I finished up my last day of work at my corporate job on Friday and now I am officially a full time freelancer! It’s hard for me to imagine what it will feel like to get so much time back in my week for exploring new things, experiencing the city in a whole new way, working in my studio space on new projects… I need a step-by-step plan for a fresh start. A plan that will keep me moving forward.

I was talking with a friend about quitting full time to go freelance a few weeks ago and we both decided that if we were to quit our jobs the first thing we’d want to do is deep clean our apartments… like really deep clean…. like clean behind the refrigerator clean. That sounds amazing.

This will be step one of the plan.

Step two. Visual goals. I’ve been thinking about quitting for awhile now and it’s taken me a long time to make it official. I would have days where I’d think “you can TOTALLY do this” then that would immediately be followed by “you are INSANE to think this will work.” To keep that last thought at bay, I’m making a {pretty} framed list of my goals to hang in my studio and remind myself that these are completely attainable as many an entrepreneur before me has been able to achieve them. And when doubt starts creeping in, I have plenty “Quit Your Day Job” articles bookmarked on Etsy.

Step three… a new daily routine. This is probably going to be the biggest one. My routine for the past four and a half years has been pretty much the same. I’m really going to miss seeing the muffin man on the corner street cart by my office every morning. He always saved me a lemon poppyseed. But this is my chance to start fresh and actually start making healthier breakfasts! I want to create a daily check list of everything I need to do in order to start the day.

Step four… projects. I’ve lined up a few projects, both personal and work-related so that there was something to work towards the second I left my job. This is a deal breaker for me. If I’m not busy working on a project in the beginning stages of all this, I imagine I’ll have too much time to think about things and question my methods. Where am I going? What does this all mean? Why did I do this? NOPE. Not going to keep questioning it, I just need to keep moving forward and trust that I will figure it out!

This is where I’d love to hear your ideas… did you leave a full time job to work for yourself? Did you launch your own company on pure determination and will power?  What does your daily to-do list look like? I’m so curious!

~Joanna <3