My Wealthy Affiliate leap of faith for 2018 - I quit my day job
What are you here for?
- To make some extra money?
- To make a full time living?
- To make new friends?
- Or to fulfill our creative passions?
For most of us I suspect, the answer to the above question will be a mixture of all 4 answers and I'm sure there are many other reasons out there as well.
To me, joining Wealthy Affiliate back at the end of September 2017 was the end of a long search to find out what I really wanted to do. I have done many things in my life and I have always enjoyed them - and when that is no longer the case, I have taken the action necessary to change things.
I have always wanted to be a writer, in fact I spent almost 15 years of my life as a professional writer creating content for medical and commercial multimedia programs and websites, but I never really considered myself a 'writer' since I was always writing in a particular style, about a particular subject - never really about what I wanted to write about or in my own style.
Until now...
Since joining, I have truly found my vocation and I absolutely love it. I can't wait to get to my computer whenever I have time and I am here well into the wee small hours writing and communicating - it makes me feel alive in a way I haven't for quite a while. I'm passionate about my niche site and find that there are just not enough hours in the day to get all my ideas out.
Many of you know that I'm also a teacher in a secondary school, and I also run my own part-time performing arts school.
Unfortunately, recently the stress has cranked up at the secondary school due to a new headmaster and poor Ofsted report (not for my subject I hasten to add), and I have found myself finding it harder and harder to justify my time and effort there. So on Friday, I handed in my resignation and as of March 31st I will no longer be a teacher in the school. I spoke face-to-face with the headteacher and found a great sense of relief and calm as I knew this was the right thing to do, not because I'm making a full time income here at WA, I'm not. But my sense of calm, I believe, came from the realisation that I was not being true to the person I am now becoming, and that inconsistency was making me unhappy.
If you've followed any of my blogs or my niche website, which is all about the law of attraction and how to attract the things you truly want into your life by following your dreams, you will see that in order to stay authentic to myself, I had to take action and hence my leap of faith.
I firmly believe that I will be alright - that amazing new opportunities are, even as I write, making their way to me. And by focusing on the things that make me happy, I will manifest them into my life. What I needed to do, was to 'put my money where my mouth is' and set about creating my own life in the way I know I can, using all my knowledge, skills, trust and belief.
There will be doubters yes; my mother I'm sure, will be horrified, as will my sister, my colleagues and almost everyone else who knows me..............except when I told the students in my own performing arts school the news, they cheered. As did my own children who said "at least you'll be happy now mummy!"
I know I have many skills and options for earning money - Wealthy Affiliate is only one of them but I am now focused on my work here with such intensity that I can feel my excitement bubbling over.
Thank you all for your wonderful support - Wealthy Affiliate is truly a place to be yourself and I intend to make 2018 the best year ever in the life of Gail Lowe.
Life is for living, not for existing and I for one, intend to live by that mantra and reach out and grab it!
Watch this space......
Recent Comments
154
WOW Gail!! I can't wait to say the same thing. But I have to go back to work next week to a new job, but my goal is to only "HAVE" to do it for a year. Way to go, I admire you, most of your posts are saved in my inspiration folder.
Good Luck, Pam
Hi Pam. What a lovely thing to hear that you have saved some of my posts - that's made my day. Thank you, truly. I'm sure you will achieve all your goals and dreams too and you never know what is around the corner. I read your post about the new job so congratulations to you too. All things happen for a reason and there will be wonderful things for you in that scenario I'm sure of it. Best of luck. Gail
Congratulations, Gail. Quitting your full-time permanent job in order to pursue your ultimate passion in life Is a courageous act to do. I believe you will succeed in your online business because you are determined and fully committed to it. I admire your tenacity and as part of your WA network, I’m celebrating with you.
Cheers and wish you all the best in your online business!
Adel :)
Thank you Adel. I appreciate your faith in me and support. I'm just following my heart and I have to go where it leads! ;)
Have a wonderful day. Gail
WHOOO-HOOOO! Who cares what others think? As long as you know it is the right decision for you, that is all that counts! In the end, it is you that have to look yourself in the mirror every day, and that is by far the toughest person to please and the only person's values that really matters in the end. ;-) I'm very happy for you! Wishing you much success (and ice cream)! ;-) LOL!
Sharlee
@TeamIceCream
Thank you Sharlee - there can never be enough ice cream! I really appreciate your kind words of encouragement and totally agree about looking at yourself in the mirror - although I try to avoid that one too much! :) But I can't avoid the ME in my HEAD!
Take care, Gail
Oh wow Gail, that's huge!!!!
This is always a conversation at our place, but I can't quit yet. My husband had a huge job up until the middle of last year when he did what you did - just handed in his resignation and said 'no more' and he has been building his tech business from home ever since.
And then I found WA in late November last year, and I know it's what I want to do but I can't quit my job yet as we still haven't built up my husband's business enough yet. And I'm not making anything via my website yet. But I can dream. Like you, I feel I'm no longer being true to myself doing the job that I'm doing.
Sorry that turned into all about me when I'm meant to be congratulating you!! I think what you did is truly courageous and I commend you for doing it. Well done to you!! You must be feeling great. x
Thanks Melissa - I really appreciate your support and confidence in me. I will have to take one day at a time but I can do that, no problem. I'm so fired-up with my writing now, I can't tell you....Yeeehar! :)
A big congratulations Gail. You definitely did the right thing giving the circumstances. Life is not about the inconvenience, after all, we all have a short life to live.
Therefore live it at your best. I believe you can be more successful here at WA. I started Dec 26, 2017, and today I'm already earning income enough to be paying my subscription here at least.
If with my part-time job I have this, then you could much more now.
Cheers
peter
Thanks Peter, that's good to know that you are creating your own income too. I'm just following my heart and what makes me happy and trusting that the rest will follow - it's what I teach on my site so I really have to live it myself to be authentic. Thank you for taking the time to read and reply. All the best to you. Gail
Congratulations! My teaching job wears me out too, but I'm close to the finish line with three years left to go. I'm not willing to sacrifice a full pension and health benefits. Luckily I get a decent amount of vacation time and summers of to work on my niche sites. Good for you taking the plunge. It's inspirational to the rest of us.
Thanks for your kind words of support. I'm sure I'll make it work. I still love teaching but just not in a Secondary school - I much prefer my own performing arts school so that will also become more of a focus for me too. Thank you for taking the time to read and comment. I appreciate it. All the best to you today. Gail
Hello, Gail. Congratulations on your decision. Coming to that decision must have taken a load off your mind. I've wanted to do the same thing. I'm just not ready yet. I have 23 months left to reach my goal of retirement. I'm a little bit envious. I would love to be able to do this full time, I just don't have enough faith in myself to do it yet. I'm still learning and understanding what it is I'm actually doing, but I'll get there.
I've been following you, I'm confident you're going to do well. You're a natural. Now get out there and show us how it's done.
Wishing you all the best.
Don
Ah thank you Don. I really appreciate your kind words and your faith in me. Everyone has to follow their own path and I know you have commented a lot of my posts, always kindly and always with great support. I hope I can justify that faith. I will certainly try. I wish you a brilliant day. Gail
Good for you! I hope to write a post like this too, one day. I can not right now, not that I earn too little online, but I feel obligated to take care of my boys, they are part of our household, the eldest came when he was 2 years, and he's now 11, I can not throw away 9 years of daycare, he's here 5 days a week.
Thanks Loes. I understand the issue with caring for children too and one of the reasons I quit is that it was taking a toll on my children as well. All the best and I'm sure things will work out for both of us. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Gail
Wow! A very brave decision and one that I'm certain will work out well for you. Quite frankly, I don't know how you managed all of that together anyway, and the one thing that really puts me off being a teacher is the sheer amount of out-of-hours work, lesson planning, marking, reports etc etc. Good for you!!
Thanks Heather. I'm certain I won't be sitting back on my laurels as that's just not me so I'll probably put just as much stress on myself, but at least it will be of my own making! Thanks for your kind words. Gail
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Gail! So glad to hear that you are getting of the hamster wheel. My wife and I are also teachers, my wife a professor at a local university, and I can tell you that it isn't just the university you teach at with problems. It is systemic across the country. The good news is that you can now continue to "teach" your own things without having to worry about pleasing a headmaster or a committee.
Whew!!
My wife and I are doing the same thing this year!
Feels good!
Congratulations!
Hi William. Thanks for your kind and encouraging words. Always good to hear from you. I agree about the education system. It seems to just be turning into something that I could no longer fully support even though I'm a teacher at heart. There has to be a better way and I believe that we are in a transition period whereby new things are emerging that will mean the powers that be will have to take a long hard look at what we've been doing. Unfortunately in the UK, in my opinion, they seem to have taken us back to the 1950s rather than forward into the 21st century! Oh well, as you say, now I don't have to try to fit all those round pegs into square holes!
All the best with your own journey too and thank you again for your support. Gail