5 Important Money Lessons That Led Me to Quit My Dream Job

1. I would not have the freedom

The first lesson that I learned was that no matter what I did, no matter how hard I worked, no matter what level of success I reached within that business, no matter what I did to reach my targets, how much money I earned, the business, and how many clients I earned for the business; I was never going to have autonomy or freedom over my own time and my thinking and my way that I wanted to work.

You were constantly reminded that you were an employee who worked the nine-to-five, had to be there at certain times, and didn't have flexibility or freedom. You were an employee; they were the bosses.

2. My earning power belonged to other people

I learned again that no matter how hard I worked, how well I did, or how much I smashed those targets, my earning power was directly in the hands of other people.

Even if I was given a target, even if I worked towards that, even if I smashed it, it did not give me a guarantee that I was going to be given what I thought I was going to be given, or it didn't give me a guarantee that I was going to achieve or earn with any certainty an amount of money.

My earning power was always going to be in their hands, regardless of the hours I put in, the blood, sweat, and tears I shed, the work I did, and how much I sacrificed and missed out to put into that business. My earning power was not within my control.

3. The more that I earned, the more I was going to be expected to do

I did not think that when I was earning more or earning pay raises or bonuses, I could suddenly take my foot off the gas and not work very hard. But as you earn more, the pressure increases, and you need to work more and produce more to justify what you're earning.

The higher you climb, and the more you earn, there is a perception that they own more of your time.

Above and beyond what you're contracted to do, what you're expected to do, more will be expected of you beyond that, regardless of what you may have planned, regardless of what you may think you're doing that weekend or that evening, regardless of where you think you're going - the more you earn, the more you are most automatically expected to do.

4. There are certain things in life that I am just not prepared to accept.

There are certain ways that I am just not prepared to be treated. There are certain things that I'm just not prepared to accept that is going to form part of my everyday life.

When I am working very hard, when I'm achieving what I'm meant to be achieving, when I know that I'm doing a good job, I am not prepared to still be in a position where I don't want to go to work, or I dread going to work because of certain ways that certain people may feel it's okay to treat you. I'm not the type of person that can accept that. I don't think anybody should be.

I don't think people should be treated in a way that makes them very desperately unhappy going to their work whenever it's not something they're responsible for, that they are doing their job well. I realized that I had to learn to prioritize my mental health, well-being, and self. I realized that to do that, I would have to leave my employment.

5. My salary was also my captor

The more my salary increased or grew, the more I was going to be almost trapped and tied into my job. The more my salary grew and the more I relied upon that salary, and the more my lifestyle increased, the harder it would be for me to leave.

When I was then reliant on that for higher bills and outgoings, it would be much harder for me to go and jump and open my own business or do something for myself.

It became almost like a captor that was keeping me there because it would be a higher and higher risk to take and more and more challenging to make the jump and leave the employment I was in to try and do something for myself.

All those lessons combined made me take a really hard look at my employment, my life, where I wanted my life to be, and what was important to me.

I wanted to have the freedom to make my own choices and freedom over my own time, and I wanted to be able to spend time with my family.

When I realized these five things, it gave me the push that I needed to decide that I was going to take the risk, I was going to quit my job, and I was going to start a business for myself. I still work in the same type of industry; I just now do it for myself on my terms.

Money lessons

I have never looked back, never regretted it. I am twelve years in, and I'm still happily doing what I do and happy that I left my previous employment.

Are you thinking of starting your own business? I hope if you are considering your own future, this has been helpful and given you some insight into my decision and some food for thought. Share your goals in the comments below.