Chutzpah. That’s Yiddish for “gutsy,” and I really like seeing human beings demonstrate it. My former partner and still good friend, Robert Bradford, is demonstrating lots of chutzpah this very week. After Robert decided to move on in his career late last year, he took a good paying job with a large home builder as a database administrator. I could sense early on that he just was digging it. The passion wasn’t there and from some of his comments, he just sounded like a fish out of water.

About a month ago, I got a call from Robert. He said, “I think I’m moving to up state New York.” “What’s in up state New York,” I asked, to which he replied, “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out” (kind of the same reaction when Ray told his wife in Field of Dreams he needed to go to Boston). Movie scenarios aside, Robert had a very strong impression that’s where he needed to be. So he picked up, bought a car due to his old one being run down, and made the several thousand mile trip from Arizona to New York not fully knowing where he’d live and what he’d be doing for an income.

I also had a friend whose brother went to school to become an accountant, only to hate life several years later working for one of the big four accountancies making a grundle of money. He quit his job and went back to school to become a teacher where he more than likely makes a third of what he did but enjoys what he does, and most of all, is passionate about it.

Be it moving cross-country or ditching a planned career path, what are some examples of gutsy moves in your life or the lives of people you know?