As most of you know, I left my day job last year and I now work for myself in my home.
I quit in September of 2013 and my last day was in October, and not once have I looked back and regretted the decision I made to leave my day job.
Below are reasons for why I knew I could not continue working for someone else. My day job was not fun at all, but I understand that it paid the bills. Just like how freelancing isn’t for everyone, my day job was definitely not for me…
I absolutely dreaded Sundays and Mondays.
Sundays were horrible because I knew that I had work the next day. Mondays were horrible because I actually had to go to a job that was so incredibly boring, but also stressful, that I didn’t know what to even do with myself.
I also had no one to talk to because I worked independently, and even when I met with clients they were all older businessmen. So not only was the work horrible, but there was no social life at the company or in the industry as well.
Since switching to my freelancing business full-time, I actually look forward to each and every single day. I look forward to any new leads, and to also work for my current clients. I also enjoy everything I do! And, even though I work from home, I have a much better social life than I did when I had my day job – I talk to other freelancers, friends and family pretty much all day long.
My vacations were okay, but I knew they could be better and longer.
At my day job, I did receive a fair amount of vacation time. I can’t remember the exact amount (I have a horrible memory), but I believe I received around 3 weeks each year.
However, just because I was on vacation it did not mean that I didn’t have to work.
The work would just pile up on my desk until the day I came back, and I would have to work outside of my normal 8a.m. to 5:30p.m. hours to catch up after a vacation. Also, the days leading up to a vacation were just as stressful because all of the work that had to be done before I left.
I was on track to be Vice President of the company, and I knew with that came even more responsibilities. I would have to be on-call 24/7, and being on-call 24/7 with the boring/stressful work kind of made me want to cry.
Those 3 weeks above also included any sicknesses, family emergencies and more, so you can easily see how quickly it all added up whenever things came up in life.
My side income was higher than my day job income.
Once my side income was higher than my day job, it was very hard to stay motivated at my day job. I knew that if my side income grew any further, that sacrificing my happiness was not worth it any longer to be working in an industry that I did not enjoy.
I saw others around me hating their jobs.
After landing my first “professional” job after college, I started noticing more and more about how others perceived their jobs. I saw how much others genuinely hated their jobs and what they did, and I could see it controlling them completely.
I knew I did not want that. I saw the opportunity that my side hustles gave me, and I jumped on that. I wanted to do something different, with the hope/dream that it would all work out, because anything was better than my current situation.
I wasn’t in control.
With my day job, I did not feel in control at all. Even though I was a good worker (I was great!), I still felt like I was constantly tiptoeing around.
I knew I would never lose my job, but I also didn’t know what was in store for my future.
Now, I feel way more in control since I am my own boss. I can dictate what I want to do, what I don’t want to do, and when I want to do it all. I can create a flexible schedule that works best for me, and I can grow my business in the ways that I desire to.
I knew I couldn’t continue wasting their time and mine.
My heart just wasn’t in the work that I did.
The job I had may be for some, but I still can’t believe I got myself into that mess.
I knew I couldn’t waste any more of their time since I knew I wasn’t in it for the long haul. I was wasting both their time and mine by continuing to work there.
Do you ever want to work for yourself? Why or why not?
P.S. I received my inspiration for this post from Holly. Last month, Holly at Club Thrifty published the article Why I Would Rather Be Poor Than Work for Someone Else. It was an awesome article, and I knew I wanted to do a followup article to hers…
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