Why I Quit My Job…Even Though I Said I Could Never Be Self-Employed

Here’s something I never thought I’d write — why I quit my job.

So…ya. I’ve been keeping some pretty crazy news from you for the past two months. This November, I made the bittersweet decision to leave my job.

I say bittersweet because that’s exactly how it felt. I quit because I knew it was the best decision for my career, my happiness, and my future. But that doesn’t mean it was an easy decision by any means. It was absolutely one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever met, right up there with moving to a new city over 3 years ago.

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What made it even harder was that this decision was not premeditated. 2016 was a game-changing year in terms of my side business, but I thought I had about a year left at my 9 to 5 before I took the plunge into self-employment. But I think I told myself one more year because I was terrified of becoming self-employed.

Why I Never Thought Self-Employment Was for Me

If you remember my podcast episode with my husband, then you’ll know that I never thought I’d become self-employed. He’s been self-employed for a decade now and I’ve been there for all the ups and downs. I know working for yourself and starting your own business is not easy, and that’s why I think I was always afraid to do it.

My biggest fear is failure, and there was no risk of that when I just kept my side business as something I did on my off hours. It didn’t matter how much money I made. I was just having fun and wanted to see how far I could take it.

Then a few months ago I realized something. There was just no way I could continue living life as it was.

What Made Me Change My Mind

My side business had turned into a full-time business that I would spend every night and weekend on. My schedule was so packed, that I literally had to set a reminder on my phone to go to bed. I was exhausted all the time, not getting enough sleep, and not paying attention to my health or fitness, and it was putting a strain on my relationships. I write and preach about adding more balance to your life, but I had zero on my own!

So I took a good look at my two jobs and told myself I needed to choose one or the other. And after a lot of careful thought, I realized that if I really wanted to pursue my dreams and not live with any regrets, I had to choose to be my own boss.

This past Friday was my last day actually. It was weird because I’d given two months’ notice to make it an easy transition (and to make a few extra paycheques), so I feel like I’ve been saying goodbye to people since early November.

But I said my final goodbye last week, and this week is the start of my journey as a true entrepreneur.

What’s funny about me writing that last sentence is that a week before I handed in my notice, I read a line from Gary Vaynerchuk’s book #AskGaryVee that said you can’t be a true entrepreneur with a full-time job. I didn’t even finish the book (still haven’t), I just read the first chapter! But that line was the answer I was looking for. It was confirmation that even though quitting my job was a big risk if I wanted to have my own business, it’s what I had to do.

And I knew that at a certain point I’d have to do it, but I just thought I had a bit more time. I wanted to see if I could match my side business income to my full-time income first, or just save a bit more money.

But looking back at the past year, I know in my gut that the timing is right. And once I made the decision to quit and handed in my notice, I wasn’t worried anymore. I felt at peace. Like a wave of relief washed over me.

So What Does My New Journey into Entrepreneurship Look Like?

So you might be wondering what my plans are for my business now that I’m doing this thing full-time. Well, it’s three-fold right now.

First, continue with the blog, podcast, YouTube channel, and brand. It’s what’s allowed me to afford to leave my day job, and it’ll help me pay the bills until my other projects take off.

The other two projects I’ve got in the works are a money coaching service and an online fitness and finance course that I’ll be launching with my business partner Jaclyn Phillips.

I really did want to make a YouTube video to announce this big news, but as fate would have it as soon as I got home from my last day of work I got sick and lost my voice. But I did luckily record a podcast episode before that which will go up this Thursday (make sure to subscribe on iTunes or SoundCloud so you don’t miss it!).

That’s all I’ve got to say for now, but I’ll be documenting everything right here because I’m sure it will be quite the ride.