Quitting is hard, but so liberating

byCHattery

211 followers

Updated 9 years ago

"I'm freakin' out, man!"

I am... a little. I finally put in my two week notice at my stable, full-time job at a company that's got 15 years under it's belt to go work for a group of young, rogue internet marketers with questionable tactics.

I'm a little crazy. I'm surprised I was able to get my wife's blessing, I barely have a plan B. This is one of the negative attributes of being an opportunist.

I've been working with these guys as their web designer and programmer since June. I've actually learned a bit about affiliate/online marketing, adwords/sense, content writing and a few other things from them. They're growing fast and ready to bring me on as their full-time developer. I'm really excited. I've enjoyed everything I've worked on for them. Even when a few nights I was up til 3am and 4am working on their sites knowing I had to be at my main job at 9am. I'm driven.

Part of it is wanting to succeed, to look good in their eyes, to be the person that saved their small company 'x' amount of dollars. They speak highly of me and I'm probably just a bit high from the ego boost. ... but I NEED this.

They're paying me a decent salary. It's less than I'm making now, but I only need to work 30 hours a week for them. It's also 10 minutes from my home. I'll be gaining an extra 3.7 hours a day to work on my freelance work and niche sites. (added to the 4ish evening hours I already have) So, ultimately, my earning potential has increased. More importantly, I'll be able to spend more time with my wife and 8 mo old son.

I feel free. I feel nervous. But, I've been worse off before. Right now, I feel like I have everything I need, and everything in place to become a real success finally. I have people other than just me counting on it. Maybe, that's the push I needed after all these years of trying to work the internet.

I bought a book on Amazon a few month ago that I have YET to read. It's called 10/10/10. The title and tagline are so powerful, that I didn't even need to read it.
10 Minutes
10 Months
10 Years
When you have an important decision to make, about love, home, work... anything, you run it through this filter. "How will this affect me in 10 minutes, 10 months and 10 years?"

I like to work a little faster than that though, so I think in 5's. The decision I made today, to tell my boss I was leaving the company, made me feel horrible. I was actually too scared to tell him face to face. I wrote him an email, outlining my decision and forming an exit strategy. I hit send, started sweating, breathing more rapid.... I had to calm down. Fortunately, there was a bar nearby. But, the first 5 minutes sucked. hard.

5 months from now, I may still be aware of the negative effects of my decision. I might be in a tighter financial situation. My new company may fold and I'll be out of a job. Positives: I more than likely will have the flexibility to be home to watch my son take his first steps! (I'm an optimist too.)

5 years from now, I intend to have success that I've never had before. I'm on a whole new financial path. I'm exploring what it's like to work for myself, and to be more involved with decisions about how I make my money and spend my time. I hope the decisions I've made today and in 5 months enhance my life in 5 years.

This is an exciting time. Thank you for starting this journey with me. Let's grow together into the people we know we can be when limitations of time and money don't hinder our actions and restrict the people we should be.