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Here’s What It Looks Like to Transition From Employer to Entrepreneur

what the transition from employer to entrepreneurship looks like

It’s been two weeks since I’ve transitioned to running Work Bigger full time.

(We’ve had a lot of new readers join these past two weeks, so for those of you who are just getting to know us, up until two weeks ago I was building Work Bigger while working at the Associated Press.)

These past two weeks have taught me a lot – from learning to manage my impatience to being open to new possibilities. 

Some days feels like a constant battle between my head and heart.

“You’re doing great. You’re right where you’re supposed to be.”

“You cannot celebrate until you hit that goal… seriously, did you do enough today?”

It’s taken (and is taking) consistent practice to follow my intuition versus the voice in my head that tells me I’m not doing enough.

On the other side of that, a whole new world has opened up to me – a world where joy, happiness, excitement and peace are more possible than ever.

If you’re thinking of launching a business and/or you want to leave your job to move into freelance work or entrepreneurship, this post is for you.

Here’s what it looks like to transition to full-time entrepreneurship. 

Embracing Less Time Scarcity

What the F is time scarcity?

Time scarcity is that feeling of “I don’t have enough time to do what I want to do.”

Time scarcity has been a massive weight on my shoulders for years.

But like any type of scarcity, it comes from the fear that we’re not doing enough or that we’re not enough.

You can feel time scarcity especially when you run a business full-time, but it’s so important to make a decision to not operate from a place of lack – no matter what. 

If you think about it, worrying about not having enough time to do this or that depletes our energy and ultimately eats up our time.

What if we approached our day with “I have plenty of time to do all that I need to get done today.” How does that feel?

This perspective has actually improved my focus.

For example, all Work Bigger projects fall into three buckets right now: revenue, community and content.

If a task doesn’t fall into one of these three categories, it goes into the “other” bucket, which I don’t even look at until everything else is complete. 

Allowing for More Flow

Working at the Associated Press, being a parent and also growing a business requires a lot of discipline. I thrive on structure, and it’s how I’ve gotten Work Bigger to this place. 

However, with this transition, I’ve become aware of how too much structure can sometimes get in our way. We can become so focused on our to do lists and determined to get from A to B that we can miss big opportunities. 

The solution?

Go with the flow.

For example, feeling exhausted from checking email or taking calls? Take a break. Listen to your body. 

Or did a colleague change plans with you last minute forcing you to rearrange your day? Take a minute to be annoyed, then embrace it. Today that meeting wasn’t meant to be, and it’s possible something more productive may happen for you. But you have to go with the flow to see it.

Expansion, Expansion, Expansion

This is a big one. How often do we feel like we’re expanding or growing as we’re working on a project?

Feeling expansion while working is key in feeling connected to your work, finding fulfillment and staying challenged.

This feeling of expansion for me comes from going with the flow and making more time for deeper work (i.e. writing, creating content, and studying topics relevant to the Work Bigger mission). 

For example, while I was working at the Associated Press, most of my evenings (Mon, Tues, Wed) were spent working. Because I was pretty tired from a full day of work and parenting, by 8:30 p.m. I only had the capacity to do one or two things like clean up content on the blog or check email. 

There was nothing wrong with this. I was slowly making progress on projects for that week.

Now, there’s a shift. After my son is asleep, I spend my evenings in a number of ways – from spending quality time with the husband, reading, writing or planning the Work Bigger vision. 

It happens naturally. It’s not forced. I don’t tell myself I need to get this blog post done today. I let it flow.

In Conclusion: Transitioning from Employer to Entrepreneur

It takes time to get here.

I know it can feel daunting to balance full time work plus a side hustle and a family. I don’t want to paint a perfect picture here. Each phase of career growth comes with its own challenges, and I know I have plenty of challenges ahead of me.

However, I did want to share this because I think it’s important to call out how growth can happen when we take certain risks to do what we love.

I’ll be talking more about time management and getting your side hustle off the ground on Facebook Live. If you’re not part of the community, request to join here (do answer the Qs in the prompt otherwise we won’t be able to accept your request).

What questions do you have about getting your side hustle off the ground? Share with us in the comments and we can talk about them in the community as well.

Also, loved this article? Show some love, and share it! 

Belma McCaffrey

Author Belma McCaffrey

More posts by Belma McCaffrey

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