Want to quit your job and do your own thing? 5 factors to ponder before taking the plunge

In hindsight, these are my learnings.

The euphoria will die down!

The first few months after quitting my job were happy ones. I finally had all the time I needed. I started doing things I had always wanted to, but did not have the time for. I did simple stuff, joined courses etc., which gave me great satisfaction.   After four months, however, reality came knocking, and suddenly from having 20 people reporting and vying for my attention, the only person I interacted with was my house help. For a person whose identity was closely tied to her profession, to suddenly stay disconnected was a tough task.

More time needed to figure out the way forward

One of the reasons to quit is that you aren’t able to understand how your job contributes to anyone’s life, apart from financially to your own. The quest, therefore, is finding something to do, in the hope that it will make a difference to someone else.  Needless to say, it needs to be financially remunerative at some point (even if you are willing to forgo that initially). This is not an easy task and at least in my case it took a lot of time to zero in on my purpose, of adding meaning to people’s finances.

Your relatives won’t rush to associate with you

Well, this was my expectation initially, and it didn’t happen. I later read somewhere that your closest circle comes to the party much later when you have proved your mettle with complete strangers or acquaintances. That is exactly how things panned out for me. It started with a few acquaintances built through references.  Building a reference-based practice takes time. Once you gain a reputation, then the closest circle starts coming in as well.  Be patient and let people take their time.

The first 1000 days are an ordeal

You can do well and even thrive in your venture, but this is going to take time for sure. If you think you are going to take X years to be able to make enough to sustain your current lifestyle, put aside 2.5 X years’ worth of expenses before you take the plunge. It invariably takes longer than you expect.

When you put in efforts, the results you see are not proportionate. It takes tremendous mental strength to keep at it.  It helps to be surrounded by family and friends who can pull you up and reaffirm your faith when you are on the verge of giving up.  Believe me, this happens more often than you would like to admit.  As a Gujarati saying goes, if you stay at it for 1000 days, you are probably there to stay.

The way society perceive you changes

When you are an employee, you are surrounded by like-minded people and there is no dearth of social interactions. Somehow, people give you a lot more respect and look at you as if you have achieved something and are on the right track.   When you give up, there will be many who will consider you a loser. It is going to take time for perceptions to change again. As an employee, your work and the recognition you get from it make you happy.  Being deprived of those slowly pushes you towards negativity and a feeling of gloom and doom, bordering on depression. Stay prepared for this.

If you survive, you will have a tale to tell!

All this does not seem like fun, does it? But believe me, when you make it to the other side, you will have a tale to tell about the ride you had.  Most of all the satisfaction you get from doing something meaningful is priceless!

For me, today, as I run a successful and super-satisfying practice, many of these memories seem distant. You need three things. One, the preparedness to be able to sustain your financial independence during this period. Two, a supportive spouse and family. And, last but not the least, the mental strength, so that you can look every new day in the eye, with confidence and conviction.