How to Quit Your Job and Work For Yourself (A Proven 7-Step Guide)

So you’re ready to quit your job, eh?

Let me guess…

The commute is brutal. You hate Mondays. Work sucks. Your hours went up but your salary didn’t. There’s no work-life balance. Your boss is a di*k. And you’re one meeting away from losing your mind.

Or maybe, just maybe, you’re tired of working like a dog to make someone else rich.

Does that sound about right?

Even if I missed a few, the main thing is we both know why you’re here…

You want to escape the 9-to-5 and become your own boss.

Well in this post, you’ll discover everything you need to make that happen.

But first, here’s a quick summary on how to quit your job and work for yourself:

• Clear your mind
• Find your ultimate ‘why’
• Write down your goals
• Decide what you want to do
• Create your detailed action plan
• Give yourself permission
• Quit your job

That’s it. Those are the steps involved. Now it’s time to break each one down.

Ready?

Let’s get started.

7 Steps to Quitting Your Job

There’s a lot of scattered advice online about leaving your job. But if you prefer a detailed approach, these steps are the best solution you’ve been looking for.

1. Clear your mind

This is a smart first step.

You don’t want to make decisions if your thoughts and emotions are polluted by negativity. That’s a recipe for failure and regret.

So how do you do this?

The best way to gather your thoughts is to take a break from all influences around you e.g. family, social media, toxic people, etc.

You want to isolate yourself from all of that. So find somewhere that’s peaceful and quiet. Take a moment to bring yourself to a level of clarity and joy.

Then, once you feel happy and clear, you’ll be ready to answer the single most important question in the next step.

2. Find your ultimate ‘why’

According to Mark Twain, “the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

Right now, you want to leave your job to start a business. But do you know why you want to do it?

Probably not. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.

And before you take offense to that, let me explain what I mean…

Having a powerful why gives you a clear sense of purpose. It inspires you. It motivates you. It compels you to break through barriers and overcome obstacles.

And when you feel like giving up, it kicks you in the ass to get right back on track.

The strength of your ‘why’ determines the impact of your what, which carries you towards your purpose.

Even if you ignore everything else in this post, you owe it to yourself to find your why.

It’s one of the most important attributes of an entrepreneur.

When you download the free worksheet below, there’s a section to help you complete this step.

3. Write down your goals

We all have dreams and aspirations that shape our vision of the perfect life.

A beautiful home. Driving a nice car. Vacationing in exotic places. Taking care of our loved ones. The list goes on.

Those are the things we strive to achieve, which is why they’re called goals.

Having a goal gives you something to work toward, a target if you will.

But more importantly, it serves as a datapoint — one that can be used to measure your success and make changes as necessary.

Figuring out your goals is easy. Just get a blank sheet of paper and write them down. They should be realistic and meaningful.

BTW, don’t worry if you’re stuck. There’ll be a goal-setting exercise in the free worksheet below.

4. Decide what you want to do

For this step, you need to know what kind of business you’re going start.

You probably already have one in mind. But there’s a good chance it might change once you complete steps 2 and 3. And that’s okay…

You don’t want to start something you’re not sure about.

Now suppose you still don’t have a business idea, then what?

Well, I could tell you to do what you love. But if what you love is extreme ironing, then my advice would be pointless.

Making money in niches like that will be very difficult because it’s such a small market.

I’m not saying it’s impossible, I’m just saying that it may not be enough to give you the lifestyle you want.

So here’s my advice to you: start a business that adds value to other people’s lives.

It’s one of the greatest skills needed to be an entrepreneur.

If you focus on doing that, you’ll never have to worry about making money.

5. Create your detailed action plan

Without a plan you’re just a bird of passage.

Yes, it sounds like some fortune cookie poo-poo, but it’s true. The purpose of this step is to figure out how you’re going to make everything happen.

It involves listing all the actionable and relevant tasks you must complete in order to be successful.

Your detailed action plan is basically a to-do list of items that you can check off daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly.

It’s also another way for you to measure your productivity. You can easily see what’s working and fix (or eliminate) what isn’t.

Once you have your list of tasks, you want to put them into some kind of planner or journal. Then, every day you’ll simply open it and work on the tasks for that day alone.

This is how you achieve laser-focus.

Of course, there’s a cool planning section in the free worksheet, which you’ll love.

6. Give yourself permission

By the time you get to this step, you’ll have created an unbreakable foundation for leaving a corporate job to start a business.

For some people, that’s all they need to begin their journey. But the majority of people (including you) need something else…

You need permission.

Since birth, you’ve been brainwashed to ask for permission — whether it’s asking your parents to stay out late or asking your boss to leave early.

And then of course, there’s you. Your inner voice that makes you worry about your age, your qualifications, your experience, or… [insert_excuse_here].

Well my friend, it’s time to break the cycle. You don’t need someone else to tell you it’s okay to quit your job and start a business.

The only person that can determine your destiny is YOU!

So starting right now, I want you to: give yourself permission to take action, follow your dream, and become successful.

7. Quit your job

This is the easiest part. Just hand in your resignation letter to your employer.

You don’t need to give them a reason. But just in case they ask for one, tell them you’ve found something more suitable to your long-term goals.

Also, even if you had a bad experience working for a poor company, there’s no need to lower your standards and be unprofessional. Just kill them with kindness and respect.

BTW, if you’re wondering whether you should keep your job while you start your business, that’s totally up to you.

Just make sure you’re not doing it because you’re scared!

Get The Worksheet

As I mentioned before, you can download a free printable copy of the 7-step plan. It has all the necessary worksheets and tools you need to get started.

So before you continue reading the rest of this post, click the button below to get your free worksheet now.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE JOB-QUITTING WORKSHEET

Is it Better to Work For Yourself or Someone Else?

Depending on who you ask, you’ll find answers to support each side of this highly debatable question.

Personally, I strongly believe that it’s better to be an entrepreneur vs employee.

In fact, what I’m about to tell you will be one of the most astonishing things you’ll ever read. So consider yourself warned. Here we go…

The way I see it, a job is nothing more than TWO things:

(I) A conditional form of slavery

From birth to now, you’ve been groomed to become a good conforming subject who toils for someone else.

The system was designed for you to go to school, get a degree (and crippling debt), then get a job. And if you tried to do anything else, you were condemned for it by your family and society.

Ultimately, your only option in life is to work in a box. Otherwise, the system abandons you and it’s “your fault.”

(II) An act of voluntary prostitution

Suppose a company offers you $100 a day ($36,500/year) for a full-time job. To you it’s probably a typical job offer. But is it?

You see, what they’re really saying is: “Based on your resume, skills, or experience, we want to buy a day of your life for $100.”

So when you accept the job, that day and all subsequent days are no longer yours.

Those are days you’ll never own again. Days you can’t relive again. And no matter how you feel, what you had in mind, or if you woke up feeling miserable…

The fact that you took the job means the company owns those days. Your life belongs to them for those days!

Why? Because you chose to sell, or shall I say, prostitute yourself for $100 a day.

Yes, I just called people with jobs slaves and prostitutes. If you’re appalled or shocked, you should totally feel that way!

The next time you wonder if it’s better to work for yourself or someone else…

Just remember how you felt when you discovered the disturbing significance of having a job.

The Pros and Cons of Working For Yourself

Want to see how working for yourself compares to being an employee?

Ok. Let’s start with the benefits of being self-employed first.

Wow, those are some pretty amazing advantages.

Now let’s check out the disadvantages of quitting a job to be an entrepreneur.

Hmm… despite being fewer, some of those disadvantages look quite intimidating.

Regardless, you now have a list of pros and cons to help you make your decision.

Obviously, anything worth doing in life will have obstacles to overcome. And sometimes it can be pretty scary.

But don’t worry. If you’re feeling kinda scared to quit your job, keep reading to find out how to conquer that fear.

How to Not Be Afraid to Quit Your Job

In order to overcome your fear of quitting your job, you need to manage your mind and realize that you are suffering something which simply does not exist.

Look, I get it. Leaving a corporate career to to start a business can send you into Doomsday mode.

You begin to worry about things like: What if I fail? What about the rent, mortgage, student loans, food, and other bills?

Honestly, whether you quit or not, you’re always going to have bills. That I can promise you.

And as far as being afraid to do what you’re capable of, then you should know that there’s something out there that’s much worse than fear…

It’s called regret.

Every time you let fear stop you from doing something, regret slowly turns your mind into a graveyard.

Think about that for second…

Imagine yourself in the future. You’re lying on your death bed. And one night you’re visited by ghosts.

But these aren’t the ghosts of people. Oh no, they’re much more scarier.

They’re the ghosts of your unused potential, ideas you never acted on, and skills you didn’t use.

These ghosts have come to express their anger, disappointment, and unhappiness with you. And in that moment, just before you take your final breath, they say…

We came to you many times before so you could have brought us to life. But now, we have to die with you forever.

I don’t know about you, but that seems much worse than being afraid to quit a job. No?

It’s Time to Leave Your Job and Work For Yourself

You’ve just learned how to quit your job, the pros and cons of doing so, and why fear is merely an illusion.

Now it’s time for you to take the leap. You’ve got to make sh*t happen and go after your dreams as if your life depends on it.

Why? Because you don’t want the weight of “what if” on your mind decades from now.

If you made it this far, consider yourself light years ahead of everyone else who’s still hoping for a sign or someone to save (or do it for) them.

Actually, some of those folks are probably looking for a post just like this. And since neither of us are selfish people, what do you say we help them out?

It’s easy. Just click the buttons below to start sharing this post now.