How To Quit Your 9-5 Job Without Losing Your Sanity

If you’re wondering day and night how to quit your 9-5 job, it’s a big sign that you should do it sooner or later. I know that quitting your 9 to 5 is one of the scariest things you’ll ever do. It goes against the nature of our security-seeking egoic nature.

The truth is that the real reason why you’re scared to quit your 9-5 is not the act of quitting the job. If anything, that would be relieving. The underlying fear is ‘fearing the unknown‘. You’re scared of taking a risk and making the wrong decisions.

But what if you had clarity on your life path and knew exactly where you wanted to be? How would you feel if you had a clear roadmap of what you need to do to get there?

The next steps are designed to help you get insights on alternative options and solutions to quit your 9-5 job.

Should I quit my 9 to 5 job?

First things first. I’m almost 1oo% sure (speaking from experience) that you’re not really sure if you should quit a 9 to 5 job in the first place. You might be having sleepless nights and going around asking your friends, family, and your cat if you should quit your 9 to 5.

The fact that you’re asking yourself whether you should quit your job or not is already a huge sign that something is off in your career path. And that my friend should not be ignored.

Unless you want to spend the rest of your life wondering ‘what if?’, and be full of regrets when you’re on your deathbed. A brutal harsh truth that you need to hear.

If you’re wondering if you should quit your 9 to 5 job, the real question you should be asking yourself is “how can I quit my 9-5 without losing my money and my sanity?”

Let’s have a look at what you need to let go of first so you can get unstuck and move forward with your decision.

What you need to let go of to quit your 9-5

To quit your 9-5 job, you need to let go of what is no longer serving you. This helps you clear your way and embark on an exciting journey of freedom and self-discovery. Otherwise you’ll find yourself stuck in your mind without taking any action.

Let go of:

beliefs that you can only make money from 9-5 jobs
limiting beliefs about your potential & capabilities
the fixed mindset that inhibits your growth
how you feel about other peoples’ opinions
any approval that you are seeking from others
the need to know every single step of the way
trying to control what is beyond your control
the illusion of security that holds you back from your personal freedom

What can I do when I quit my 9 to 5 job?

The opportunities are endless, even if it doesn’t really feel that way! However, this depends on whether you already have an idea on which direction you want to take in your life or not. So to make your life easier, I split this section in two different scenarios.

How to quit a 9 to 5 job if you already know what you want to do

a guy who quit his 9-5 job and designed a roadmap is looking at his vision board

Let’s say that you know where your heart is and what sets your soul on fire. Your heart is pulling you into a direction and you cannot bear to ignore it any longer. That’s amazing and you should definitely follow your passion and your heart, it will guide you on the path that suits you best.

If you’re in this position, all you need to do is have a clear roadmap of your vision. Your roadmap needs to be as clear as possible. Now of course this can be amended as you go along, so don’t get too stuck on designing your roadmap.

Having a clear vision of where you want to be and what steps you need to take to get there is essential. This will help you feel reassured that you are taking the right decision and it makes you feel safer moving in this direction.

Designing your roadmap enlightens your path and empowers you to quit your 9 to 5 so you can finally focus your time and energy on your passion and your dreams.

“If you don’t build your own dream someone else will hire you to help build theirs.”
Tony Gaskins Jr.

How to quit my 9-5 if I don’t know what I want to do yet

a girl confused about quitting her 9 to 5 job staring blankly

Don’t worry, there’s hope for you too if you want to quit your 9-5 but you have no idea what you want to do with your life to earn money. While you’re still stuck in your 9-5 job, start exploring what you enjoy doing and what kind of skills you have.

This will enable you to think of alternative ways you can make money, until you have more clarity of what you really want to do with your life and your time. Otherwise you’ll be stuck in your 9-5 and I’m pretty sure that you CAN’T WAIT to have more freedom in your life.

So here’s what to do to quit your 9 to 5 job ASAP:

list down your skills
find out what you enjoy doing
reflect on what you’re naturally good at
think of skills you’d like to develop
research on how you can use your skills to earn money
start freelancing and earn money online

Alternatives you can try to you quit your 9 to 5 job

Honestly, the sky is the limit. At this point, you might be struggling to see how true this is. But keep in mind that just because you are not aware of the limitless opportunities that exist outside your current reality, it doesn’t mean that they don’t exist.

Start your own soulful service

The word ‘business’ puts off many people, including myself. Until I shifted my perspective and realized that a business is nothing more than a service.

When I started thinking of my business in the form of a soulful service, it just clicked. It’s what I always wanted to do, serve others by using my unique set of skills and knowledge.

Your soulful service can be anything that involves serving others by doing what you’re passionate about, and by utilizing your unique set of skills and gifts. Whether you’re selling a product, providing online services, or as a local vendor, you’re still serving others & getting paid for it.

Pretty exciting isn’t it?!

Freelancing

If you’re not into entrepreneurship and you’re not feeling excited about building your own soulful service, freelancing is a great option if you want to quit a 9 to 5 job. Working as a freelancer gives you more freedom and flexibility.

You’ll be able to set your own schedule and you can work from anywhere you want. Being a digital nomad myself, I can say that freelancing helped me start my career as an entrepreneur until I established my coaching biz and it gave me the freedom I was yearning for.

Find a remote job

You can thank the pandemic for this! After intense lockdowns and social distancing measures, the corporate world adapted to remote work and you can now find loads of opportunities where you can work from wherever you want.

You would still need to work your 9-5 hours and commit to your job. But you’ll still get more personal freedom as you can work from wherever you want, and with whoever you want. You can travel freely, stop wasting hours commuting to work, and be free from the stressful office environment.

Work in exchange for free housing

If you’re looking for an adventure, you can quit your 9 to 5 job, run off with your savings, and find places where you can work in exchange for free accommodation. There are several legitimate platforms that offer these kinds of opportunities.

This is an amazing way to travel to beautiful places as you can find these opportunities all around the world. All you need to do is create an account and pay a small membership fee (totally affordable), and you’ll get to stay at a place of your choice for free while you help the locals with either gardening, or some type of house work.

Whether you want to go in a serene place in the Alps, enjoy the beach in Costa Rica, or live for free in a vibrant city like Amsterdam, you can totally find these kinds of opportunities with some online research.

How I quit my 9-5 and started earning money online

Grace Being after she quit 9-5 working from home in Bali

When the pandemic hit the Western world in March 2020, I decided to take a decision which I had been putting on hold for over a year. I know you must be thinking I’m crazy for quitting my job during a pandemic.

But when you find your ‘why’ you become unstoppable, and you’ll be able to move mountains to pursue your dreams. So I decided to follow my heart, move to Bali, and start my own entrepreneurship journey.

My family were shocked.

My friends didn’t support my decision.

No one believed in me.

Everyone thought I was crazy and expected me to fail.

I was aware of all of these, but I didn’t let other people’s thoughts and opinions stop me from following my purpose.

Realistically, I knew that building your own business takes time. But I didn’t want to wait that long to quit my 9-5 job. So I found alternative ways to earn money online until I could sustain myself financially through my personal brand.

And this is KEY to quitting your 9-5 job as most of us are not ready to quit before we have a fully laid out plan with a guarantee that we will start making money immediately. Now of course you need to be smart and take calculated risks.

Calculated risks on how to quit a 9 to 5 job

If you know that you have $1,000 of savings in your bank account and you want to quit your 9-5 without a plan and an alternative way to earn money in mind, that’s a big no no. The last thing you want is to add more stress and anxiety to your life.

That’s why designing a roadmap is essential.

FAQ

How to quit 9-5 job?

Here are some options and insights on how to quit your 9 to 5:
1) Find out what you enjoy doing
2) Write down your skills & utilize them
3) Let go of limiting beliefs & a fixed mindset
4) Start freelancing
5) Find a remote job
6) Start your own business
7) Work in exchange for free housing

Should I quit my 9 to 5 job?

If you’re wondering whether you should quit your 9 to 5 job, it’s a huge sign that you’re not happy in your career path. Do not ignore your feelings as they guide you on the best path for you. Start making a plan and design a roadmap on how to quit your 9 to 5 job and find alternate ways to make money.