Why I'm not a fan of the "quit your 9-5" movement

Episode Transcript:

Today I want to talk about why I am not a fan of the quit your nine-to-five movement. That's right. I said it. I'm not a fan of it. And I want to tell you why. So sit back, relax and enjoy.

One of the biggest things I kept hearing when I started my business online was quit your nine-to-five, screw the nine-to-five. Leave your nine-to-five celebrating people, leaving their jobs. All of the things. And I thought, okay, that's great. Congratulations to them. So that's what I needed to do apparently.

So I had it in my head that if I have a nine-to-five and an online business, I didn't really have an online business. It wasn't legit because I had a nine-to-five. So like I couldn't claim that I had an online business because I have this. And so for years I thought that I was not doing something right.

It was taking me forever to grow, or I wasn't legit enough to call myself a business owner because I still had to report in everyday, right? And I have never been the person to really follow the crowd, but this was a new crowd for me and I didn't want to mess up. And so I just thought, okay, well, when I quit my job, hopefully it's next year...

Then I can fully tell everyone that I'm an online business owner. Well that's... that was silly. I looked back at my journal from years ago and I talk about, you know, ‘I can't wait to quit my job’ and ‘blah, blah, blah.’ And maybe next year I'll be a full-time entrepreneur. Why? I just want to go back to the old Lindsey and say, why was that such a big deal for you?

And I think she would say, well, because everyone told me it should be a big deal for me. And I would say to her, ‘well, haven't you learned that it doesn't matter what anyone else says, what matters is what's best for you? Boy, isn't having an online business, the biggest self-development journey ever?’ We get into those things where we're like, oh, this person talks about quitting their nine-to-five on their podcast all the time.
And it gets me so excited and I can't wait to quit my nine-to-five. And so then we show up at our jobs that we, at one time were excited to have, and we're just looking at them in this way. And then we have these bad attitudes and we want to get out of there. And everything that comes at us is hard, icky and inconvenient. 

I don't think that that's how we're supposed to run our lives. I think that we have a nine-to-five. We're blessed to have that. And if we have a business alongside, that's pretty cool. So I was ashamed to share with people that I had both. But when I decided to share that with other people, boy, I grabbed a whole new audience that I never knew existed. When people found out that I have a nine-to-five, I have a successful career that I've been at for sixteen years plus.

People were like, oh my gosh, you just made me feel better that I have to go to work today. And, uh, and I thought, wow, I should have shared this years ago because I could have made a lot more people feel better. That just shows you that when you're honest and real and transparent, how it attracts the real people who want to be in your circle.

And I want to attract the people who are okay with having multiple things on their plate, who are grateful for the things that they have. And are grateful that they're on a journey that is supporting them. My business was supported by my nine-to-five for a long time. And I'm really grateful for that.

I've had students who found out that I have a nine-to-five and they got a part-time job so they can help fund their business. It's like it gave them permission to not spend all day working on their business because you don't need to spend all day working on your business. I don't ever want to spend all day working on my business.

I want... I like variety. I need different things. I think that's why I love combining my day job, my business and homeschool. It makes me really happy to be busy so that this really works for me. The important thing to note is if you want to quit your nine-to-five because you're unhappy and you want to just work on your business only because this decision comes from you, then that's wonderful. But don't think you have to quit your nine-to-five to be a successful entrepreneur.

Don't think you have to quit your nine-to-five because everyone else who's way louder than you says you should. Because they don't know your life. They don't know your family, the responsibilities that you have. And we don't know what they're really doing on the side. I know plenty of successful online entrepreneurs who are doing little side gigs.

I know plenty who don't share that. And that's fine, but I think it's irresponsible for them to be preaching the “quit your nine-to-five” when they're off selling other random things on the side that have nothing to do with their business. So I think we have to watch what we say and watch what we do, because there's all kinds of eyes watching us. And we have to be responsible for the phrases that we say and the cool things that come out of our mouths, because that might change somebody's life who is feeling really inspired by your episode of, you know, I quit my nine-to-five and I now have a million dollar business. 

Do you really? Do you? We don't know any of that. So don't just go off of somebody's podcast episode and make a drastic life changing decision. You have to always do what's best for you and not what inspires somebody else to do something because we have completely different days.

We have completely different responsibilities. And I'm just here to say that if you have a nine-to-five and you were working on your business and you're struggling with balancing the two, just know that I built my business on nap times. I only had an hour or two to work on my business for many years, but I knew deep down that's kind of what I want. 

I only want a business. That's going to take over a small fraction of my day because I have little people to take care of and spend time with. I have a home to take care of. I have a family. I want to see. So I knew that if I was sitting in my office for twelve hours a day, working on my business, because I'm in full hustle mode, then this is not going to make my family happy. And it's not going to make me happy.

And if mom isn't happy, it's hard for everyone else to be happy, right? So, if something doesn't feel right for you, any kind of advice, even if this advice doesn't feel good for you, don't listen to it. But this is going to grab somebody who's feeling the pressure of quitting their job because they have to choose.

And I want to tell you, you do not have to choose if you have a career and you're, and you like it, and it feeds you. It feeds your soul and it pulls things out of you that you can give to the world and contribute and feel like, okay, I can do this over here and I can do this over there, then continue doing that.

You don't have to choose. Don't feel pressured by other people's inspirational stories. They don't apply to you. You should be your own inspiration. I'm inspired that I can manage all the things that I can manage. And you know what, when the day comes, when I don't feel happy, when I don't feel like this isn't right for me anymore, I'm really grateful that I have options.

And then when I make my move, I know that it's going to be a solid move. And I know that it's not because I heard something or saw a cool post on Instagram. I know that my decisions come from what's best for me and my family and my business. Because that's all that matters. That is it. So I hope this episode helped you.

And the big thing that I want to say, just to finalize everything, be grateful for your nine-to-five, be grateful for your business. Be grateful for all the things on your plate. Because they're there for a reason. Even if they feel hard, think of how you can make them feel easy. Everything is in your life now for a reason.

And it's up to you to do what you need to do with it. To make a difference in your life and someone else's. If you have a question on how I manage my career and my business, I am always transparent about it. I'd love to share it with you. And I hope this episode inspired you, relieved some pressure, and made you feel like you can do this. Because you can! If I can, you can.

Before you go, I want to invite you to join my free Facebook group for coaches. Simply type ‘Dream Client Community.com’ in your browser and request access. And we'll happily let you in. We have amazing coaches that are just like you who are starting and scaling their business and we would love to see you there.