Like a phoenix…

After 15 years of working in the corporate world, I have finally decided to leave it all behind and start my own business. I’m scared, I’m excited but most of all I’m ready.

When I first took this decision, it was more out of necessity than want. I was in a bad place in my job, tremendously stressed out and altogether fed up. I knew I badly needed a change but give the state of the economy in the country where I live, jobs are scarce. So the idea of going freelance was more a stop-gap solution than anything else. Once I resigned, I had every second person coming up to me and asking me where I was going, what I was going to do next. It felt good to say that I was starting my own business. Just like that, I started putting the word out in the market and contact people. And just like that projects started to come in. As the days went by, I started to realize that there was a genuine need for my skills. I also underestimated how much people were willing to trust me. So I stopped going on job interviews and started pursuing my dream of finally working for myself.

Last Thursday was the first day of being my own boss and so far it doesn’t seem to bad. I’m still really scared because I don’t have a lot of savings and I realize that closing a deal will take time. After fifteen years of corporate life, it freaks me out when I think that I’m not going to be getting a steady paycheck. But, I’m ready to face the challenge. I’m not willing to let my fears take over. I know that I need to be positive and optimistic and I’m trying very hard to cling to that. I know it sounds like a cliché but, I really feel like phoenix rising from the ashes. I can wait for my new life to begin and I’m praying really hard that it all works out.

I leave this post with hope and quote that I’m daring to live by….

If your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough.

~ Ellen Johnson Sirleaf “This Child Will Be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa’s First Woman President”