How I Escaped My 9-5 Job and So Can You

I LEFT MY 9-5 AND COULDN’T BE HAPPIER

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I remember graduating from high school and realizing that the next 30 or so years of my life would be spent first, working, so I could afford to continue my education, and second, once I had achieved the desired level of education, so I could work some more. 

This notion absolutely deflated me. I felt lost, sad, and just plain helpless. I wanted to find my purpose, my passion!

It felt as if life was happening around me, to me, and the truth was, IT WAS, and I WAS ALLOWING IT!

I was waiting for good things to come my way, hoping that all my dreams would just magically come true and allowing my anxiety to consume my every waking moment when they didn’t.

I woke up one morning and realized that I was in a field that I absolutely loathed. I was feeling unfulfilled, unchallenged, and just down about life.

It was a terrible realization. I had a lovely house, my sweet kitties, and an absolutely amazing husband.

Still, Every morning was like dragging myself out of a bucket of drying cement.

I remember thinking, Do I really need this job? When my alarm would blare each and every morning. I felt like a caged animal, and I wanted out!

I WOKE UP

I don’t remember the exact moment when it all clicked, I just know it was sometime in the fall, around November of 2017.

Somehow it all began to fit into place. I saw other’s living their best lives, and I was envious.

If they could do it, then undoubtedly, I could as well. The only one holding me back from success, from all my dreams, WAS ME!

Don’t get me wrong; there were many doubts and so many excuses, but bit by bit, I began to chip away at my fears and uncertainties, and slowly, I began to take the steps necessary to achieve my goals. 

I FINALLY TOOK ACTION 

Once I took back my power and owned that I was 100% in control of how I reacted and the steps I took when facing obstacles in my life, everything changed.

The most frustrating thing was, it was as simple as altering my mindset and a few bad habits. 

The four major steps to altering your mindset and achieving your dreams I wish I had learned sooner.

Step 1: 

Skip the excuses

In order to make any progress, I had to ditch the excuses. Which wasn’t easy in the beginning.

I had grown so used to lies I was telling myself, that they had begun to feel like reality.

It was so easy to make excuses for why I was unhappy, or why certain dreams were impossible, but they were just that, excuses.

“You’re only one decision away from a completely different life.”

Mel Robins

Step 2

Expel self-doubt 

I think this step was the hardest for me.

When I first decided I wanted to work from home, I didn’t know how I was going to do it, just that I had to break away from the monotony of the 9-5 grind.

I had found a couple of promising jobs working from home, but my fear consumed me.

What if they didn’t work out? What if I couldn’t make enough? What if I wasn’t a good fit for the position? 

So I drug my feet for nearly six months before applying for one of the positions, and you know what?

I didn’t get it. 

But you know who did get the position? My husband. 

Though I felt shattered by the rejection, after all, I had spent nearly 6 months preparing and researching for the job.

Meanwhile, my husband had winged his last-minute interview and made it. It was definitely hard, but I was so happy for him.

He absolutely deserved the change of pace, and having him home meant we were 1 step closer to the life we had always dreamed of. 

I received an email from the company stating that I was free to reapply in 3 months.

It was at this moment that I wanted to break down, to give up.

Clearly, I wasn’t good enough, but I remembered my new zero excuses policy, and so I continued to prepare, and I tried again in 3 months, and you know what?

This time they said YES! 

I almost didn’t reapply, I worried and fretted over the rejection I was sure would come again, but it never did.

I passed the interview, and a year and a half later have climbed to the top of the company! 

Another excellent example of this was when my husband and I had the chance to buy a lovely property overlooking a nature reserve from one of our close relatives.

We had been married about two years at this point and had just hit the 1-year mark of living in our first home. 

We so desperately wanted to purchase the property, but it was very much up there in price.

We called our mortgage company only to be told no. It would be far too challenging to get a second property at our age (we were 23 at the time) and as new 1099 workers, practically impossible.

This was disheartening, but I was determined not to take no for an answer.

So we called around. I think we called upwards of 6 mortgage companies before 1 said YES!

We were thrilled!

They told us they could finance the home, but it would take 3 months to do so. Well, that wasn’t good enough.

So we called back the first mortgage company (the one we had our first home through) and told them what this new company had said.

We were absolutely shocked when their answer shifted, they financed it in less than 1 month. 

Well, it’s two years later, and we own two homes and have just been preapproved for our third!

Step 3

Set short term goals for success 

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to set short-term goals!

Now, what exactly is a short-term goal?

A short-term goal is usually a goal you wish to accomplish in the near future.

For me, a short-term goal is something I’d like to achieve in about 6 months or less. 

Often our long-term goals fall to the wayside because they seem so far away! 

I find that breaking my goals down into short-term goals helps aid the speed at which I can accomplish them. Which keeps me from losing motivation.

I find a good rule of thumb is, find some way to progress your short-term goals every day, no matter how small the task. 

Ask yourself every day, WHAT HAVE I DONE TO PROGRESS MY DREAMS TODAY?

And on days when this seems too difficult, refer back to step 1!

Step 4

Just do it

As Nike so wonderfully put it, “JUST DO IT!”

We often miss opportunities because we hesitate, we take too much time to mull things over.

We allow fear and doubt to talk us out of the things we know we should be doing. 

Once I shifted my attitude and started doing the things I knew would bring me closer to achieving the life I always wanted, EVERYTHING CHANGED!

I made small changes at first, like going to the gym for 25 minutes 5 days a week, meditating every morning, taking a course on something I was interested in, or putting away a portion of my paycheck into savings.

Over time these things have become regular habits, and I barely have to think about them anymore. 

And you know what?

My dreams of getting in shape, working for myself, being in charge of my time, and traveling, well, they aren’t just dreams anymore.  

I recommend starting simple, maybe choosing 1 or 2 small things at first.

Find a way to implement these new habits into your routine and just try your best.

We all struggle with keeping goals, don’t be too hard on yourself. The most important thing to remember is that even if you have a bad day, there is always tomorrow.

You just need to keep going because with consistency, you will get there. 

One book that completely changed my life when it came to motivating myself into action was “The 5 Second Rule” by Mel Robbins.

Absolutely life-changing!

If you haven’t read it yet, you need to. This book helped spur me into action, and it’s a large part of the reason we took the plunge and purchased two homes.

It also helped me conquer my fears when it came to quitting that job I hated to work from home. 

I can promise you that a year from now, you will wish you had started today.

“Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right.’ Start where you stand and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.”

George Herbert

SO…

Stop waiting! 

I can honestly say once I stopped waiting for good things to come my way and actually put in the hard work, I felt happier, confident, and more fulfilled.

I felt in control of my life. Things were no longer just happening as I watched helplessly. 

HOW CAN YOU APPLY THESE STEPS IN YOUR OWN LIFE?

Ask yourself these questions, 

1. What is my goal?
2. What is stopping me from achieving this goal? 
3. What can I do to eliminate this obstacle?

It’s okay to break down every goal using these questions.

Once you have asked yourself these hard questions, it is time to formulate a game plan based on the results.

Let’s say your goal is to publish a book, 

1. What is my goal? I want to publish a book.  
2. What is stopping me from achieving this goal? Let’s say it’s time and finances. 
3. What can I do to eliminate this obstacle? Hmm, well, I can get up an hour earlier during the week, so I can write before work, and as for the finances, I can put a small portion of my paycheck into savings each month. 

Now obviously, this isn’t a real scenario, but you get the picture. It’s okay to get super creative with your problem-solving. In fact, I recommend it! 

Now that we have defined your goal and any potential setbacks, now it’s time to focus on what can be done daily to progress this goal. 

But before we do that, we need to set up a time frame in which we will complete our goal.

Our brains actually prefer short-term goals.

When we complete tasks, our minds celebrate the small victory by releasing bits of dopamine. Thus resulting in us feeling happy and more motivated to produce a similar result in the future.

Setting short-term goals helps us set out and actually accomplish our more critical long-term goals. 

So let’s say 4 months from today, you want to have completed your book’s manuscript.

Now we have our time frame of 4 months.

So for the next 4 months, you will be working on progressing toward this short-term goal you have set with daily steps. 

Now it is time to come up with a list of things you need to accomplish to reach your goal.

So let’s say,

1. I will commit to writing for 1 hour every morning. (Not saying you can’t write for longer or at other times in the day. Just that you are committing to writing for at least 1 hour every day for the next 4 months.)
2. I will research and download some sort of grammar software to aid with my edits this week.
3. I will decide upon a title for my book by the end of the month. 

Now that you have set these 3 tasks, you have a much more solid direction for this goal. It feels more tangible. You know when you will be achieving this dream. 

Now sure, there are so many more steps that go into becoming a published author, but breaking them down helps your mind stay focused instead of getting lost in the mess of a never-ending to-do list. 

So don’t be afraid to break it down! Start small and build up. 

NOW GET OUT THERE AND ACCOMPLISH!

Your mindset is everything! Stop doubting yourself, stop dreaming about what your life could be, and make that change you have been so hesitant to make.

Because it could be that one thing waiting to change your entire life.

Keep pushing, keep trying, because you have only failed once you have given up. 

I know it isn’t easy, but it is possible.

IN CLOSE

I wrote this article because I wanted to get real and share what I wish I had learned much earlier.

It’s crazy that such small things can create such a massive impact. I wanted to help others who may need that extra little push to dare to live the life they have always wanted. 

Want to learn more about working for yourself and achieving your best life?

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What are things you like to implement in your own life to help you better achieve your goals?

I’d love to know. Let me know in the comments below! 

Have a bright day!