If not now, when? (part deux)

***This is a continuation of a previous post, and if you haven’t read part one of this post, you probably should, things will make waaaaaay more sense.  If you don’t feel like doing that, jump on in, you’ll catch up. ***

Have you thought about it? What expectations are you labouring under? Who are you trying to please, that ultimately, isn’t yourself? STOP DOING IT. Believe me. The minute that you figure out what is going to make you happy, and then dive in head first, it will change your life.

Is it hard? Hell yes. Are they days that I want to build my blanket fort and hide in it and not come out ever again. Definitely.

Is it worth it? More than I can ever express.

I would rather work 200 hours a week for myself than 40 for someone else.  The coolest thing about it though, the bad days now, the frustrating, tear your hair out, banging your head against a brick wall bad days are still far better than the bad days when you work for someone else.

If not now, when? // Part Deux #khalifestylephotography #columbusohio #614 Share on X

I have a friend who is currently working in a corporate world, and listening to her talk about her office life, I am so glad that I took on this crazy creative entrepreneur venture.  There are days that I miss having co-workers to talk with, being able to walk over to someone else’s desk and bounce ideas off of them when I’m stuck, but what I’ve found is this: I still do have that, it just looks different now.

Throughout the last year, I’ve built a tribe of bad ass people around me who I can bounce ideas off of when I get stuck, whom I can send a frame I’m editing and stuck on and ask which version they like better. Are they physically here with me? Nope. Do I get the same feedback? Yup.

Dress Code? What Dress Code?

One thing that I did not foresee, in any capacity, was the propensity to end up wearing the same thing for a few days at a time. When you don’t have to actually leave the house for work, time tends to take on a whole new meaning. Especially when you can work in your pj’s.

After working in corporate America, my work wardrobe consisted of heels, slacks, sheath dresses, blazers and cardigans. Now? Yoga pants, hoodies, and tank tops, unless I’m meeting with a client of course, but even then, I get to choose. I’m not bound by anything other than what I want to wear that day, which is pretty fantastic.

As things have really started rolling, I’ve found a routine that works, makes me change out of pj’s to work (even though it’s often just into other comfy cotton clothes when I’m just working from home) and at the end of the day, my night time routine lets my body know that it’s time to wind down the day and turn my brain off. Works most of the time.

No Two Days are the Same, and I Wouldn’t Have it Any Other Way

When you work for someone else, you know what your days are going to look like, more or less. When you work for yourself, truly work for yourself, not at all. There isn’t an 8-5 structure, and 40 hours a week is absolutely a thing of the past. And it is soooooo sweet.  If I have something come up that needs immediate attention (like dealing with all of the issues that go along with a flooded basement and the resulting remodel) I know that I have the flexibility to deal with it.

What that also means, is that I know that I’ll be up late working to make it up.  Am I sad about that? Nope. Not at all.

Work & Travel are Actually Compatible

A big reasons that we opted to relocate to Ohio last year was to be able to be nearer to our nieces and nephews. While I was working in corporate America, I missed far too many family camping trips, birthday parties, and sadly, a couple of Christmas’.

One of my many philosophies on life is that if an employer, or anyone for that matter, asks me to choose between my job and my family, that I will hand in my keys in that moment.

What I didn’t see, was that that was happening.  Every trip that I was forced to miss, every family dinner, I was being told that my job was more important. And I don’t stand for that.

Now, I am able to work from where ever I am. Trip to Arizona last week, no problem. Working from Denver and Vail in January, ok.  Taking ten days to go to Portland this August, knowing that I’ll be able to work while I’m there, FANTASTIC.

Being able to take a road trip through the south, to write a book that we’ve been tossing around as an idea for years, knowing that I will be working as I travel.  EVEN. BETTER.

So tell me, if you were to stop doing what you “should”, and stop trying to make everyone else happy, what would your life look like?  Have it firmly in your mind? Great.

Now go do it.