My Journey to Leaving the 9-5: Ditching Corporate Life to Build My Dreams

Stacie tells it like it is so you can be inspired.

Stories of how people get on the journey to leaving the 9-5 and how they approach it continue! This is a guest post from Stacie Sadek, who coaches women to on leaving the corporate world to build their dreams. While that is who she works with specifically, the actual story sharing her journey of leaving the 9-5 resonates for all!

Grab my 6-Step Checklist to Escape the 9-5 because I know you'll be inspired by her words below and will want to take action!

Disclosure: As a blogger, I use affiliate links sometimes! I may receive commission from purchases I share, but it does not change your price.

I wish I could say that I had a pivotal moment in my life where I left my 9-5 in pursuit of something more meaningful.

That I got so fed up and walked off the job. That I found the courage to tell the corporate leaders to take their goals, their meetings and their need for perfection and shove it up their a@#.

Truth is, that isn’t the case. Like some of you, I actually enjoy what I do at work, but the harsh reality is that it is not fulfilling me or the woman I want to become. In fact, the more I work and help fulfill someone else’s dreams the further away my goals seem to be. I know there is a growing tribe of like-minded women wanting to fulfill their dreams and they are waiting for the right person to come along to help them get started. But they aren’t going to wait forever.

Eventually, someone will come along and show them the way. Here’s the kicker though, like hell do I want that to be someone else. Like hell do I want someone else to beat me to the punch. Whether I’m ready or not, I am that person and my time is now. You can ready my journey on how I chose to be a life coach at www.staciesadek.com.

Imposter Syndrome

Starting my career in coaching women who want to build or scale their business, I knew first hand what it was like to work on fulfilling someone else’s dreams and leaving my needs at the doorway when I walk into the office.

I know what it’s like to sit in doubt and ask myself “what if I fail” “what if people think I’m a fraud” and my personal favourite “am I really qualified to do this?” Imposter syndrome to a tee. My feelings of being an imposter along with my fear of failure really held me back.

I’ve learned it never really goes away though but there are ways to deal with it when your ego gets in your way. If you want read more about my take on fear, you can read it here. So like many of my clients and followers I had to deal with this self-sabotaging thought and kick my own ass into gear whether I was afraid or not. I had to pave my own way.

Going Against the Grain

When I get asked why I haven’t fully committed to my dream of being a full-time coach, my answer is simple yet I can’t help feeling crushed. The simple answer is that I don’t have a nest egg to rely on to go full-time with my coaching yet.

So until then I am doing what it takes to grow my coaching business while I build a nest egg. Besides, what is this to you I ask? Is this my journey or is this the journey you think I should have?

My journey is unique in that it isn’t what you think it should like, it’s my journey and damn it, I’m going to ride it out the way I see fit. Shouldn’t you be paving your own journey too?

Who I need to become.

Starting out I had to get clear on what I really wanted, who I really wanted to serve and how I wanted to coach. I was lost though. There were so many decisions to be made that I couldn’t figure out who my ideal client was.

I sat in decision making paralysis figuring out who I wanted to help. A question that under any other circumstance should have been easy to figure out. Then it dawned on me, the freaking answer to my question was right in front me the WHOLE TIME. I needed a Decision-Making Coach to help me figure out the answers to all my questions.

How do I start a company, who do I serve, how do I get my name out there, etc. How beautiful and awakening this was to learn that the women and coach I wanted to become, was the one I needed most in my own life.

I Am One With My Clients

Launching my coaching career, I had to get real with myself. I had to admit that I don’t have all the answers to the questions women have about building or scaling their business. Again, my journey is mine and you journey will be yours too.

I won’t tell you what your next steps are, I’ll help you figure that out. I won’t be pissed off at you if you don’t commit, because the only one you need to commit to is yourself. But I will help you hold yourself accountable if you need me to be. I will help you stay on track if you get distracted and I will coach you through difficulties you might experience.

You’re the gatekeeper to your own success, but I can help you open that gate when you are ready to. Again, this is your journey but I’m here to help you pave the way when you’re ready.

Strategizing

My past experience includes a lot of strategic planning. A lot of annual goals and milestones. I so badly wanted to leave the pressure of annual goals behind but starting my own company I realized that there is some importance to this.

Sure, my annual goals will look different than yours. And the tasks I have to complete to reach those goals will be different. All too often we get lost in the big goal, the be bad have it all goal that we forget about what it includes, we forget that there are a lot more smaller tasks that we can do and are capable of doing to reach the goal. And you might be pissed at me for saying this, but we get so focused on achieving the big goal that we forget to analyze what it will take to get there.

You can read about how I had to strategize getting up a grueling mountain and how that ties into building a business here. That my friend is why strategizing is so important. What small steps can you do daily that will help you reach your goal?

RELATED: Grab a journal here to write down ideas, track your goals, and more.

Photo credit: Free stock photos on Groove

Where do we go from here?

If you’ve read this so far, thank you. If you have given up (which you haven’t because you are still reading this) I commend you for continuing to search for the answer to your questions. Not everyone will be your cup of tea. Pour the shit out that doesn’t work for you and fill it up with what does.

We don’t need to follow everyone else’s journey but our own and if anyone tells you otherwise you can tell them that this is your story, and you get to write it. We are the leaders to our own success and your journey is yours to unravel.

If you are like me and have struggled with getting clear on your goals and who you want to become, have struggled with confidence, got lost in determining your way to success and need a little courage to leave your 9-5 I welcome you to come explore what StacieSadekLC is all about. Together we will help you go from being the women you are to the women you want to be.

Follow Stacie:

Website: https://staciesadek.com/

If you're enjoying the Free At 50 blog and the fantastic guest posts, tip me online! Click here to buy me a coffee!