A long and indecisive career of not knowing what the f%$k I wanted to do.

I could go into a complete “I was born on the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere” story. But that is as boring as an Oscar acceptance speech. So I’m going to cut to the chase.

I quit my job of 10-plus years, to finally start my own business. In what, I did not know. Fade into a scene of self-reflection. What was it that I enjoyed? What were the things that interested me? I have tried many things throughout my life. But damn if I couldn’t get past the learning stage. I’d studied both graphic design, and got a degree in photography. But I never managed to turn that into a career. You could say I feared failure or I did not feel I was good enough. It was all those things and more. 

I’d spent too much time trying to analyse and understand the why. I never quite got an answer that satisfied me enough to move on. I had become paralysed by my need to solve the problem of not being able to commit to a career. I was a like a cat and a laser point. Jumping around from one thing to another. Trying to find my fit. Something needs to change.

What changed? We sold our house. Then bought another house. I was at a fork in the road. Not the house but me. Apart from the social aspect, I was in a job I did not like. I believed I could be doing better, financially, mentally and creatively. Bare in mind that this was something that had been, like a marble rattling around in my head for many years. 

As we all know life is not so simple. We have families and responsibilities. So timing becomes everything. Selling our house and moving allowed me to finally quit my job. I take a moment to give a shoutout to my wife. Who both encouraged me and supported me in what turned out to be a pretty tough decision for me.  

A word of warning I’m not suggesting anyone quit their job. It requires planning, particularly financially. In saying that I will clarify that we did not have mountains of money. Just enough and I mean Just enough for a year and that was being super optimistic. I also want to point out that we didn’t sell our house so I could quit my job to set up my own business. There was a long list of objectives. Only some of those we achieved. Selling and Buying a house was a year-long trek through a quagmire of a housing boom. A story for another time.

I quit my job. We had money set aside for me to start a business. The question was what would I do? Yeah yeah. You’re thinking how do you quit a job and set up a business without knowing what you would do? I did have ideas, I promise. What I looked at was the things I both enjoyed and I believed I could be good at. I needed to commit, learn and practice. I knew I would have to put my head down and keep moving forward. I did not have the advantage of working in the field and then moving into that freelancing field. This was going to be a f%$king challenge. In saying that there are resources that can help make things a bit easier. Which I will discuss and share in later posts.

You might be wondering or not. But I will say this anyway. Why didn’t I do this whilst I was still working? This question has baffled me to this day. The best reason/excuse that I can give is I suck at focusing on more than one thing at a time. Plus, when you work, come home tired and are helping raise a family. It sometimes feels like there are not enough quality blocks of time to devote to doing anything. I tip my hat to the ‘Hustlers’ who work full-time jobs and are building their businesses. I do not apologise, I am so not a ‘Hustlers’. Why, I do not know.

Here I am with a business “The Fuzzy Sofa Design Studio” almost up and running and no clients. Yet. Over the next several weeks, I will impart to you the travels of my freelance business, from the name to the launch. The ups and the downs with all the sticky stuff between.

Thanks for your ears.