Companion to "The Fork."
Checked at the end of every twelve-week cycle. All three tests must pass, and two prerequisites must exist first. Write conditions down before emotions run high.
| Prerequisite | Status |
|---|---|
| Runway: months of essential expenses held in cash, so a bad quarter after quitting is a problem, not a catastrophe | ☐ Pass: months banked |
| Health coverage: what insurance costs after the job, mapped as a monthly number, read before the resignation letter | ☐ Pass: $ / month, plan named |
Monthly profit, not revenue, repeats for at least three consecutive months at a level that maps to a real share of take-home pay. Target read: the business covering half your take-home before a resignation letter is even drafted. Numbers from the separate business account, profit after costs, never gross.
| Month | Monthly profit | Take-home pay | Share of take-home | Repeats? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $ | $ | % | ☐ | |
| $ | $ | % | ☐ | |
| $ | $ | % | ☐ |
Pass = three consecutive months at % or more of take-home: ☐ Pass ☐ Not yet
Actual people with actual money you declined or served late because fifteen hours a week was full. Not imagined demand, not website-visit tea leaves.
| Work declined or served late | Value | Date |
|---|---|---|
| $ | ||
| $ | ||
| $ |
Pass = turning away work you could have served, this cycle: ☐ Pass ☐ Not yet
| Line | Status |
|---|---|
| A normal week at dual-track pace no longer wrecks you (sleep intact) | ☐ Pass ☐ Fail |
| The job's performance numbers are intact (reviews, deadlines) | ☐ Pass ☐ Fail |
| The household contract still holds | ☐ Pass ☐ Fail |
What never justifies a quit: one great month, a wave of excitement, a bad week at the job, or the need to prove something to someone. If the idea of quitting feels urgent in exactly the weeks the tests are failing, that is not synchronicity. That is escape, dressed as ambition.
| All three green plus both prerequisites | ☐ Yes: begin the quit conversation ☐ No: next cycle starts |
| Alternative forks considered: permanent dual track (a design, not a failure) or the middle fork (business funds the leap to a different life, covering the difference between the life you have and the one you want) | ☐ Noted |
Why the caution: roughly one in five new establishments closes in its first year and close to half are gone by the fifth birthday; recent cohorts cleared five years at survival rates of about fifty-one percent (BLS survival data). The paycheck is your insurance policy on those odds.