How to Quit Your Day Job June 7, 2011ArchivesOff

Work in Progress

How to Quit Your Day Job

By Michelle Ward

I see you in your cubicle: bored to tears at best and stressed out/depressed/anxious at worst. I see you because, well, I was you. When I decided at the ripe old age of 27 that I didn’t want to pursue acting as my career any longer (which was my dream since the age of six), I realized I needed to find a new career that I could light me up.

Although I wasn’t too optimistic, I put the pedal to the metal and – to make a long story short – discovered life coaching. While I was mad at myself at finding yet another entrepreneurial endeavor, I knew (a) it was my next passionate career and (b) I needed a plan to make it happen so I wouldn’t fall flat on my face, fast. Two years and seven months later, I was a certified, full-time life coach with a five-month “severance” (that I gave myself) and a steady stream of clients. Here’s how I did it, and how you can, too:

Really find what you want do when you ‘grow up.’
Why? Well, because if you’re not 100% behind it, you’re not going do it – it’s too hard otherwise. I “balanced” a 50-hour-a-week executive assistant job with becoming a certified life coach, working with clients, building and marketing my business, getting engaged and married, not losing all my friends and yes, getting a full night’s sleep. You don’t need to give up your entire life, but you will need to prioritize and devote most of your free time to building your business, or concentrating on finding a new position. If you’re not fully committed to it, it’s just not going to happen.

Get a job that won’t make you want to shoot yourself in the face.
When I knew I was going to be a life coach and that it wasn’t going to happen next month (or next year!), I knew I needed to get far away from the abusive boss who made me psychosomatic. Before I even applied to get my coaching certification, I focused on getting a new full-time job – one without the screaming manager, be-available-at-all-times Blackberry and worthless travel. I updated my resume, met with half-a-dozen or more recruiters and secured a job with strict 9-to-6 hours (you had to explain yourself if you worked overtime), no travel, a nicer manager, full benefits and even an annual bonus. While it wasn’t my dream job, I accepted right away and started life coaching classes the same month.

Figure out your escape plan.
That is, the things/money you’ll need in place in order to feel like you don’t have to start waiting tables next week to make ends meet. For me, it was a solid web presence, a steady stream of consultation calls coming in (so people knew I existed) and enough money in the bank to give myself a severance. I didn’t have a particular number in mind, but I decided to save every penny I made from coaching to a separate, not-to-be-touched account. In December of 2009, I realized I had more people interested in working with me than I had time to work with them, and once I got my bonus that March, I would have five months-worth of my salary saved up. I knew then and there that my escape from corporate America would be effective, and that made all the difference.

Accept that it’s not going to happen overnight.
When I told people I was going to work for myself full-time, they acted like I had won the lottery, cashed in on an inheritance or met a genie. In actuality, I worked [nonstop] for almost three years, and I wouldn’t trade that building-up-my-business-securely time for anything.

Work every day towards making it happen.
Baby steps are the most underrated. Even if you “just” have 30 minutes a day to work on your new career, that adds up to almost three hours each week – not chump change! I firmly believe that baby steps build a strong foundation and get you far, so don’t discount them or try to rush through them – you’ll have to take steps backwards in the end.

I’ve been a full-time entrepreneur for 15 months, have worked with more than 130 clients and am on track to make more this year than I did working for corporate America (in finance, no less!). Take both the baby steps and your dreams seriously, and you’ll be able to tell that day job to eat your dust.

Michelle Ward is a certified life coach and musical theater actress with a BFA from NYU/Tisch. Get more info at her website, whenigrowupcoach.com.

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