I Resigned a Year Ago. Here Are 3 Things I’ve Learned.

It changed the way I’ll view ‘work’ forever.

A year ago, I resigned from my 9–5 at 24 years old with under 3 years of work experience. Adding to that, it was during the bat virus when people around me were losing jobs.

What a stupid decision, right?

But I wish I could tell you how I felt while working. I constantly felt I’m in the wrong place. Nothing interested me or energised me enough to give in my 100%. I was uninspired and bored.

I didn’t understand the corporate sector either. The data crunching and PowerPoints, stepping on others to climb up at snail’s pace and get adequate money only a few years later.

Made no sense.

And after overdosing on self-improvement related stuff and actually implementing the learnings thanks to work-from-home that gave us more time, I felt I’m capable of so much more.

It felt like a superpower.

So I left the ‘safe job’.

It’s been nine months since then and a year since I handed in my resignation. Here’s what I’ve learned.

Lesson 1: True contentment lies in being of service to others.

Nobody makes money because they want money.

And no amount of money will make you as happy as creating impact.

Luckily, I already worked very hard on making mindset shifts while I side-hustled during my 9–5. I worked on creating a ‘growth mindset’ which says there’s enough for everybody.

I also prioritised value over vanity metrics like followers, likes, or money.

“Connect, create meaning, make a difference, matter, be missed.” — Seth Godin

This helped me when I went all-in into my side hustle because I didn’t care as much about making money or hitting followers as much as I did about being valuable to my audience.

When people DM you about how you’ve helped them, that will completely change how you view your ‘work’.

Lesson 2: We all have the force in us to live the life we desire.

What is stopping you? Most of the time, it’s you.

It’s the easiest for us to sabotage our own success. Think of:

• “That person just got lucky.”
• “I don’t think I’m capable of it.”

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.” — Henry Ford

And most of the time, there’s a lack of desire. You don’t believe that your life will change because everybody around you follows the same pattern for education, work, and family.

Yet you envy those who live differently?

They’re not lucky. They believe in the possibility.

And then they work to make it happen. They bridge the gap between their current state and their desires.

Become more self-aware via meditation or journaling, read, learn from people, and implement. The tools and techniques already exist, but you have to put in the work.

Or whine, and stay the same.

Lesson 3: When you become ridiculously good at your skill, the numbers flow in.

These numbers can be followers, likes, money — whatever makes your orgasm.

Since I worked on my mindset shifts during side hustling for 10 months, I knew that I have zero control over the results, so worrying about it is self-sabotage again.

But I have control over my process, my output, and learning and improving my skill. And when that's good enough, everything else will follow.

And it did.

“To double your income, triple your investment in self-development.” — Robin Sharma

It’s when I hit millions of views on LinkedIn, built an audience on Twitter, and made good five figures on Medium in my first year.

It all comes your way when you’re least expecting it.

Focus on what's in your control and don’t get too attached to the outcome. It’ll make you excellent at your skill but also keep you mentally sane.

How It’s Been So Far

There’ve been ups and downs.

Clients abruptly ending contracts, and lots of anxiety coupled with self-doubt.

There was also a time when I became too ambitious with everything going well and realised I have to choose sanity over scaling up.

But the direction has only been uphill even with the pitfalls.

I never in my dreams imagined I’ll sell a product or have it in me to have cohort-based courses that people enjoy. But it happens.

The creator economy has made me realise that the world is a platter of opportunities. There’s so much you can do!

It’s been one ride that I’m grateful for everyday.

Lastly

Taking gigantic leaps in life is always scary.

There’s one life, and we all have a choice on how we want to live it. It won’t always be an easy choice or the one people around you agree with, but you deserve to live how you want to and be happy.

However, you also ought to be of service to those around you.

If you can improve somebody’s life or help them in some way, why would you keep that away?

Grow and help others grow. Whatever you do, keep the greater good in your mind.

It’s good to aim to make money, but also have the right intention behind it.

It’ll be a life you’ll live with greater contentment and happiness.

You can create that life.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” — Mark Twain

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