When did I know it was time to quit?

When I started my career in June 2000, I wanted to be exposed to all functions of an organization i.e. HR, Sales, Marketing, Quality, Production, etc. By January 2008 I had met that goal and had done well in my career.

Earning a good six-figure salary in the US, and a good seven-figure salary in India I had no reason to quit. But, I firmly believe that money is secondary, and it is the 'LEARNING' that is critical. If you have the right skills and competencies, money will follow.

I had never thought about what I wanted to do after meeting my first goal, and that was a big questions in my mind from January 2008. I used to talk about the options in hand, with my wife, over and over again; ranging from doing a PhD., to joining a new company, writing a book about my experiences and learnings, and to starting a company. 'I WAS CONFUSED'.

One of my habits, that I have found very useful is to talk about my career plans, career confusions with my close friends. It helps in three ways:
1) You sometimes get very good suggestions
2) As you speak, you are forced to think and ideate which results in increased clarity of thought and confidence
3) You create pressure on yourself to succeed, now that you have spoken about your plans with your close friends

As I spoke more and more about my confusions (than my plans), the plans started to form. I started to realize that I had some unique skill sets and learnings, which I wanted to share with everyone and at the same time build an organization around them.

Some equally important factors helped in making this decision right now:
1) Support from my wife and extended family (without this nothing works)
2) My wife was earning a decent salary and we were in a position to support our extended family (at least to some extent) and take the risk at the same time
3) I did not want to continue in a job and keep thinking about my dream

Hence the decision made. Our family moved to India on the August 15th 2008. The Leadership and Management team at Capgemini were very supportive of my decision and relieved me by August 22nd 2008. And here I am chasing my dream and passion!