Today I want to share a really important story with you – one that I’ve never told publicly before (except to a few VIP coaching clients). I hope it inspires you to leap in your own life, even when things seem really scary, and you feel unsure. So here it goes…
When I first started my coaching business, I wanted to resign from my 9-5 job lickety split. I had dreams of being in charge of my own schedule and not having to answer to anyone. (I’m sure you can relate!)
But in reality, I wasn’t 100% sure when I was actually going to be able to do so financially.
I’d heard that building a business was hard work (and I’d seen it in my own life growing up around entrepreneurs). I knew the statistics said that it would take years for me to even make a profit. So I resigned to the fact that I’d need to put in the hours working and creating my coaching business on the side. (And by on the side I mean from 5am-9am and then from 6pm-10pm which I did for months.) I planned to be exhausted and was for a good year.
Finally, when started making decent money and got busier, I decided to go part time in that day job. Although I could technically pay all of my bills with the money I was making in my own business, I figured that it would be wise for me to stay in that role because it was the “safe” thing to do – at least until I paid off my debt.
In my mind, I set a new resignation date – about six months out – and made that my goal. (I even booked a trip around that time – despite not having the vacation days available. I told myself I was going to have the freedom to go by then some way or another!)
But fate had a different plan…
About a month later, I started to get an uncomfortable feeling that I wasn’t supposed to be in my “real” job anymore. I was itching to have the freedom to create my own schedule and take on more in my business. I felt stuck and constricted.
During that same time, I was learning a lot about wealth consciousness and my own money story which led me to question where I was playing it safe with money. The answer was a resounding: YOUR PART-TIME JOB.
But at the same time, I wondered what the difference was between playing it safe with money and being responsible so I decided to ask my coach that very question.
We discussed it later on that day, and she said that only I would know the answer, and she encouraged me to ask for clarity on the situation. But she went onto say, if I was staying in a part-time job that wasn’t making me happy and was barely covering the bills when alternatively I could devote that time to my coaching business which I absolutely loved and would give me the opportunity to pay off my debt much faster, that didn’t seem like the smartest thing to do.
I had never looked at it like that!
Then she asked me what I would do if it weren’t for my debt.
My answer? Quit tomorrow.
So the next morning, I woke up and asked for clarity on my decision. In that exact moment (I kid you not!) my husband sent me a text telling me that he would be 100% supportive of me if I wanted to resign from my 9-5 job. He said he was no longer scared of me letting go of that role. (That was the first time he had ever said those words specifically.)
I took it as a sign.
And it gets better…
Later on that day, I received a call from my boss at the time. She said she had seen my coaching website and wanted to discuss it in greater detail with me. She was really taken aback by how big the company seemed and was questioning whether it was eating into the work I was doing for her. I assured her it wasn’t, but she was still visibly upset and asked to call me back later on that night after she thought about everything a bit more.
When I hung up the phone with her, I felt paralyzed and sick to my stomach. I felt really guilty for upsetting her and wondered what I should do to rectify the situation. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings or for her not to like me.
But then I remembered that I was stronger than that and no longer a co-dependent person. Plus, that job was always going to be temporary for me. My business was my future and was what was really going to get me the life I always imagined. And I was already making it happen!
In my heart, I knew that it wasn’t just a coincidence that my website had been up for months and this was the first time she had seen it (the day I asked for clarity); it was another sign.
In the past, a situation like that would have really thrown me for a loop, but I was able to remain confident in my mission and held it together instead of moving into a co-dependent place and letting her feelings upset me.
In fact, over the next few hours, I spoke to my own coach (where I talked about my business, not the conversation with my boss), had a successful call with a client, and went to a yoga class where I literally burst out laughing when I remembered that I had said (less than 24 hours before) that I had wanted to “quit tomorrow”.
It could not have been any clearer. I had to leap.
So that night, I sent my boss and email and resigned from my 9-5 job. In the morning, we spoke and made it effectively immediately. She wished me the best in my business, and we parted ways amicably which was all I had wanted.
From there, literally everything shifted. Although the next day was strange, and I didn’t really know what to do with myself or all my time for a good week, I went onto have my best month every financially and have continued to grow my business from there. (It’s incredible what having 24 extra hours in the work week can do for your own dreams!)
Although I needed a bit of a kick in the pants to actually make this happen (sometimes that’s the way life works), I followed the signs, took the leap into the entrepreneurial world and have never looked back.
So my point?
No, I’m not telling you to quit tomorrow. But I do want you to consider where you may be playing it safe in your life or business today.
And more importantly, what do you believe about your future and your dreams? As I always say, your thoughts create your reality so flip the switch into a more positive frame of mind.
For example, if you’re starting your business on the side with the belief that it’s going to take you forever to be able to live your dreams full-time, please, believe it will happen sooner (if that’s what you want) and then keep moving forward.
For me, because I kept faith in my mission and purpose (and my capability) everything happened so much faster than predicted. And it can be the same for you!
It doesn’t always have to be the struggle we’re conditioned to believe it will be. Yes, it will take hard work and dedication, but you can compress the timeline of your dreams starting today!
So set that end date in your mind, plan that trip or that program you want to launch in a few months, figure out how you will spend your days when your time is yours, and above all else, never give up on your dreams.
Make living your dreams in 2015 non-negotiable, and then leap.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this very personal story.
