On this sheet · 4 parts
1Why conditions rather than a date
A date is a wish. Conditions are a test, and a test can be passed early or failed honestly.
The point is to decide now, while you are thinking clearly, what evidence would justify leaving — so the decision is not made later on a bad Tuesday or a good Friday.
2Write three
Three is enough to be real and few enough to remember. Each one has to be specific enough that someone else could check it without asking you what you meant.
- One about money you have: savings measured in months of your costs, not a round number.
- One about money that arrives: repeat revenue over a period, not a single good month.
- One about demand you did not create: a customer who found you, a referral, a renewal.
3The four mistakes
- Writing conditions you cannot check. Enough savings and steady income are feelings. Six months of costs, and three consecutive months above a stated figure, are conditions.
- Setting them against salary instead of costs. This is the most common one, and it usually adds a year or more to the plan for no reason at all.
- Making them all about money. If every condition is financial you can meet all three and still be leaving for something with no evidence anyone wants it. At least one should be about demand.
- Rewriting them when you get tired of waiting. Conditions revised downwards in a bad month are not conditions. Put the date you wrote them at the top, and if you do change them, write down why.
4What to do with them
Put them somewhere you will see them monthly, and check them honestly. Most people find one condition is nearly met and another has not moved at all, which tells you where the next quarter goes.
General information to help you think things through. Not regulated financial, legal or tax advice.