How to Quit Your 9 to 5 Job Within 6 Months: The Ultimate Escape Plan

Do you want to quit your 9 to 5 job?

If yes, then let me be the first one to acknowledge, that you’re going to be a part of an ongoing trend that started in 2000 which is recorded as the “Quits Rate”.

It is the workforce’s rate for quitting their jobs voluntarily over the years for better alternatives.

And this said rate has increased ever since.

According to shrm.org, in 2018 millennials accounted for half of the voluntary separations (51 percent), followed by Generation X (25 percent) and Baby Boomers (19 percent).

Millennials have the highest quit rate, but the rest of the generation groups have a significant percentage too.

Why so?

Craving independence, increased happiness, location flexibility, and better income, as primary factors in their decision to ditch the traditional 9 to 5 Jobs to work from home.

None of which is attainable through a 9 to 5 job!

Let me guess, you want to quit your 9 to 5 job because:

• 1. You’ve lost interest in your field of study
• 2. Corporate 9-5 lifestyle is draining your life every day
• 3. Getting Inadequate income

It is usually one or the other or sometimes all at the same time.

Well…you’re not alone!

Throughout the last decade, this “quits rate” is on the rise.

Either way, if the overwhelming feeling of waking up tomorrow to go to your day job gives you a mini headache, it is a big flashing sign that you NEED to quit.

You need to give your day job a big finger as soon as you can afford to. But in your present situation, you may or may not have the freedom to do so.

But once you have something to fall back on (another consistent stream of income), there’s no stopping you!

In this post, you’ll know how to strategically build that “another stream of income” and get a step closer to financial freedom.

According to Inc.com, A survey of 2,700 full-time employees, conducted in late 2017 shows the number of Americans who plan to work for themselves could triple to as many as 42 million workers by 2020.

That’s an increase of 27 million workers who say they are ready to abandon traditional work for full-time self-employment.

Self-employment is hot right now!

And as lucrative it is, buildings its foundation from the ground up takes a considerable amount of effort and is time-consuming.

Sometimes anywhere from 6 months to over 2 whole years!

Trust me! I know that even the shortest timeline in this spectrum seems like a very long time. But it will be easily worth more than the last 5 years you spend (or will be spending) on your job!

Why take that long to quit a job? I can do it anytime I want!

You may have an option to give your “two-week notice” tomorrow if you wish but in all honesty, you need to be realistic in these situations.

You need to have a backup, a backup good enough to support you financially throughout.

And you can easily turn this backup thing into a full-time gig quite smoothly!

So before diving into the actual gameplay, I would recommend you to draft a well-written resignation letter and place it somewhere no one can find it except you!

Of course, it is not a necessary thing to do for now but you never know, a little motivation can go a long way!

Now, let us dive right into the process and get you to your A-game in,

How To Quit Your 9 to 5 Job in 6 Months–

This post contains affiliate links, read the disclaimer for more information.

Step 1: It’s Time To Be Mentally Prepared

Mentally prepared?

What do I need mental preparation for?

Starting something completely out of your domain is going to challenge your current mindset.

So to start this “Financial independence” journey you might have to do some mental shifts to get maximum results for your efforts.

Mental shift #1: Taking Action Today

The whole concept of starting your own business revolves around the idea that “Hustle today to get results tomorrow”, the longer you delay that today, the longer your tomorrow will be.

The intention of  “waiting for the right time” or “finding motivation” is total BS. 

Mental shift #2: The Employee-Employer Switch

Since you’re desperately trying to get out of your current job, it is highly unlikely that after quitting you’ll join another 9-5 job anytime soon.

And it implies that, when you’re trying to build your own business or be self-employed while still working for a company, you have to switch between “Employee Mode in the day” to “Employer Mode at the night” in a snap of a finger every day for a long time.

You work your morning to evening at your desk and at night you have to work again to build that business of yours. It will be going to be very frustrating, especially since you’ll be doing this almost every day.

Step 2: Research Your Interests

Right off the bat, you need to evaluate your interests first thing in this process because this is where your profit is going to be. Take out a pen and a piece of paper and write down your areas of interest – 

• Cooking
• Traveling
• Tech
• Motherhood
• Business
• Dirt Bikes
• Tattoos
• Shoes
• Gaming…all of it!

If you think your idea might not be lucrative enough, just know that there is a 7-Year-old boy on YouTube who makes $22 Million a year Reviewing Toys for Kids!

Knowing your interests is essential because you’re gonna have to choose your business niche according to your interests.

If there is something you have a sheer knowledge about and can talk about it for an eternity, or have a fascination for that particular topic, that counts as your interest. 

So if you know where your interest is, you might be a few steps ahead of others.

But on the flip side, it is okay if you’re unaware of your interests and passions. I didn’t know I was interested in finance until I was already a few months in on this blog writing articles about the topic of “Blogging”.

Now, this blog has predominantly finance-related articles.

For you to find out your interest, you just have to try a few things out and see what fits you, just like in a clothing store. Try one, if it doesn’t feel right, move on to the next one!

Tedious yet accurate way of finding out!

Also, it took me a while to realize that when we choose to work on something we love, we rarely get tired of it.

So much so that we become aggressively passionate about it.

While in college (pursuing engineering), I had this constant sense of mental exhaustion even without putting any effort into anything, but now even if I’m genuinely tired I would be thrilled to open my laptop and just dive to search for ideas, Graphics, and content.

Not because I had to, but because I wanted to! Big difference!

This is what your work does to you when you like doing it! Doing what you like is freedom & Liking what you do is happiness.

And when both freedom and happiness are part of your life, you become excited to work!

Moreover, if you’re working for yourself rather than a company, you won’t feel exploited and also get to keep 100% of the profits.

Just saying! 

Step 3: Place your Interest into Serious Action

Since “finding your interest” has been checked off your list, it is time to start that side hustle of yours.

But just like anything, establishing something that you have no experience with takes time and effort. And overcoming this problem will be a tough ride!

One of the ways is to build an engaged audience first!

For example: Having a Youtube audience, a Blog audience, or a social media following under your belt can be used as leverage to grow your business exponentially.

If you have a blog related to finance, you can offer financial services to the audience visiting that blog. Or if you have a YouTube channel dedicated to organic herbs, you can sell your herbal tea and stuff to that audience.

I guess you get a general idea here!

Building an audience (online) is not a necessity but can help you in a lot of ways!

For me Starting a blog is the best option for any topic and niche out there. It’s a low-cost business model, where you can get started for less than $4 a month. That’s it!

A blog can cover any topic under the sun as long as it interests you. If gardening intrigues you, start a blog about gardening, if you’re passionate about home decor, start a blog about that.

If you gain enough audience on that blog, you can monetize it with ads, services, and products and can easily make a full-time income out of it!

There is absolutely no restriction whatsoever!

The other way is to reach potential clients yourself, convince them to let you help them. I don’t have a lot of experience about this so I cannot give you what goes under.

Below are a few ways you can build your very own small scale business at the comfort of your couch at home

• 1: Blogging (How to start a blog)
• 2: Freelance writer
• 3: YouTube (How to start a channel Successfully – For beginners)
• 3: Facebook Ads Manager
• 4: Amazon FBA (fulfillment by amazon)

And a lot more… To know more about these work-from-home opportunities and how they pay to follow head down to this link and see what suits best for you!

Step 4: Test–Hustle–Improvise–Repeat

Now that you’ve found your interests and selected your form of side hustle, the easy parts are over, now let us face the real challenges head-on!

And that is the cycle of Test, Hustle, and Improvise!

Testing phase– This is where you try out the different strategies and plans to see what works for you and your new side hustle.

Test out which hours during that day you’re comfortable working on it, test out different content creation methods, test out which content brings you positive results, test out the things that give your side hustle “growth”.

Hustle phase– When you figure out the things that show promising results. Dive deep into hustling mode. Produce content, work consistently, etc.

The more you create/hustle, the more you gain experience and exposure.

Improvising phase– Improving is needed when you have a good strategy but want to better it to scale ever bigger.

Now and then, a little shaking up needs to be done to see further potential growth opportunities rather than to stick to a hard and fast rule!

This whole process can be quite overwhelming at times, lack of direction can be hard. This is where most people tap out!

But not you, NOT THIS TIME! 

A Few Guidelines to Follow Throughout the 6-Month Journey

You Might Want to Use Your Free Time (all of it)

Handling a full-time job with the new addition of a side hustle might drive you nuts for a while, but under no (normal) circumstance you cannot afford you to waste your free time.

You cant get more time to cope with all the extra work, you have to make some room!

For example, The time you get after your 9 to 5 session can be used productively rather than streaming Netflix!

Even on weekends?

Yes, especially on weekends! You have the best time to put in your side hustle is the weekends! Long uninterrupted hours!

Avoid Fatal Money Traps

What counts as a money trap?

Anything that prevents you from building up wealth!

For example, there is a phenomenon called the “Inflation lifestyle”–The more you earn, the more you spend, often without thinking about it.

Which is very common for those who don’t have a good relationship with money.

What happens here is when someone earns $5k a month, immediately they spend that $5k in buying stuff, and when their income increases, (say $50k a month) their spendings too increases (i.e $50k ), resulting in no savings irrespective of income.

Another example is “influential spending” where the majority of people are influenced by others and try to live beyond their means. They buy overpriced branded stuff they don’t need, expensive cars they cannot afford, just to fit in with their peers.

These so-called traps are considered fatal because they can cripple you financially without even your realization.

The main idea behind not falling for these traps is to help you make the transition ( from employed to self-employed) as smooth and easy as possible!

To make sure that your hard-earned money goes to your long term benefit,

Open a new high yield savings account that provides 2.0% APY or more ( compared to 0.09% national average) which is both impulse expenditure and inflation-proof.

Banks like CIT Bank provide 2.20% APY. Just a savings builder account is all you need to save yourself from the mentioned money traps.

Open Account for CIT Bank here!

Make Consistency Your Habit

Starting something is extremely easy, but staying on course can be a real punch in the face!

Because motivation is what got you started, but a habit is something that’ll keep you moving! So make consistency your habit! Consistency is what keeps you hustling even when you don’t see desired results.

In the world of business, you can be nothing for 5 months straight, but your reach can explode in the sixth only if you keep your hustle consistent. I’m a testimonial to this scenario!

All it takes is one viral blog post, one video, one recommendation to kickstart your journey.