Author Topic: Overcoming fear of quitting to work for myself!  (Read 2390 times)

xenon5

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 118
  • Age: 32
  • Location: NYC
Overcoming fear of quitting to work for myself!
« on: June 14, 2018, 11:11:46 AM »
I've been contemplating quitting my job and planning/executing different entrepreneurial ventures for about 6 months now.  I feel like I'm right on the precipice of the cliff, but I'm stopping myself from leaping by having the big conversation with my boss.  For the last 2 weeks I've been doing the following:

Weekday night: watch inspirational TED talks and go Yea, I can do it!  Tomorrow I'm quitting!  I can just get another job if money gets tight or do contract work!  This will be the best 6 months of my life for sure!

The next day: ugh this is terrible, I hate being here.  But I could do it for a couple more months at least right?  If I had $15k more cash that would make it a lot less likely I'll have to liquidate any stocks. But then again I do have plenty of savings already. I'll just read an article about conquering fear and maybe I'll quit this afternoon?

That night: god dammit why didn't I quit?  Oh well I can do it tomorrow.  I know, I'll watch inspirational videos to help me quit tomorrow!

All these TED talks are wonderful, but I'm not really going anywhere.  I feel like I'm in limbo and the only way out is to quit.

I'm just really terrified to spend my savings.  I have valuable skills and I'm already generating $500/month with my side hustle after relatively few hours invested.  I want to go at it full force, but being in quitting limbo is killing me!  And it's not like I don't have a saftey net either.  My backup plan would be to find a short term consulting gig or part time job if I don't generate enough income quickly enough.  For some reason I imagine the money rapidly falling through an hourglass and evaporating all of a sudden, even though logically I have enough saved to course correct along the way.

In terms of savings, I have about $60k in liquid cash and stocks, and $140k in retirement savings. I spend about $40k per year.

Who else had experienced this, where you know that going through the fear is the right thing to do, but you struggle to follow through?  Any words of encouragement would be appreciated!

letired

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 824
  • Location: Texas
    • Needs More Glitter
Re: Overcoming fear of quitting to work for myself!
« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2018, 11:19:47 AM »
Out of curiosity, if you have the time to watch inspirational TED talks, have you instead considered using that time to do work to increase your side hustle income to a level that comes closer to meeting your expenses? Nearly all the advice I've seen on turning your side hustle into your fulltime gig is to keep the day job until the side hustle can either replace that income, or you cannot hold down the day job because the side hustle is so busy/in demand.

xenon5

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 118
  • Age: 32
  • Location: NYC
Re: Overcoming fear of quitting to work for myself!
« Reply #2 on: June 14, 2018, 12:40:51 PM »
Out of curiosity, if you have the time to watch inspirational TED talks, have you instead considered using that time to do work to increase your side hustle income to a level that comes closer to meeting your expenses? Nearly all the advice I've seen on turning your side hustle into your fulltime gig is to keep the day job until the side hustle can either replace that income, or you cannot hold down the day job because the side hustle is so busy/in demand.
Yes, I have.  I started watching the videos because I thought it would help me take action, so it's not a bad idea to refocus to the business activities.  I'm just so sure that I don't want this or any other salaried job that I want to bypass the conventional wisdom, since I already have some savings. I'm just worried that my unhappiness at work is getting in the way of doing my best work, and I hate how it makes me feel every day.

startingsmall

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 837
Re: Overcoming fear of quitting to work for myself!
« Reply #3 on: June 14, 2018, 08:26:09 PM »
Is your "day job" one that you could do on a part-time basis?

I've had a side hustle for the last three years. It maxed out at around $20k/yr, when I couldn't find any more time to put into it while still working my FT job. Instead of fully quitting my professional career, I ended up finding a PT position (15 hrs/wk) that meets my bare-bones income requirements while I continue growing the side hustle.

My initial goal was to keep this PT-job/PT-hustle arrangement for 2 years, then switch to FT hustlin'.... but now I'm not sure, because splitting my time between the two is actually pretty enjoyable and keeps either one from getting stale/boring.

FIRERoad

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 52
Re: Overcoming fear of quitting to work for myself!
« Reply #4 on: June 14, 2018, 09:09:39 PM »
Not to hijack OP thread but what are you side hustle to full time hustle or part time folks doing for health insurance?  That is one part that I am struggling with.  I also have savings, no debt, and should be able to cover my basic needs doing pretty much anything but insurance on my own is kind of an unknown and can be pretty pricey.  Policy is also kind of up in the air with current administration.

startingsmall

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 837
Re: Overcoming fear of quitting to work for myself!
« Reply #5 on: June 15, 2018, 07:46:15 AM »
Not to hijack OP thread but what are you side hustle to full time hustle or part time folks doing for health insurance?  That is one part that I am struggling with.  I also have savings, no debt, and should be able to cover my basic needs doing pretty much anything but insurance on my own is kind of an unknown and can be pretty pricey.  Policy is also kind of up in the air with current administration.

Doing COBRA for the next 18 months. Plan is to go to ACA plan at that time, though backup options are for the husband or I to get a job that offers insurance. I also belong to a professional organization that is chomping at the bit to offer health insurance again, so my hope is that they'll be able to step in if the ACA falls apart.

I wish it weren't so uncertain, but worst-case scenario is that I go back to FT work or my husband tries to make a job change sooner than planned. (He works FT, but his church insurance plan excludes him because of a pre-existing condition.)

FIRERoad

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 52
Re: Overcoming fear of quitting to work for myself!
« Reply #6 on: June 15, 2018, 09:47:27 AM »
Are you able to use cobra if you quit rather than let go?  Is there a benefit in doing this rather than finding coverage on your own?  Is it cheaper than just going ACA or individual/self employed plan?  I don't have any health issues or conditions but I don't want to risk being without.  Thanks

joestash

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 68
Re: Overcoming fear of quitting to work for myself!
« Reply #7 on: June 15, 2018, 09:56:25 AM »
Years ago I quit my “stable job” to do my side hustle full-time.  I definitely quit too early.  I would say if you have time to watch a bunch of TED talks you are definitely not ready to quit.  Put down TED and spend that time ramping up your business!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

robartsd

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3342
  • Location: Sacramento, CA
Re: Overcoming fear of quitting to work for myself!
« Reply #8 on: June 15, 2018, 12:14:15 PM »
Considering that 60k in taxable accounts is enough to live on for 18 months (not sure how much is invested vs. cash) and your side hustle already covers 15% of your spending, in my opinion financially you are ready to jump of the cliff and pursue your side hustle FT. It's OK that you're not emotionally ready for it. The ideas of trying to ramp up your side hustle more without quitting your FT profession is a reasonable alternative (either just more nights/weekends or reducing hours at FT job) - it certainly would provide more confidence than another 15k of cash would (and would increase cash savings even faster).

startingsmall

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 837
Re: Overcoming fear of quitting to work for myself!
« Reply #9 on: June 15, 2018, 01:46:32 PM »
Are you able to use cobra if you quit rather than let go?  Is there a benefit in doing this rather than finding coverage on your own?  Is it cheaper than just going ACA or individual/self employed plan?  I don't have any health issues or conditions but I don't want to risk being without.  Thanks

COBRA can be used regardless of how you leave. For my family, COBRA worked out to be a bit cheaper than comparable ACA plans, so we're sticking with it for now.

FIRERoad

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 52
Re: Overcoming fear of quitting to work for myself!
« Reply #10 on: June 15, 2018, 04:02:27 PM »
Are you able to use cobra if you quit rather than let go?  Is there a benefit in doing this rather than finding coverage on your own?  Is it cheaper than just going ACA or individual/self employed plan?  I don't have any health issues or conditions but I don't want to risk being without.  Thanks

COBRA can be used regardless of how you leave. For my family, COBRA worked out to be a bit cheaper than comparable ACA plans, so we're sticking with it for now.

Nice, thanks again.  I'm just trying to evaluate my options right now but would like to at some point try working for myself like the OP.  Have a nice weekend.