LOSING YOUR JOB

LOSING YOUR JOB MIGHT BE THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO YOU (it was for me) --

YOU'RE NEVER READY:
to move to a new place,
start a new business,
quit your job,
leave a toxic relationship,
invest in something scary,
perform publicly,
have kids,
tell the world your secrets...

Here's a little backstory that has as much drama as any soap opera.

I worked for 5 years at Price Waterhouse before I went off on my own. I had a self-created position and was entrepreneurial by nature. People would always say, "You should work for yourself." I'd say, "Thank you but don't you need clients?" A: Yes, you do.

While I wanted to eventually go out on my own, what catapulted me unexpectedly was a super bitchy female boss they dumped me on when Price Waterhouse merged with Coopers & Lybrand. They'd never really understood what I did but it was a thriving, intelligent environment before the merger. This woman and her minion sidekick were out to get me for no reason I could find. They'd praise my work in front of me and sabotage me behind my back. Laughable if my job wasn't at stake. My hands-off previous bosses were too busy vying for their own survival and ascension to do anything about it, though they didn't give it much credence when I brought it to their attention.

People said to let myself get fired and collect unemployment. Believe me, I'm not the most saintly person but I couldn't do that when I knew I was actually superb at my job and passionate about it (designing and writing campaigns for PW's clients) and I had many A+ client surveys to prove it.

So I quit.

With nothing lined up.

No idea how to get clients.

I had $17k because I'd put all the money they invested for me into the riskiest options and it paid off, lol. Do you know, I lived on that $17k for 6 months! Not sure how but I did. And then I was screwed, which is a story I share on my site's About page if you haven't heard it.

Oh and my father was dying at this time. But we actually had a fantastic time bonding during this period.

My business break came 6 months later when I had just $46 to my name (no exaggeration or fallbacks) in the form of what ended up being a multi-6-figure job for Pepsi Bottling Group, which started Embodyart for real.

WHY WORK FOR YOURSELF WHEN IT'S SO SCARY?

Are the payoffs worth all the extra hours, the uncertainty about clients and work flow, the missed vacations?

When you're an entrepreneur, you ARE your business. That's what's the biggest deal about it. It's not a job you go to and leave. As they say, "Wherever you go, there you are!" Which is why it's "the modern spiritual journey" (thank you Michael Major) because you have to face yourself whether you want to or not.

What you get in return is big. The freedom to create anything you can imagine; the thrill of seeing your ideas come to life; direct, personal connection with soulmate clients who are a real family and of course, once you figure a few or a hundred things out, the ability to make as much money as you can imagine and to work from anywhere in the world.

Good reasons to quit your job, no? Here's to all my fellow and future entrepreneurs. You are the lifeblood of this country, this century, this world, the future.