The Exact Process I Followed to Quit My 9–5
Feel free to steal it.
This is a brutally honest piece on the exact process I followed to quit my 9–5.
My reasons for quitting my job weren’t to work less or ‘retire by 40’.
On the contrary, I love what I do. I wouldn’t want to sit all day and do nothing. There’s something addictive about adding value to the world in your own way.
But I quit because I felt like a misfit. I felt I didn’t belong in a traditional job. The entire process of climbing up the ladder, working for too long (in India we work 10–12 hours easily), and office politics was unappealing.
All that for a tiny hike? Didn’t make sense to me.
Deep inside, I felt there was something else for me. But like always, I didn’t believe in myself.
There was a void, and side hustling helped me fill that in and open a world of opportunities.
Steal my process if this is one of your goals.
#1 Find What You Can Enjoy, BUT, as Work
I don’t mind crunching some data in Excel, but it’s not particularly enjoyable.
I like to paint sometimes, but I wouldn’t want to do it for a living.
This is the reason following your passion may not be brilliant advice. It puts pressure on you and kills the joy out of what you enjoy.
I enjoyed writing since I was 7 and it kind of came easy to me. So I knew I could give this a shot.
Don’t know what to do?
Hop onto Fiverr and browse skills you can get paid for. Hop onto YouTube or Skillshare (if you’re willing to invest) and learn that skill.
There’s so much knowledge on the internet. You truly have no excuses!
#2 Find Multiple Blueprints
Right now, you are reading my blueprint. This could be because I’m somewhat close to where you want to be.
Doesn’t matter if it's a specific goal like being a writer or a broad one like you just want to quit your 9–5.
When I wanted to quit, I found a few people who I aspired to be like. I wanted to live the way they do and get into a similar field of work. I studied their journey, challenges, and process.
Doing this helped me merge their experiences and lessons and form my own process.
#3 *Happily* Put in the Work
I highlight ‘happily’ for a reason.
I see people who want to be writers because they see other writers putting out cool things about their life. It looks like an ideal way to live.
Hell, there are so many creators who want to launch a course someday because they see it makes a lot of money (that’s far from the truth, by the way).
But some folks who want to be writers may not even enjoy writing! If you don’t enjoy it, there’s only so much you’ll learn and do.
And showing up will become harder — which is the key to succeeding.
You truly have to be willing to give in your 1000% whether you want to start a tech company or be a YouTuber. Whatever you choose, be happily willing to put in the work.
It gets easier when you’re genuinely delighted.
#4 Freelancing
Freelancing gave me my first taste of money from writing.
I got my first gig via Upwork, which paid me $130 for under 2 hours of work. It was great money for a newbie!
After that, I scored a few high paying gigs.
Freelancing helped me
- feel hopeful about getting paid from my side hustle
- understand client relationships
- discover what I enjoy (website copywriting)
- discover what I don’t enjoy (blogs for others)
Now, I write 20 articles a month here. But writing articles for others isn’t as much fun, especially about topics that don’t excite me.
#5 Do Uncomfortable Stuff
Here’s what made me super uncomfortable:
- Writing articles for others about boring topics
- Writing my vulnerabilities (it went viral)
- Launching my product (hello, anxiety and self-doubt)
That feeling in your heart that makes you feel uncomfortable? Pursue it.
My favourite YouTuber Ali Abdaal talks about how scary it feels to go out there until you realise that nobody cares.
Also, discovering what I don’t enjoy got me closer to realising what I do enjoy.
#6 Make Friends!
Today I had a call where Ash Jurberg said,
“Fellow writers aren’t a competition, they’re colleagues.
This is so true!
We think we don’t want to ‘spill secrets’, without realising we can all learn and grow if we collaborate.
When I started, I was in a group of writers where we helped each other with drafts and other tips. On Twitter, I’m in a group of creators where we help each other with problems since all of us have different strengths.
On Slack channels of online courses, sharing strategies and giving feedback on drafts is encouraged.
See, your tribe offline won’t understand your success or struggles as much. So, build one online that can celebrate with you!
#7 Don’t Be Stuck Up
Having specific goals is okay.
But be open to change.
I quit my job to freelance. Now I freelance much less, teach more, and build products.
This wasn’t the plan. It just happened.
Be open to transformation. Keep learning from new people. And don’t overthink about giving a new thing a try.
You never know where it’ll take you!
I hope this blueprint helps you adjust your goals and gives you a path to pursue them.
It won’t be easy.
But if you’re having fun, it’ll be worth it.
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