Tennis Atlantic

This time three years ago, I took one of the biggest risks of my life. I left my job in one of the best investment banks in the world, to pursue a dream I had as child: to be a professional tennis player.

I did it for two reasons.

First, I was unhappy. I had been working in finance for two years and even though I was financially independent and living in one of the hottest spots in Miami, I would spend my Sunday night’s sitting on the balcony of my downtown condo, dreading going to work in the morning. I’d stare off into the distance trying to come up with an idea that would make it possible to quit and move on to something better.

Second, I started to wonder what could have been. I was seeing guys I had competed with and even beat playing in the qualifying and main draw of grand slams. Could that have been me?

In the few professional tennis events I played while attending Florida State University, my singles ranking got up to 475 in the world. What if I played a full year, or two? Could I have achieved my childhood dream?

Finally, I got tired of hating Mondays. I realized I was going to have to work for the rest of my life whether I liked it or not. Finance jobs will always be there, but the opportunity to give professional tennis a shot is limited.

I told my bosses of my decision to leave their group to pursue my dream of being a professional tennis player. Since I had only been there one year and committed to two or three, they weren’t thrilled, but respected my decision. One of my bosses reminded me that I was probably making one of the dumbest decisions of my life. Financially, he couldn’t have been more right. I went from having a nice looking bank account to being in debt. I’m now fully supported by my parents and 100% of the money I see goes right into basic living expenses and tennis.

As far as my happiness and well-being goes, I can say with absolutely certainty I made the right decision. There hasn’t been a single day I wished I stayed in that office, sitting in front of three computer screens for at least 11 hours a day. I’m broke and couldn’t be happier. I have everything I truly want in this world.

My message to the world:

I’ll always remember my last day at work. Many people said how happy they were for me that I had the courage to risk everything. They wished they could’ve left their job to pursue a dream of theirs but it was too late. They all had families and couldn’t afford to give up their well-paying job.

I chased the money. I chased the fancy resume building job title. I chased the designer clothes and the cool vacations.

I chased everything that was fake. Result: I was miserable.

Now I’m chasing my dreams. Result: I’m happier than ever.