Are you starting to get antsy? Are you ready to quit your day job, like, yesterday but you feel like you can’t?
Um, me too.
Today I’m sharing with you why I stayed at my day job for so long after I started my side hustle.
I knew from the very first day I started my side hustle that there was no doubt I’d be quitting my day job. I just thought it would happen a lot faster than it did!
Every day for 10 years I drove the same drive to work. To the same building. In the same beige, windowless office, working on the same projects year after year.
I started my side hustle to fill a void of being unfulfilled in my day job, with the idea that I would build it slowly over time and eventually leave the job that I felt was stifling my freedom.
And the more I grew my subscriber base and revenue, the more it started to feel like a possibility. I help people do something that is really tough for them but comes easy to me – and they were so grateful – and their gratefulness gives me such joy!
And slowly the contrast of how unhappy I felt from 8-5 to how happy I felt from 5-10 became much, much more pronounced.
Work was starting to get in the way of my side hustle, and the lines were getting blurred… Oh, I still showed up to the office every day from 8AM-5PM, but my mind wasn’t really there. I was constantly thinking about my next marketing plan. Or everything I had to do for my next webinar. Or popping into my Facebook group to answer questions.
But I knew that I was going down a slippery slope and that unless I was prepared to quit my job or ready to get fired, I needed to become more present at work and create some distinct boundaries between work time and BFF time.
So I got it together, and I started to infuse all the new things I was learning to grow my side hustle into the work I was doing at my day job. I’d go to a meeting and say things like, “I read about this new online marketing technique, maybe we could try it here.” I’m sure I was super annoying, but I couldn’t help it I was so excited about trying out these new tactics!!
So a few weeks went by and I thought I was doing a pretty good job at my day job again.
And then I got this email from my boss on July 5:
“Please clear your schedule and meet me conference room today at 1PM.”
“Oh, crap. No!!! I’m not ready!! I only made $880 dollars in the past 6 months. Well, guess I’ll have plenty of freedom now, won’t I?”
So I walked into that conference room, bright red (because I’m Irish and we can’t hide it when our blood pressure goes up) and I sit down across the table from my boss and another co-worker, both of whom I really admire and respect.
They pull out our organizational chart, and they start drawing lines and arrows and moving things around, and then my boss looks at me and says “You look concerned. Don’t be. This is a good thing.”
So I actually stop panicking and start listening, and they basically say that they love what I’ve been doing on the side and my ideas that I’ve brought to them are great and they want to give me the opportunity and authority to implement them.
WHAAAATT?? So wait, I’m not being fired for constantly thinking about tools and strategies and services to grow my OWN membership at my side hustle – strategies that can be applied to growing membership at this professional membership association that I work for?? AND you’re putting me in charge of the programs that I would need to be in charge of to execute those ideas??
WHAAAATT??
Here’s how the rest of the conversation went:
Me: “You know that I’ve been building a business on the side for the past 6 months with the goal of leaving, right? I’ve made that pretty clear.”
My Boss: “Yep. This position isn’t built around just you. We are going to do this regardless of whether you take on these new responsibilities or not. But we think that you’re the best person for this job and wanted to give you the opportunity, and hopefully, you’ll reconsider your long-term vision with us.”
Me: “I’m probably going to say yes, but this is completely contrary to what I’ve been telling myself for the past 6 months. I need to sleep on it.”
My Boss: “Great. Let me know by tomorrow afternoon.”
I went home shared with my husband that I wanted to do it but was worried I wouldn’t have enough time for my side hustle. He told me that I shouldn’t give it up, that my side hustle is what put me in a position to make a huge impact at my day job, and that they feed off of each other.
He figures that the leadership skills I’ll develop at the day job will be AWESOME for running a business when I get to the point where I have to hire people (because I totally will, you guys) and the tech and innovation and service going on at my side hustle can be translated to growing our membership at the association.
But before I accepted, I needed the advice of one more person – a mentor who doesn’t know he’s my mentor – James Altucher.
He has a book and podcast all around the concept of Choosing Yourself, his term for creating your own wealth without being beholden to an employer or another gatekeeper.
He does a Twitter Q&A every Thursday, so I tweeted him, “I’m choosing myself, but I was just offered a promotion. Should I take it?”
His reply?
“yeah. but still choose yourself on the side. promotions sometimes mean more slavery”
Duly noted.
And I woke up the next morning EXCITED to drive to work. EXCITED to site in my beige, windowless office and write down ALL the ideas I had to market the business.
I was EXCITED to practice not letting others negative attitudes affect me. EXCITED to sit in meetings to discuss strategy. EXCITED to choose to spend my time there.
I never saw that coming. James Altucher also theorizes that if you work on getting 1% better each day, your life will completely change every 6 months. That promotion I was offered? 6 months to the day after I started my side hustle… Freaky…
Today’s pep talk is brought to you by Bluehost. Go to www.shannonmattern.com/bluehost and get 36 months of web hosting for just $2.95 a month. That’s less than one trip to Starbucks a month – and if you’re anything like me, you’re at Starbucks more than that!
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