How I Quit My 9 to 5 Job to Pursue a Career in Fitness

As i'm sitting here by a warm fireplace on a gloomy winters evening, i'm realizing that I have totally not kept myself accountable to creating a vlog on my experience and how I quit my 9 – 5 job. I’m going to be real honest with you guys, the whole editing thing has not been something I have had time to learn yet, and sitting here for 4 days with no electricity at my parents place has given me an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. How fortunate am I that I have the opportunity to come home when things are tough! This also reminded me of when I was indeed in a very tough place.

That was the day before quitting my job.

It was a very normal day, nothing special besides the coffee shop down the road having an R5 off their flat whites. I got to my desk, read through my 58 emails and downed my third cuppa before 10am.

As usual, I was shouted at my boss for the unforeseen last time, headed up to the roof of my job for my daily cry, but it was for the last time.

For some to leave their job it can be difficult for so many reason such as loyalty, comfort and the ever so daunting thought of change. However, for me it was the easy decision because I knew deep down this was not my purpose, this was not what I was here for and I couldn’t think past the thought of any more wasted time doing something that didn’t fulfill me (This point covers the question asked “What finally pushed me to put my fear aside and quit”)

I seriously could go on and on about this however, for those with limited attention spans such as myself I will dive right in to the most frequently asked questions on how I quit my 9 – 5 job:

1. What inspired you to make the change?

You would think it was a self-help book, or a role model but it was none of the above. So what inspired me to change my life? Well I actually inspired me to change because I wanted to be the change. I realized from the core of my soul that nothing was going to change in my life unless I was ready to be the change.

2. Did you save some money before resigning?

Naturally finance is one of the hot topics when wanting to become your own boss, and with good reason! You see money inspires confidence whether we like to admit it or not, it allows us to be risk takers and put ourselves out there with less fear of failing.

I saved three months salary, which would cover the basics; you know like rent, food, Medicaid etc. So sit down and note your expenses, times it by three and then add on emergency ‘oh crap’ money because life happens and boy will it happen when you question the universe to change your path.

3. How did you know what else you wanted to do besides graphic design?

So if you hadn’t guessed it already, yeah I was a graphic and web designer before becoming a qualified PT and nutritional advisor. So how did I know? Well my loves, the thing is I ALWAYS knew this is what I wanted to do, however my parents really did want the best for me and wanted me to go where the world was going, you know ‘digital’ so I honored their wishes until I couldn’t do it no more. This is what I had wanted to do since I got asked that real awkward questions in Matric, and it never changed. I just had to change to follow that 18-year-old girls intuition.

4. Did you have support for making this change?

I got questioned A LOT, and boy the amount of eye brow raises that came my way where actually quite entertaining and almost predictable at one point. However the people close to me knew the real me, and this was the only way forward in all our eyes for my happiness. I have however been meeting up with many girls around this topic with hopes of being supportive or guiding them as much as I can, and have been amazed at how some are not supported by the people close to them.

This is when you need to start surrounding yourself with people who have similar goals and dreams, or reach out to people who have made the change themselves. I do believe that support should come from home, however if this is not the case I urge you not to give up! Support can be found in the most surprising places, and this is also when social media platforms have their benefits. I have met up with several women regarding this topic, and seeing them take charge of their lives and become the change has been one of the most inspiring parts of my journey.

5. How long did it take you to get your new freelance job to support you fully?

This step goes hand in hand with saving money. Before quitting my job I made sure I found myself a part time job that would cover the expenses but also take up only 10%-20% of my day. This allowed me to be stress free that money was still coming in, but also allowed the majority of my day to build my brand and work with hours I wanted to work with.

So with the part time money coming in there was less time being used stressing about money, and more time focusing on where I could make money. Allowing the universe to open each opportunity at a time, because I wasn’t shutting the door out of financial fear.

6. Has social media helped your business?

Well the thing is kid; social media is part of my business so it was built to be apart of my brand. However I will not lie in saying I have had the privilege to many opportunities because of it. The difference is I never created content to have a business out of it, I create content because I believe if you have a voice, even a small one in your eyes you should be using it in a positive way.

So before you go and create a business to make money off a social media platform ask yourself why you are actually doing it, and if it doesn’t reign positive to your beliefs and what you stand for as a human, you may want to rethink using a platform for financial gain.

7. Have you regretted your choice of leaving your job?

Hell to the no! Ha ha

8. Do you have any other tips/tricks now being self-employed?

TIME MANAGEMENT ha ha this has to be the biggest lesson learnt being your own boss, however lets break it down a bit more with my top tips and tricks:

Time management:
As said before hand this is going to be a huge learning curve, in the beginning you are either going to putt 205% or on 5% in based on your character both being extremely detrimental to not only your healthy but your business. Its not about putting every last breath into it all in one go, but completely falling into a Netfix comma is certainly not going to get anything growing so basically its about finding balance with your time.

Get a diary (yeah I’m old school, I need to write it down to get it out my head)
Get a HUGE calendar to mount on your wall so you can be reminded of your goals, deadlines and day to day tasks.

Set yourself times in the day you need to be working, when your emails need to be attended to and when you take a break to see a friend or take a coffee break.

Paid & Passion jobs:

This took me the longest to come to terms with because I was following my passion was I not? Well hun you still need to pay the bills which means finding jobs that align with your passion but don’t take you for a ride by requesting free content. Time is now literally money, and taking a few freebees here and there is perfectly fine, but if you want to see growth in your business you need to know your worth.

Know your worth:

Here’s a fun fact, did you know that its been proven that women earn 80 cents to every dollar a man earns? This is because it has been proven that women have less confidence in knowing their financial worth, and sadly even more so when being self employed. Knowing your worth and what your time is worth is a tone a urge you to set early in the stages of your business development. You can thank me later; because even though you don’t know it yet, you are worth every frik’n penny and so much more!

Books & Podcasts:

These are tools I sadly found only months into my new journey but I highly recommend them, as they are reshaping my perception of myself and so many other things for the better.

Books:

The power of now
The subtle art of not giving a f*ck

TED Talks:

Your elusive creative genius
How great leaders aspire action
Your body language may shape who you are
The happy secret to better work
The surprising science to happiness
How to make stress your friend
What makes a good life?

Join a community:

Whether it’s a running or book club, surround yourself with like-minded people who are in the same space as you. Not only will this allow you to connect (which is vital when making a huge change in your life) but you will be surprised as to how much you will all learn from each other.

Surround yourself with the best of the best:

I know this sounds incredible ego driven, however my intention for this point I still feel is valid. You see when you surround yourself with the best; your natural instinct will be to rise to their level of expertise. Whether its learning how to use new tools, being inspired to do better to slowly becoming the best version of yourself. Again I want to point out this is not to ‘be’ like them, but to ‘be’ the best version of yourself by challenging yourself with things you probably wouldn’t have ever tried because it was never in your every day vision.

These are just some of tips and tricks I have learnt along the way, however if there is anything to leave you with two quotes my dad used to remind me in times of doubt:

“Don’t feel guilty if you dont know what you want to do with your life…the most important people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t”

“Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.”

Anyway guys that’s enough from me tonight, if you have any questions or just want to send some love to those reading this post please pop a comment below or tag me in your post using #candibod

All my love,
Cands