Why quitting your day job is NOT the answer.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013 There’s a trend in this online-self-growth world for everyone to look to quitting your day job as the holy grail.
“I want a flexible schedule.”
“I want to be able to travel.”
“I want to live my passion.”
Sure. I get it. I’ve wanted (and still want!) all of those things too. But the stark reality is that for most of us, quitting one’s day job is not the secret magical step into Utopia. Often it’s the first step down the long road of entrepreneurship. One that – while fulfilling, and most often worth is – is arduous and hard.
It’s hard to be in debt.
It’s hard to not know how you’re going to pay your bills.
It’s hard to think that only saying yes to work that makes your heart sing might cause you to lose your house.
And I get it. There are going to be people who read what I’m writing and say, “Oh, you just aren’t believeing it enough.”
“If you think it’s going to be hard, it’s going to be hard.”
“If you buy this e-book, I’ll teach you how you can quit your job and make money living your life and it will be so easypeasy that you'll be so mad at yourself for not doing it years ago.”
It is wholly irresponsible for the life-coaching-creative industry to be pushing people towards quitting their job as the answer to a happy life.
If you don’t have a happy life already, quitting your job is not going to make a damn bit of difference. If you are angry and bitter and resentful of everything that you do, quitting your job will make you angry and bitter and resentful without a paycheck or benefits.
How do you think that’s going to help your anger/bitterness/resentment levels?
Right.
I write this not to discourage people from following their dreams and trying their absolute hardest to craft a life of their dreams. On the contrary: go, dream, do. Make shit happen. Start that business. Bring on the magic.
But I also have experienced this myself and I can tell you that I’ve gotten 3 different part-time jobs since I started working for myself. Since I’ve been a coach, I’ve only had 4 months when I haven’t worked for another company. And throughout that entire time, I’ve also been co-running Teahouse.
It takes a lot of time and energy to make a business successful. And for most of us, the money required to really live off is more than a starter business brings in. For my first year of coaching, I earned a few thousand dollars coaching. Did I love it. Yes. Was that enough to cover my cost of living in the Bay Area? Oh hell no.
So I strategized. And I plotted. And I made choices for myself.
I chose to not be able to dedicate myself 100% to my coaching business. I simultaneously chose to be able to pay my bills while also choosing to put myself into a position where I didn’t have many days off, where burnout was rampant, where taking care of myself and my body took a backseat.
It was my dedication to my career and business that pushed me to make those choices. I chose a part-time job and some hustle over jumping headfirst into coaching. I am certain that if I had done that, I would have gotten myself into a financial bind.
Which would have forced me to take a full-time job. Which would have been the end of my coaching biz as I knew it.
For me, the learning was this:
Can making a goal to quit your day job be a powerful step? Yes.
Do you need a plan of how to proceed? Absolutely.
Does quitting your day job mean the end of working for “the man” ever? Probably not in most cases.
A fulfilling business is possible. It’s what I’ve created my business on, and it’s how I live my life. But I also know that it takes a lot more work than just “I want to quit my job.” and is more than just “Leap and the net will appear.”
Sometimes you need to spend time making your net, and the first step is learning to weave. So if you’re there, looking at other people’s nets, thinking about how beautiful they are and how you’ll never have a net like that for yourself, step back, look down at your own life, and figure out what your net will look like. Then you start creating, strand by strand.
It might feel like it’s taking forever but trust that you’ll get there. And the stronger those fibers are that you use, the more care you put into your craftsmanship, the more freely you’ll make that leap.
The net will appear because you created it. Like a boss. BAM.
PS. If your boss is a jerk, find another job. Yes, you can. Your choice to stay in a situation where you are treated unfairly is a poor choice.
PPS. Personal responsibility y'all. Let's all find some.
Reader Comments (10)
this is powerful. i love the image of weaving your own net - so important. xo
Amen. I feel like you nailed this so perfectly. This line is so spot on:
It is wholly irresponsible for the life-coaching-creative industry to be pushing people towards quitting their job as the answer to a happy life.
So right on! I've been thinking about blogging this topic myself because I see it often.
This is something I tell my clients all the time, the magic doesn't happen overnight. I think people telling those they can quit their jobs is not only irresponsible, but it will end up being heartbreaking for the client down the road.
They will think they failed and want to quit when in fact they didn't fail, their consultant or designer or whatever failed them. It's not failure to grow slowly, a slow growth is a more stable growth!
THIS. Yes. Part of my career change coaching work is talking people off the "I'll just quit my job today" ledge, or at least prepare them for what the leap will look like if they choose to take it. And coming to terms that brilliant careers don't come to people who need to be rescued by them.
I completely agree - it's really about a balance. Balance your expectations, you ability to take on more...your debt, your responsibilities...and make sure you sprinkle in lots of fun!
Really great net metaphor. And you're totally right.
Thanks again for your honest insight.
This landed in my rss feed right next to another blog post called, "I QUIT my day job - 34 month update." No joke! And your post was what I needed to hear. I'm feeling the pressure of looking at other people's nets, and you're right: I need to look down at my own, envision it, and start weaving...
I love common sense posts. Thank you for spreading good sense.
So true! I think it's important for people to know that for every artist/coach/blogger rock star who made a million dollars in their first year, there are a whole lot more of us who make a little money from our passion, work other jobs part-time and live happy, fulfilling lives. Thanks for this, Tiffany!
This is very much appreciated. I think any coach would be really upset to hear that a client or reader up and quit everything without a long term plan first. Sending out some resumes should be the solution not quitting the job just yet. Thanks for reminding us of this Tiffany!