7 Tell-Tale Signs You Need To Quit Your Job And Start A Business

Do you need to quit your job but are afraid you’ll fail as an entrepreneur?

There’s a reason for these fears and it’s not your fault. But the longer you allow yourself to give in, the tougher it’ll be to overcome.

Here’s how my days look like TODAY, once I started living my dreams…

7:30am — wake up
7:45am — eat breakfast with my kids
8:04am — drive kids to school bus
8:30am — get to Starbucks and write daily email to you
9:00am — check on Facebook ads
9:30am — watch TED talk
10:00am — bring more value to the market, write some emails for clients and tinker with new product I’m creating
11:00am — snack & more tinkering
12:00pm — text wife and grab lunch (usually Sushi at our favorite place) 2:00pm — nap & shower
3:15pm — pick up kids from school (they love when Daddy shows up)
5:00pm — eat dinner, watch cartoons, help with homework
7:30pm — kids bedtime (I’m there every night to tuck them in)
8:00pm — watch favorite shows (Blacklist, Scandal, Amazing Race, Survivor)
9:30pm — check on Facebook ads once more 11:00pm — bed, read, chill
11:30pm — thank the heavens I never gave up on my dreams.

So…

That’s my dream life, and it’s real today. Imagine how great that feels.

But it wasn’t always this way, not by a long shot. Because there was a time that I quit everything EXCEPT what I really needed to get rid of, my job.

Growing up, I would start a hobby or sport, and then quit. I would start a project, and quit. I would start a course, and quit. I would start a business, and quit.

My SUCCESS was in the act of QUITTING.

I was “consistently inconsistent”

I EXPECTED to quit — so I did.

Then I asked myself a BIG question.

“When exactly did you quit chasing your dreams?

For me, it was BEFORE I even had the chance to taste success. The fear of looking bad, the fear of being judged for failure was bigger than what I imagined success felt like — and it was a feeling I knew.

So when I got married, had kids and started my business career, I had to reevaluate my expectations of myself because now there was someone else looking.

I changed the question…

Are you going to quit when your kids are watching?

Or when you’re all alone with only yourself to answer to?

How about when your spouse is grocery shopping and depending on you for the cashola?

Where specifically does “quitting” fit into your schedule?

Do you write “give up” on your daily calendar? Does it happen before or after lunch?

Bottom line is quitting doesn’t belong in your life except for knowing when to stop pursuing a failing idea — see, there IS a smart time to stop doing something that’s wasting your time of course — like working for a boss that doesn’t respect you, building a company that’s headed for bankruptcy court or submitting to a “boring as hell” life.

Me personally, I sure as hell don’t let quitting rent space in my life anymore. There’s too much to live for. And it’ll be a cold day in hell before I give up my 2:00pm nap (that’s for sure).

I learned that quitting shows up in many ways and it sunk in after reading The War Of Art by Steven Pressfield.

Pressfield talks about the concept of “Resistance” — or an inner force working against your creative genius. Stopping you before, while and even after you start. For me, the most common force working against me was procrastination. Saying “I’ll do it tomorrow”. Telling myself I had time and was “putting ideas together in my brain”

This is the worst kind — because the dialogue in the mind is powerful and it takes effort and determination to replace the goal-killing thoughts with new actions.

I needed to really take action on building a business so I could get rid of my job and pursue what I was truly meant for.

And I had the action steps necessary — it was just time to quit procrastinating and do it. Once you’ve got a new set of actions in place, this could be after work and on weekends, it’s time to really start thinking about planning your exit from a job that’s eating at your entrepreneurial soul.

RELATED: Born To Win? 19 Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs

And if for some reason you’re unsure if it’s “the right time” to pursue your dreams…

Here are 7 Tell-Tale Signs You Need To Quit Your Job And Start A Business

1. You’ve mentally “checked-out”

This is what happened with me — I would walk around my office, looking around at the “lifers”. People who saw themselves doing the same thing 5 years from now as they were doing 5 years ago. The feeling of checking-out is a pre-cursor to breaking free.

Checking out usually comes before you have an idea of what you’re going to do — but know that the idea WILL come — (this is what I did.)

2. You have better ideas than your boss

Early in your career you likely had a lot of great ideas that were celebrated. Then something happens — it happens to every soon-to-be-free employee. You stop sharing your ideas. Not because you want to hold the company back — because you have a plan and your ideas are going to help you escape.

When you’re sitting in a sales meeting or with co-workers and there’s a brainstorm session going on, just watch and see what happens — who has the ideas and is eager to share them… those are the lifers — stay far away.

And keep a notepad or use evernote — write down all your ideas and in your down time, come up with ways to turn your passions into profit.

3. You have a visceral hatred for weekly team meetings

What a waste. The fact you have to sit around and share wins, losses and pat everyone on the ass just makes you cringe. In fact, organized meetings of any sort (that you’re not in control of) usually make you cringe, don’t they?

If you know deep in your soul how your time is best spent, then anyone dictating what you’re doing on Monday’s at 9am goes against everything you stand for.

4. Your work life feels more like Office Space than a thriving career

This goes without explanation. Hating your boss and wanting to take your cubicle into a field and destroy it is quite the sign.

Knowing there’s someone that can make a decision to wipe your income out gets you mad.

For me, I constantly got fired and caused trouble, not on purpose, but because I was a free spirit — having a boss, having my schedule dictated, when I could eat… that was NOT for me, a grown man. No thanks ☺

5. You under perform on purpose

This happens without even knowing it sometimes. You may find yourself saving your energy, ideas, and not going full-out, because even if you got that promotion, you really don’t want it!

Getting fired sometimes is even better than quitting, because you may get severance, your benefits may continue, and you can have a buffer to attack your true vision with.

6. You hide your passions from your co-workers

Being around other people who are “stuck” in a job — not entrepreneurs like us, but true employees for life — can wear at you. And sharing your passions and dreams with these people is a recipe for disaster.

The main problem is you’re not going to get the support you’re looking for. No high-fives or pats on the back.

Just like crabs in a bucket — if one tries to escape, the others job is to pull them back in.

Stay away from crabs.

7. You’re constantly on the verge of being fired

You question authority, mock rules and constantly play by your own. And in most cases, your rules are better! And this is why most entrepreneurs can’t hold down a job. Because authority, rules, and “the box” society tries to put you in just doesn’t fit.

So what do you do? Just go with the flow, smile and nod, and plan your escape.

BONUS #8! You are highly opinionated

Danger Danger (if you’re still in your job)… I used to go into my boss’ office and tell him how I thought the company should be run, new ideas I had about my compensation, branding and marketing changes that could bring in new business…

Did he want to hear it? Well maybe at first.

But after he told me it was “none of my business” where the company’s vision was headed, let’s just say my new business ideas were looking better and better.

In the end, when you’re considering taking the leap into entrepreneurship, the simplest way is to a) listen to your gut, or b) listen to the ultimate entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson.

So, what would Sir Richard do?

Makes sense to me!

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