Share a 3-Year Plan With Your Family Before You Quit Your 9–5
Let me show you how
“Well, I’ve got something to show you.”
I dug out the folded sheet of paper and handed it to my mum. She put her glasses on. “What’s this?”
I took a deep breath. “I’m leaving my job — and this is my plan.”
She looked up. “Okay...”
I explained all. It’s a plan I’ve been working towards for the last two years. She knows this. Rich does too.
They know I make money through online courses. They know I make money from writing.
What they didn’t know is just how miserable I am in my day job.
Selling products I don’t give a f*ck about. Pointless meetings. The boredom.
It’s sucking my soul.
After reading through my plan — to travel the world and be financially independent — they both smiled.
I had their blessing.
Before I show you the plan, let’s give kudos to Amar…
My good friend Amar suggested a three-year plan.
When he quit his consulting job, he wanted to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. Any potential pitfalls that could trip him up when he went freelance.
So he delivered a presentation to his family.
It outlined what he planned to do with his time, how he’d replace his income, and the methods he’d use.
His family gave him feedback.
It’s a process that inspired me. I didn’t go down the PowerPoint route, but I did want my parents to check.
They know me better than anyone — particularly my mum. If I missed anything, she would spot it.
So here’s the plan.
Three years on a sheet of A4
Below you’ll see the Google doc I shared with them.
Here’s a link in case you want to copy it.
Let me break it down:
The Overview is a financial snapshot. It also describes two scenarios: likely and unlikely.
The likely scenario is what I think will happen in the next 12 months.
The unlikely one is if my plans crash and burn.
Our brains sniff for danger. That’s why it’s important to do what Tim Ferriss calls “fear-setting”. Your fears will keep knocking if you don’t answer them.
Here’s how it works.
Pin down your fears by listing ten of the worse things that could happen. Next, list ten ways you could prevent the worse things from happening. Finally, list ten ways you could repair each bad thing.
You can be as detailed as you want on this. The deeper you go, the better. The two scenarios I wrote down capture an hour’s worth of fear-setting.
The last section details the main goals I’ll be working towards in the next three years.
And that’s it.
Now I do have a more detailed short-term plan. (More details coming up.) However, I don’t know all the details for the next three years. Just the broad strokes.
Plan but don’t over plan. You lose excitement for something when you know all the answers.
“If you start out by promising what you don’t even have yet, you’ll lose your desire to work toward getting it.’”
— Paulo Coelho
This is just a summary…
There are a few things I should stress:
- I’ve been working towards financial independence for the last two years. When I first started, I didn’t know how to make money online. I just committed to posting content. Act like you don’t need the money and opportunities will come your way.
- I have a detailed six-month plan. This digs below the surface of a three-years summary. I attended Google University to put this in place. The plan details what I need to do each week to hit my six-month goals.
- Not everything will work. I’ve published six courses on Udemy. Two have completely bombed. This is why going part-time is an underrated life choice. It gives you a cushion as you transition from the corporate world to solopreneuring.
Don’t let these reminders stop you.
Just be aware that people will question you. They’ll chip away at your decision, fuelling your doubt. You’ll start to question yourself.
This is why you need to pair your confidence with results.
Give yourself a 12-month runway to experiment and make money online. There are so many options. Freelance writing, online courses, Notion templates, ebooks, eBay flipping — you name it.
The jump from $1 to $10,000 isn’t as big as you might think.
It also helps to have 12 months of savings in the bank. (Six months might be enough for you.)
Bring all these things together.
You’ll be unstoppable.
Takeaways
The best way to gain support is to bring people along for the ride.
Share your plans with your family and friends. They don’t have to be super detailed. You just want to show them that you’ve thought things through. That you have a map.
This is where a three-year plan comes in.
At a minimum, try the following:
- Show your current financial situation — Do you have savings in the bank? Are you making money online? If so, is this enough to cover your bills? How will you scale it?
- Describe your best-case and worst-case scenarios — Be realistic. Tackle any doubts you have with the fear-setting practice.
- Write down your main goals for the next three years — Draw up a separate six-month plan after attending Google University.
The time is now.
Go get it!
Want to ditch the 9–5? Get my free 19-page guide: Everything I Did to Quit My 9–5 Job & Transition Into Profitable, Sustainable Solopreneuring :)