I Quit My Career to Pursue a Dream
**Updated Sept. 2018: My business has GROWN! I’m still working for myself (and making real money) ! Read how it all started below.
I LEFT MY JOB, QUIT MY CAREER, TO PURSUE A DREAM AND CONTROL MY OWN DESTINY.
My full family coverage health insurance is now gone. My 13% retirement contribution from my employer has stopped. My unbeatable job security has gone to no job security at all. And my guaranteed monthly income? Well, I don't even know what I will be making tomorrow, let alone a month from now.
Me, the most responsible, money saving, job security "preacher" ...just threw it all down the drain.
I LEFT MY JOB AND I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER.
I was always considered the "career" girl. Have a set path, education, and secure job. That's what I thought I wanted. But things have changed, I don't want that at all anymore.
I swapped that lifestyle out to be a freelance writer. Now, I can literally work anywhere in the world. I spend my days hustling for work, self-learning, and making connections I never dreamed I could make. It hasn't been easy, but it's been beyond exciting.
How did I get to this point? By taking chances.
But in reality, I was running a regular job, side business, and not sleeping, one had to go.
MY PRE-FREELANCE CAREER
I use to work as a mesonet technician at a university. It was a great position, with full family health insurance, very respectable pay, and the world's best retirement plan. In the eyes of many, you couldn't ask for a better career.
The variety of work at my old career.
I changed.
I use to think that security, money, and owning things was what it was all about. But at some point in the last year of my life, I've had a revelation. Money and job security don't guarantee fulfillment, and that the only one responsible for making the most out of my own life is well... me.
Doing the same thing for 40 years? I don't think I can.
Most importantly, If I'm not happy, that's my fault, and it's my job to do something about it.
When I'm dead, nobody will care about the money I saved, the place I worked, or the benefits package I had. What matters is how I feel about my life before that time comes.
Traveling has shown me just how different life can be.
Too late can truly be too late to pursue your passions.
I love quoting Mark Twain, and I most certainly won't stop now. His famous line:
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor."
is a great way to explain just how I feel.
No more long days on the road, no more decisions being made for me by "superiors" (I hate when organizations use that word, but thats how it was), and no more feeling inferior because I'm a technician and not a policy manager. I deserve more than that and I'm OK with saying it.
It wasn't that my job, or my life, wasn't good, it was that it wasn't good enough for me. I've dreamt of more since as long as I can remember. I've always wanted to do something different, something with recognition, and something that makes me feel fulfilled. Self-driven is my middle name, and when I started running out of self-drive, I knew it was time to make a change, and make one now.
I know, your next comment is "Why didn't you just find a different full-time job?"
People do it all of the time, leave one job for another whether it be for political, personal, or promotional reasons.
But I didn't want that, I want to be in control of my career. I still have forty years of work ahead of me. This ends up being approximately 118,600 hours of my life and I don't want to spend it listening to somebody boss me around.
“I want to take a chance on me and my dreams. ”
All of those nomads traveling around that you hear about? They are probably doing one of the following things. This will be exactly what I will be doing.
Freelance Writing and Marketing
Writing content and promoting it for different companies (currently my main stream of income).
Sponsored Posts
Creating promotions and reviews for products.
Blog Affiliates
If there is something I love, I recommend it and get a piece of the profit if you love it too!
Blog Advertisements
There may, at one point, be advertisements on my site. We will see how hard up for money I get ;) (*2018 update - haven’t needed advertising!)
Selling Products and Services
Interested in freelance writing or blogging? If all goes well, I'd eventually like to lay out a perfect plan for you to follow so you can do the same thing, at an affordable price!
Most importantly, I want to decide my future, my potential and show off my abilities.
So how did this all start?
When I went stir crazy this winter and started investing in myself and my side project. That was the best chance I took of all... investing my hard earned money into something that started making me feel fulfilled again. A side writing business.
You can read more about my endeavors with starting a business in this post:
All of that, in combination with meeting some amazing people who have pursued their passion before anything, finally sealed the deal.
The best part of all? Working from home, working hard, and being able to use my most productive times of the day to be productive :)
I woke up realizing I made the best decision of my life.
Here is to controlling my own future, my own fate, and pushing my limits... because for me, too late isn't going to be too late.
