Should You Give Up Law to Pursue a Dream? It Worked for this Lawyer

Layoffs and financial panic have unleashed a torrent of creative yearning for another profession, according to a business coach who has seen some ideas turn into money-making ventures.

Quitting a day job worked for Wall Street lawyer Jonathan Fields, who gave up law more than a decade ago to become a personal trainer charging $15 an hour in Central Park, reports business coach Pamela Slim in a column for the New York Times.

Fields went on to open up a successful yoga studio. He later sold the business when he got a contract from a major publisher to write a career guide.

“Real creative urges, those we are meant to express, don’t go away,” Slim writes. “If ignored, they bother us, affect our health, fester and eventually turn us into the living dead.”

Some who pursue their dreams will encounter failures and broken dreams, she concludes. “But mostly, we will all benefit from the huge blast of creative energy unleashed by people finally pursuing the work that is the best fit for them.”