10 Reasons to Quit Your Day Job

If you love your job, great! But if you don’t, here are my Top 10 Reasons to Quit Your Day Job!

Trust me. You need to begin planning your EXIT STRATEGY Now! The old game is over. You know, the one where you work 40 years, pick up a paycheck for far less than you’re worth, retire and get your gold watch. Now, with the bad economy, companies are using that as an excuse to fire or “let go of” disposable employees. The ones they consider dead weight. I hate to be so blunt, but it’s true.

Wouldn’t you rather control your own destiny, than leave it to the corporate powers that be?

Times are tough! We hear that phrase over and over since the real estate bubble burst in 2007 causing immense financial challenges and losses to the masses. However, in these “tough” times, I just took off 2 months to move my house and my family. I am grateful I had the freedom to do that as I can’t imagine having to move a 5,000 square foot house while having to report to a day job.

What I think is really tough though are people that have day jobs and rely on just one source of income, with no freedom at all for life’s unexpected events, who work in a love-less job, earning just enough to get by and paying Uncle Sam almost half of what they make!

I’m hear to tell you…there is a better way!

Here are my top 10 reasons why you should Quit Your Day Job:

You’ve Been Brainwashed. Let’s face it, we are all “conditioned” and “programmed” to believe certain things by our families, friends, and the society we live in. The old paradigm was “get a job, work hard” and the assumption was your life would be wonderful! There are many problems with this. First of all, many people who had good jobs, no longer have them, so even though they may have been hard working, faithful employees, they never really had job security. They are at the whims of the economy and of the company they work for and most jobs these days are anything but secure. Does putting yourself in such a vulnerable position where someone else can turn off all your income just by saying two words (“You’re fired”) sound like a safe and secure situation to you? Do you think having only one income stream sounds more secure than having 4, 5, 6 or more? The idea that a job is the most secure way to generate income is ridiculous and people are now waking up to this. You will never have security if you don’t have control, and employees have the least control of anyone.
Employees Pay the Most Taxes. That’s right, about half of your salary as an employee goes to taxes in the United States. Our system is designed to confuse people as to how much taxes they are really paying. When you look at your pay stub, you probably just look at how much taxes are coming out on your side, but often we don’t really look at what our employer is paying Uncle Sam on our behalf in the form of taxes, social security, medicare, etc. If you added up your salary to include what the employer pays on your behalf, then you would know 50% or more of your income is going to pay taxes. Your employer considers what they pay on your behalf as part of your salary! Obviously, to keep you around, you must generate more “value” than your employer is paying you in salary, benefits and taxes. In reality, you only get paid a small percentage of the real value you generate. Your true salary may be more than triple what you’re paid, but most of that money you’ll never see. It goes straight into other people’s pockets. So who do you think has more control over the tax system? Business owners or employees?
You have NO FREEDOM! As I mentioned earlier, the unexpected sale of my house was a stressful event and I am grateful I had the freedom to take off about 60 days to take care of everything. I am just getting settled and getting back to doing what I love! And during those 60 days I had thousands of dollars of income that was being generated without much involvement from me. I learned this lesson a long time ago when I was laid off from a law firm I worked at in the late 1990’s, and that is “we are all expendable” and when one income stream dries up, you better have others coming in!
Missed Opportunities. When you have a “day job” that sucks up 75% or more of your waking hours, you don’t know what your missing because your busy making someone else money instead of yourself. My motto on my website for 2012 is “Build Your Empire, Not Someone Elses“! The truth of the matter is day jobs do not offer safety or security as much as they represent missed “time” and opportunity”. Have you ever heard of the term “indentured servitude”? It is basically a person who came to America and was placed under contract to work for another over a period of time, usually seven years, especially during the 17th to 19th centuries. Are you an indentured servant? Giving your time to another and “stuck” there with no freedom! There are so many opportunities to make money in your own business, but your job is preventing you from exploring those options and taking action.
To get off the Gerbil Wheel that You Are On. It’s a vicious cycle and one that’s hard to get off. Here’s the “poor/middle class cycle” — Make Money, then Pay Taxes, then Spend Money. Here’s what the wealthy and educated do: Make money, then spend money, then pay taxes. That’s right, the wealthy have their own businesses and spend money through those entities, then pay taxes. And the reality is, the more you hate your job, the more you overspend and purchase things you absolutely don’t need to fill the void of not being free and not living your dreams! The debt makes it increasingly harder to get off the Gerbil Wheel; if you really want to get off then go on a spending freeze and stop buying things you don’t need and instead spend it on investing in a business for yourself.
You Hate Your Boss! Okay, maybe hate is a strong word. You immensely dislike and despise your boss. I know what that feeling is like because when I was in the legal field for 17 years I often worked for “combat pay”. It was a term headhunters used when discussing a job opportunity that paid well and they called it combat pay because working for that particular attorney was like being in a war. They were difficult to work for, often verbally abusive, disrespectful, arrogant and on and on. I was money-driven so I took the combat pay because I wanted the higher salary, but it’s not worth your sanity or your life to stay in a job where you don’t like or respect the person you’re working for. Stop telling yourself it’s okay to put up with it because “at least I have a paycheck”. I would rather get a job serving tables at a restaurant, than stay in a job where I hate my boss. Don’t sell your soul for a paycheck.
It’s Sucking the Life Force Out of You. When you do what you love, you feel energized, inspired, happy, joyful and at peace. That doesn’t mean your days are perfect as there are always challenges and obstacles, however, it’s a feeling that you are doing what you were put on this earth to do. Back in World War II, if an unidentified soldier appeared in the dark without warning and could not state his mission, he was automatically shot without question. So what is your Mission? That’s the Million Dollar question isn’t it? Sometimes we find out what our mission is, by finding out what our mission is not. So if you don’t know the answer, start writing down what is NOT your mission. For example, my mission is not working for lawfirms, my mission is not working as an employee, my mission is not being a 9-5 employee, my mission is not working with men, etc. This should help you clarify what you didn’t come here to do. Work every day if you have to, on figuring out what your mission is…what were you put on this earth to do? What gives you the most joy?
So You Can Spend Time Doing What you Love! My belief is that if you are spending 75% of your time doing tasks you like, then you love what you’re doing, however, if you’re like 90% of people who hate their jobs, then you’re probably spending 75% of your time doing tasks you don’t like and 25% or less doing what you really love. When you do what you love, work becomes play!
So you can be Great One Day! Nobody starts out as a Gold Medalist or a Best Selling Author. There is no such thing as an overnight success. You have to be Small to be Great! So stop comparing yourself to other great ________ (fill in the blank of what your dream is). Maybe you don’t trust your writing skills, or your computer skills, or your coaching skills, but that’s okay. Start right where you are, using the skill set you have. Let yourself be small and take risks. Give yourself compassion and faith knowing that if you proceed with simple small steps in the direction of your dreams, then those small steps will take you to your greatness!
So you can start earning Play-checks instead of Pay-checks! Do what you love and work is play. Do what you don’t love and work is….well, “work”. It’s an effort; it’s draining’ it’s joy-less; it’s repetitive; it’s just picking up a paycheck to pay the bills. Don’t you deserve more than that?

I know what it’s like to be in a joy-less job. I did that for many years in the legal field. That experience gave the the insight and the knowledge to create my 6-week online program, “How to Quit Your Job and Follow Your Dreams”.

If quitting your day job appeals to you and you know in your heart, you’re not living your dreams, then please make an investment in yourself and begin this journey with me holding your hand. I wish I had this type of guide and blueprint when I was trying to figure out my purpose in life and how I could make money doing what I love. For more information about my online course, click here.