Top 3 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Quit Your Day Job
The right questions are your roadmap to success
Deciding to take the plunge and quit your day job to pursue your entrepreneurial dream is a big deal. You’ll hear mixed advice about whether you should leave your job to ‘feel the fear’ as motivation to succeed, or whether you should hustle on the side until you feel you’re established enough to go all in.
As a Careers Coach, I don’t think this is really the issue. The answer to these questions will be different for everyone. Someone who has money in the bank may feel they can afford to leave their job sooner than those who need the security of having everything in place. Factors like where you live, mortgage and bills, whether you have a family to support, will all be at play here.
For me, the question is much deeper than ‘do I jump now or later?’ When I work with clients who are looking to make a change, I ask them a series of questions to help them establish whether they are ready.
Asking The Right Questions
The genius that is Tony Robbins says that the questions we ask ourselves impact the direction of our life. Change your questions, change your life. This is excellent advice. Reframing a question can make a huge difference to how we perceive things. For example, if we were to ask the question:
‘Why am I never happy?’
The answer is always going to be negative. A question like this will cause you to pull up a long list of reasons why you are unhappy. This will send you into spiralling thoughts of all that’s wrong in your life. It doesn’t inspire any ideas for change.
Consider reframing the question to:
‘What would make me happy?’
This question commands a response that is more solution-based. Asking yourself a question like this will help you problem-solve. It will cause you to think about how things could be, which will allow you to contemplate change and lead to ideas as to how to get there.
What a huge difference reframing a question makes. It can indeed be life-changing. Questions are so important in self-development and I use them constantly with clients to get to the bottom of what they really want, why and how.
With this in mind, I want to share with you my top 3 questions to ask yourself to determine whether you are ready to leave your day job and follow your dreams of being a business owner.
1. Why Do I Want To Do This?
This question needs some serious thought. The answer can’t be as simple as, ‘because I want to be my own boss’ or equivalent. You need to go deep. Whatever your answer is, ask yourself ‘why?’ again, until you get to the bottom of what it is you are really doing this for.
Your thought process might do a little like this:
“Why do I want to do this?”
“Because I want to be my own boss”
“Why?”
“Because I want the freedom to create my own ideas rather than work on someone else's”
“Why?”
“Because I’m motivated by my own ideas”
“Why?”
“Because I think they can really add value to society”
“Why?”
“Because I’m so passionate about what I do and I know I can make a difference”
The deeper you go, the better the answer.
Sometimes, this question is enough to make clients rethink what they are about to do. If your why is ‘because I hate my job’, you need to consider what it is that you dislike and whether whatever it is will be gone if you own your own business. Would making a change in your current role be enough, or moving to another company? It’s really important to establish exactly why are are making this leap before you do, only to realise that the things you’re looking to change are still present.
Knowing your why is the basis for any business. It’s the reason you do what you do, day in day out. It’s the reason you make sacrifices, it’s the reason you push, it’s the reason you set your goals. It’s important to revisit this question as you build your business to make sure that what you are doing is always aligned with why you’re doing it.
2. What Am I Aiming For?
Where are you headed? What’s the ultimate goal here? You know you want to start a business, you now know why, but what are you hoping to achieve? You can be big and bold here. Think as big as you can dream and have something to aim for. This question is exciting because it allows you to think of all the things you want to achieve without considering any limitations. There is no judgement here. Ask yourself what you want to achieve and get yourself all fired up.
Once you know the big dream, you can work backwards.
3. How Am I Going To Ensure That I succeed?
Starting without a plan means more work. Obviously, it’s the unknown and there are going to be elements you can’t plan for, but it’s not wise to jump into something without some kind of idea of how to achieve your goals.
Ask yourself how this is all going to work. Where will you start? How much money will you need? What are the initial steps? The key is planning ahead but being flexible in approach. Don’t start with the huge end goal in mind, break it down into management processes and steps.
A rigid plan that allows no deviation isn’t clever. We know from life in the last year during the pandemic that it’s the businesses that have set goals but that have been adaptable that have thrived. You can know where you want to go and plan steps without having everything figured out. We learn as we do, and being too rigid won’t allow for the spontaneous growth that happens when you own a business. That doesn’t mean you can’t set goals, have ambitions, and have a plan.
Take Home
Smart questions are the shortcut to success. Asking yourself questions isn’t just for when you’re starting out either. Revisit them and make sure you are always asking yourself ‘why?’
What are the top questions you ask yourself to make sure you’re on track?
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