I would like to tell you that this post is coming from a place of well earned wisdom but the reality is — I’m in the thick of it. A little over four weeks ago I took the biggest leap of my life. I opted out of my 18 year corporate career and said “HELL YES” to entrepreneurship.
When I exited the building for the last time, I had grand plans of how I would spend my first weeks of full time entrepreneurship. No longer having to squeeze my work into ill fitting time slots, I was ready to hit the ground running. It was going to be graceful and gazelle-like.
But it wasn’t. I hit the ground and face planted!
After two weeks of fighting what was happening, I chose to surrender and give myself whatever time I needed. Instead of digging deep and pushing through, I took a step back. Perspective was gained and wisdom has started to trickle through.
If you’re going though a significant life transition with mixed up mojo, don’t fret. Deep breaths and try some of these things to reclaim your sense of self.
31 Things to Do When You Transition from Employee to Entrepreneur
- Acknowledge the MAJOR life change. This is going to have a HUGE impact on your life.
- Give yourself the space to figure things out. This might be a good time to plan some business activities that allow you to downshift a bit.
- Find your full time entrepreneur flow. You’re programmed to be working all the time if you were setting up a business while working full time. It’s time to stop grinding.
- Build your new routine. You no longer need to crack the laptop at the crack of dawn and guzzle your coffee as you’re rushing out the door.
- Take some time to visualize your ideal day.
- Get to know the REAL you. The one that no longer needs to split personalities between work and life.
- Let go. Scary, yes but so worth it. You will be OK. Let go of whatever you need to and start fresh.
- Forgive. Depending on why you are making the leap, you might have some forgiveness work to do. Were you bullied or treated poorly? Maybe you were underutilized or undervalued?
- Express DEEP gratitude. Were there people who supported you along the way? Put up with your crazy work hours? Took a chance on you and gave you business?
- SLOW down. You ditched the rat race for a reason. Savor where you are.
- BE present. This time can be anxiety producing and you might want to numb out. Stay present. Whatever you are experiencing will become a part of your story — make it a good one!
- Welcome making new connections. Building quality relationships are key to building a business — especially when you’re on your own.
- Celebrate!! Keep celebrating. These first few weeks and months can be harrowing or they can be the best of your life. You get to choose. Choose to celebrate.
- Shut out the noise. Now is NOT the time to be comparing yourself to others. Stay focused on your accomplishments. Heck, you just achieved a MASSIVE goal. See #13.
- Create space. Get intentional with your calendar and build in plenty of margin.
- Schedule time daily to work on your mindset.
- BELIEVE in yourself. Create beliefs that support your vision and goals. Root them deep in your being.
- Suspend judgement. However long it takes to move through this transition is how long it takes. There is no right or wrong way to do this.
- Do something really out of your comfort zone. I realize that ditching your steady paycheck feels super scary but do the next scary thing. Ah, perspective.
- Focus on abundance. Work on your wealth consciousness and keep your money mindset in tip top shape. Thinking about scarcity and “needing” clients is a good way to stop the flow of business.
- Regain clarity. You have achieved the freedom and control you wanted. Now what? Take some time to get clear on what’s next.
- Declare loudly and often how much you love your new life (because it’s pretty damn amazing!)
- Declutter, purge, and clear old energy. Trust me…let it go.
- Focus on ALL the positives.
- Find a hobby (this is the one I’m most excited about!).
- Plan small incremental upgrades to your life that make you feel like you really are in charge of your own future.
- Feeling aimless but not ready for another ENORMOUS goal? Set smaller goals or create a mini business bucket list with quick hit items.
- Be kind to yourself. Now is a great time for self-care and self-love.
- Allow yourself to feel “all the feels” — the happy/sads and the scared/exciteds.
- Be flexible. You have most likely been on a rigid schedule to get everything done in life, work, and business building. Do things different. Try something new. Break away from the rigid schedule. You will survive (I promise!).
- Trust the process. Just go with the flow.
For the Unapologetically Ambitious (like me)
This list is not your new conquest. These are merely suggestions on how you can spend your transitional time in lieu of freaking out about EVERYTHING. There is another way. It’s possible to ease through this transition and emerge deeply rooted in your new vision.
You are exactly where you are meant to be. You might as well enjoy it.Are You Ready To Kick Ass With Ease? Then Join my Bold Leaders Do The Least Challenge – by clicking here!
I’m happy to see you back in this space! And this is timely for me as I’m dealing with the transition of having both kids in school all day and struggling to make sense of how to structure my day and stop myself from freaking out about some changes currently happening in my workflow. This list is extremely helpful and you know, a nice long run always helps me too!
Yes! I am back officially now that I have the time! Any exercise helps for sure! Gets everything flowing. So exciting having the boys in school.
I’m struggling RIGHT now with this – finding structure and time to work amidst school and life is difficult. GREAT POST Tara and welcome back!
I think we need to recalibrate our expectations. Whatever we hope to accomplish, maybe we need to automatically reduce by one!
Yay! As you know I’m getting ready for a major transition myself — new job starts Monday! — and even though it’s not becoming an entrepreneur, a lot of this list feels very applicable. What are you thinking about for a new hobby?
It sure is applicable! It’s still a transition. New hobbies will be creative — photography, hand lettering, design-like things. (which will work themselves into my brand). Best of luck to you! Can’t wait to watch you soar.
I wish I had this when I first quit my job to pursue entrepreneurship a few years ago. It’s still relevant, though, because my start-up is still in its early stages, and I’m still adjusting and learning a lot.
I wish more entrepreneurs would be open and realistic about the entire mind/body/soul transition. This list does a good job of highlighting those
Hi Ariana — Thanks for acknowledging my realism! I don’t think we ever really step off the rollercoaster — we just learn how to enjoy the ride.
Wow! So glad I saw this. I am about to take this leap for the first time in my life. I’m 46. I’m excited and scared to death at the same time. Thank you for this!
Best of luck Gina! Would love to know how it’s going for you.
Today is the day I will be giving my 2 week notice to my employer. I have secured 1 client in my new business. Here goes everything!
So timely to read this today. Thanks for sharing your experience and these encouraging suggestions. Time to leap.
Hey Carol! What are you leaping from and to?
Thank you for the great words of wisdom I am taking my 40 years of experience and starting on my own. I know I’ve got this but there are those days we need cheerleaders and reinforcement. Happy to have found you. Thank you.
Hey Barbara — that’s the fun of entrepreneurship! It’s up, down and all around
This is wonderfully collated Tara. Thanks for the list iv just decided to take the leap after 5 years in the corporate, and I have a 3 month old daughter. Still struggling with post delivery feeling though.wish me luck. Love pts. 3,4.
Your post is so timely as I am sitting here at my desk and caught in a Web of decisions. Do I walk away from my 21 year old career into full blown entrepreneurship with small kids and all the uncertainties? This is all I know how to do- a banker for all my life, but yet I want to write and talk for a living. How do I transition and when is the best time to transition?
Great post Tara, i havent escaped the rat race yet but hope to in the near future. Its a scary thing even thinking about leaving a steady paycheck and paving your own way. You share some great advice here thank you!!
I love this post. I am hoping to “make the leap” in 2017 and will definitely keep this in my back pocket for inspiration. It is a scary thing but I find your perspective encouraging! Thank you!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I quit my “day job” right before Christmas and took a week off, and now that the new year has started I am officially writing and blogging full-time. It looked so shiny and appealing from the other side, and now that I’m here, it still is. However, it’s also TERRIFYING! So this was exactly what I needed to read this morning. Always love finding others who made the same leap successfully!