about today's episode. Speaker 2 (6:21) I don't want you surviving while you're deciding. I want you living. Because when you don't have to downgrade anything, we all make better decisions. You're not worried. You're not scared. And somebody who was worried and scared takes the first offer that comes along and calls it freedom. When it's really just a shorter leash. Speaker 2 (6:49) I want to park right there and be just a little vulnerable today. Because when I transitioned from my last situation, I said, hey, man, I'm finally at a place where I can make decisions based upon me. For years, man, I had the honor of serving some amazing leaders from ministry to the corporate space. But I always had to serve their vision. So there was some form of guardrails and some form of a leash around me of what I could do, what I could say. Speaker 2 (7:21) So when I finally got to a place where I no longer had a leash around me, which wasn't a negative thing because we all got to have a job, we all got to serve people so we can be better in our future, right? But when I got out Speaker 2 (7:34) So many offers came my way and these offers were disguised. to be good offers, but they were shorter leashes. Speaker 2 (7:46) Good job. I had almost a year saved. Speaker 2 (7:52) I had enough time to talk to mentors, to talk to friends, to talk to my parents, to talk to God. And be like, yo, is this a good offer? And y'all, nine out of 10 of the things that came my way wasn't a good offer. But if I would have only had. Speaker 2 (8:10) Expenses saved. If I would have been fearful, if I would have been scared, I would have probably took five of those offers. Speaker 2 (8:22) Father. Speaker 2 (8:25) So, let's break this down. Let's say you take home $6 a month. and your essentials run to say $4,000 a month. Some of these other people, their way is six months of your essentials. So that's four thousand times six. That's twenty four thousand dollars. My way, what I teach inside of Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck is three months of your take home pay. That's six thousand dollars times three. That's eighteen thousand dollars. Speaker 2 (8:57) I tell you earlier. $18,000 is smaller than $24,000. It's the same person with the same paycheck. So my number lets you live your whole life and it's $6,000 less to save. And you can figure that out in 10 seconds. You don't need a spreadsheet. You need your direct deposit. Speaker 2 (9:23) That's it. So I'm going to give you five rules that's going to really help you go from where you are. Watch this to where God wants you to be. Speaker 2 (9:36) God came so that we may have life and have life more abundantly. and