I really started working when I got a job in a small printing house, as a person who simply prints what others bring to him on a flash drive - a printer man. Let's not count part-time jobs like a in computer club - literally 3 days of work or at a gas station - eah, it was a fun time.
This article is replete with details of my personal life. I will draw parallels with what happened to me and assess the situation from the present point of view ofand the current realities of the world around us.
Context
So, I’m 20 years old, I find an advertisement that a Printer man is required. The requirements indicate that I should know Vector editors like Corel Draw and some others, don’t remember which exactly. Can't say that I was completely off of graphics programs, I was familiar with Corel PhotoPaint, which is an analogue of Photoshop from Corel.
As a test task, I had to outline a logo (as I remember now - the green branches of the city’s coat of arms) and make a “cool” business card.
Literally in one day I sit down and overcome the pain of using the Pen tool in Corel Draw, outlined a logo and make a business card. In my opinion, Cool is when there is white text on a black background, what can I say) . This was enough to get me hired.
The process of adapting to work was very difficult for me. Even boss told me that I was slow to think, especially in comparison with another candidate, who, in fact, was preferred to me, but after a week he simply did not showd up and that’s why they hired me.
As a result, I caught up with everything pretty quickly and stayed in this place. And now I can already say that I was a normal teammate, on whom, I could work and work. Which is exactly what happened.
I stayed after regular working hours almost every night. And this, in fact, was quite interesting to me at first. Because I devoted the practical process or was studying or directly designing. Besides, I was young, I had no obligations. This is a great advantage for young people.
After working for about 3 years, I began to understand that the work environment was very harmful to me, the bosses were clearly taking advantage of their position, and I, with all the overwork, simply couldn’t sustaine it, which was affecting my mental and physical health.
I was no longer Printer guy, I was designingfor printed advertising products. And this greatly affected my view of what I want to do. I started taking photography, went to evening art school, studied a couple more sofware programs like InDesign and Macromedia Flash and Dreamweaver. The last two had long been purchased by Adobe (In case you interested what is that).
Quite a long introduction, but I decided that I would no longer have the opportunity to leave a record about it, so let this remain in the context of our conversation about “how to escape from a 9/5 job” that you hate. After all, that's exactly how it was. All the little details that inspired me began to depress me, instead of getting satisfaction from what you drew, I was poked with my nose at a misspelled word or a missed deadline.
And I can’t say that it was just someone else’s problem and not me. I'm sure I was hard to get along with too. But I worked at this company for quite a long time and watched as people either left almost immediately or after some time because they couldn’t stand it.
Now I am grateful for this time. Because it was a great school. I had an incredibly developed memory, I remembered all the customers, their layouts and related ones. The workflow was super efficient and truly streamlined. It was then that I realized the importance of building a work system. Construction and its settings. And I became convinced that every time you break the system to please the situation or the client, you get a kick in the ass.
Finding a way out
Around this time, I came across an interesting online community of vector illustrators. It’s somewhat surprising that I, like many, lingered on it. After all, professional forums already existed then, as I said to Grown-up artists. Perhaps I was put off by their complex site structure, cold structured appearance and moderators who decided that you were a beginner and did not allow you to join the professionals in the forum.
Now, I realize the importance of this moment. When a group of young artists who are passionate about vector tools shared their achievements. Community is very important in developing you skills.
Here I will begin to point out the key points that you should pay attention to.
Determine your area of interest
In my case, it was a vector illustration. I was looking for information that would help me develop in this direction. Gain new knowledge, share your work, receive feedback, praise and criticism from others like me.
If you don't know the obvious answer to what you want to do, then do a structured analysis.
- What talents do you have?
- What can you talk about all day and night?
- What did your relatives and friends praise you for?
- What hobbies do you have?
At the same time, Community is more then about personal skills and communication. These are your contacts with future clients.
- Some of your colleagues will change their area of interest, but they will remember you as an enthusiast of your business and recommend you for work. This is exactly how word of mouth works.
- Another part will be too busy with current clients and will transfer new ones to you
- You too, having contacts and understanding the capabilities of your colleagues, can recommend them
Distractions
In my opinion, at the time when I became interested in vecton illustration, there were fewer so-called Shiny Objects. I mean all these tips on how to make money fast. But I could be wrong here, since my hobby could simply automatically filter out all unnecessary directions.
Today you should consciously resist this. Of course, there are unique cases when people take off quickly, and you may be one of those lucky ones. But don't count on it.
One of the attractive types of income is called Passive income. If you haven’t done this yet, then you should still understand that passive income in its pure form does not exist. You need to work in one form or another, either to create a product, for its subsequent sale, or for its subsequent promotion.
Photo stocks, by the way, are considered by many to be such an income. But what is passivity, they say, is that you don’t have to personally sell, but at the same time they take from 30% to 90% of the profit. And in most cases, you do not regulate either the price tags or your percentage. They can literally tell you that today you earned 50% and tomorrow you will only earn 15% and all you can do is agree. Don't buy this canard.
Working with marketplaces today has its own characteristics. I would not have a 100% negative attitude towards this form of work, but today I would not consider it for starting a career.
Escape plan
Since I periodically looked for graphics to create a design, I, of course, came across photo stocks. I found out that people make money by drawing and selling them. Looking ahead, I would like to say right away that this is now a dead market. It has long been oversaturated and with the increasing development of artificial intelligence, it will be less and less useful for authors. But then it seemed like just a zloty vein.I tried to draw something, register and start posting. I can’t say that it was an instant success; after all, I was not yet an professional illustrator. But something worked out and some sales began.
Everything changed when I started earning the same amount as at my current main job.The following lesson can be learned from this - escape routes need to be prepared. In my case, I got a situation where I had the right to choose where exactly I would earn money, and I did not go into the abyss of the unknown, I explored it. The only question left for me is whether I can work independently on a permanent basis.
This is also an important question, because as a hired worker, we become accustomed to the thinking of a controlled person. The main critical decisions are made for us by a higher-ranking person, while we demand wages from him for this superiority.
If I were doing this now I would do exactly the same:
- I would find a niche where I can make money,
- Without leaving my main job I would start trying to do this
- Would wait for a stable comparable income
- I would accumulate a reserve “airbag” for the next at least half a year
I did not fulfill the last point then, because I simply did not know about such a possibility. Now, I think this is a prerequisite. You need half a safety net. Calculate how much you spend per month. To do this, you can install a simple mobile application into which you enter data immediately after purchase.
This is very simple and is necessary not only for leaving upi 9/5 job, but for any person in general. You need to understand how much money you spend per month and on what. Of course, there are seasonal expenses, but I think you can imagine how this will change the overall picture. Simply multiply the resulting amount by 6 and get the required budget, which should be in your bank account. And this money is not for buying a new TV or telephone, this is for your safety.
Believe me, you will feel much more confident, realizing that without day job, you will not run out of money. All your decisions will be dictated by the level of fear and danger that you experience with everything new. And financial thought will reduce this level of fear.
At some point in time, in order to test myself for Endurance, I went on vacation and worked independently for two weeks. I observed how much I liked it, whether I could stick to the schedule, and wrote down how much I worked. I was testing exactly my approach to work, and not the opportunity to earn more, since the fact that the work would be paid was already clear to me.
All my decisions are dictated by a calculation of controlled risk.
You don't need to be a genius to make money
This thought pleasantly frightened me when I first realized that making money without hassle and constant overtime is possible. People are willing to pay money for good work, even if it is not brilliant. But this also means that there is a demand for it. Therefore, when you are looking for options for the industry you want to dive into, you should not reinvent the wheel. Look at how people are already making money. Not everyone does this, but many do, which means there is a demand for such work.
You are required to be a little further, in this chosen discipline, than your client. You don't need to study for many years to get started. Many skills can be learned or developed to a new level in a few weeks.
This way you will enter the process and, depending on the situation, you will improve your skills. And don’t let it scare you that there are super-professionals better than you. The fact is that despite the apparent saturation of the market, many performers, upon closer examination, are not as good as they might seem. Your task is to find these features in order to stand out from the general background.
In my case, I started with stock photos, but later I began to actively turn to the freelance market - providing illustration services. And now, if you choose, providing a service for which you can be paid with money is the easiest way to leave your current day job and become financially independent.
That way you:
- Will immediately start to receive money for your work
- Will start gaining a client base
- Improving your skills
The next stage will be to raise prices for your work, but we don’t have to talk about that for now.
This also does not mean that you will work this way for the rest of your life. Any skill has stages of development, and in the future you will be able to put together a product that will increase the effectiveness of your practice, or maybe it will be a completely informational product that you will sell as an online course. This is a conversation on a different topic.
Conclusion
Any of the options, no matter how much strategically you think through it, will require you to be brave and leave your comfort zone. But believe me, it's worth it.
You create a whole range of conditions for personal financial independence, which is not goal as itself, but rather a lifestyle.
Make plans. Praise yourself for intermediate achievements; literally every day you can write 5 of your achievements, also in a month or a year. You will ake a lot of mistakes, but this is what Moving Forward looks like. You will succeed!
This article is replete with details of my personal life. I will draw parallels with what happened to me and assess the situation from the present point of view ofand the current realities of the world around us.
Context
So, I’m 20 years old, I find an advertisement that a Printer man is required. The requirements indicate that I should know Vector editors like Corel Draw and some others, don’t remember which exactly. Can't say that I was completely off of graphics programs, I was familiar with Corel PhotoPaint, which is an analogue of Photoshop from Corel.
As a test task, I had to outline a logo (as I remember now - the green branches of the city’s coat of arms) and make a “cool” business card.
Literally in one day I sit down and overcome the pain of using the Pen tool in Corel Draw, outlined a logo and make a business card. In my opinion, Cool is when there is white text on a black background, what can I say) . This was enough to get me hired.
The process of adapting to work was very difficult for me. Even boss told me that I was slow to think, especially in comparison with another candidate, who, in fact, was preferred to me, but after a week he simply did not showd up and that’s why they hired me.
As a result, I caught up with everything pretty quickly and stayed in this place. And now I can already say that I was a normal teammate, on whom, I could work and work. Which is exactly what happened.
I stayed after regular working hours almost every night. And this, in fact, was quite interesting to me at first. Because I devoted the practical process or was studying or directly designing. Besides, I was young, I had no obligations. This is a great advantage for young people.
After working for about 3 years, I began to understand that the work environment was very harmful to me, the bosses were clearly taking advantage of their position, and I, with all the overwork, simply couldn’t sustaine it, which was affecting my mental and physical health.
I was no longer Printer guy, I was designingfor printed advertising products. And this greatly affected my view of what I want to do. I started taking photography, went to evening art school, studied a couple more sofware programs like InDesign and Macromedia Flash and Dreamweaver. The last two had long been purchased by Adobe (In case you interested what is that).
Quite a long introduction, but I decided that I would no longer have the opportunity to leave a record about it, so let this remain in the context of our conversation about “how to escape from a 9/5 job” that you hate. After all, that's exactly how it was. All the little details that inspired me began to depress me, instead of getting satisfaction from what you drew, I was poked with my nose at a misspelled word or a missed deadline.
And I can’t say that it was just someone else’s problem and not me. I'm sure I was hard to get along with too. But I worked at this company for quite a long time and watched as people either left almost immediately or after some time because they couldn’t stand it.
Now I am grateful for this time. Because it was a great school. I had an incredibly developed memory, I remembered all the customers, their layouts and related ones. The workflow was super efficient and truly streamlined. It was then that I realized the importance of building a work system. Construction and its settings. And I became convinced that every time you break the system to please the situation or the client, you get a kick in the ass.
Finding a way out
Around this time, I came across an interesting online community of vector illustrators. It’s somewhat surprising that I, like many, lingered on it. After all, professional forums already existed then, as I said to Grown-up artists. Perhaps I was put off by their complex site structure, cold structured appearance and moderators who decided that you were a beginner and did not allow you to join the professionals in the forum.
Now, I realize the importance of this moment. When a group of young artists who are passionate about vector tools shared their achievements. Community is very important in developing you skills.
Here I will begin to point out the key points that you should pay attention to.
Determine your area of interest
In my case, it was a vector illustration. I was looking for information that would help me develop in this direction. Gain new knowledge, share your work, receive feedback, praise and criticism from others like me.
If you don't know the obvious answer to what you want to do, then do a structured analysis.
- What talents do you have?
- What can you talk about all day and night?
- What did your relatives and friends praise you for?
- What hobbies do you have?
At the same time, Community is more then about personal skills and communication. These are your contacts with future clients.
- Some of your colleagues will change their area of interest, but they will remember you as an enthusiast of your business and recommend you for work. This is exactly how word of mouth works.
- Another part will be too busy with current clients and will transfer new ones to you
- You too, having contacts and understanding the capabilities of your colleagues, can recommend them
Distractions
In my opinion, at the time when I became interested in vecton illustration, there were fewer so-called Shiny Objects. I mean all these tips on how to make money fast. But I could be wrong here, since my hobby could simply automatically filter out all unnecessary directions.
Today you should consciously resist this. Of course, there are unique cases when people take off quickly, and you may be one of those lucky ones. But don't count on it.
One of the attractive types of income is called Passive income. If you haven’t done this yet, then you should still understand that passive income in its pure form does not exist. You need to work in one form or another, either to create a product, for its subsequent sale, or for its subsequent promotion.
Photo stocks, by the way, are considered by many to be such an income. But what is passivity, they say, is that you don’t have to personally sell, but at the same time they take from 30% to 90% of the profit. And in most cases, you do not regulate either the price tags or your percentage. They can literally tell you that today you earned 50% and tomorrow you will only earn 15% and all you can do is agree. Don't buy this canard.
Working with marketplaces today has its own characteristics. I would not have a 100% negative attitude towards this form of work, but today I would not consider it for starting a career.
Escape plan
Since I periodically looked for graphics to create a design, I, of course, came across photo stocks. I found out that people make money by drawing and selling them. Looking ahead, I would like to say right away that this is now a dead market. It has long been oversaturated and with the increasing development of artificial intelligence, it will be less and less useful for authors. But then it seemed like just a zloty vein.I tried to draw something, register and start posting. I can’t say that it was an instant success; after all, I was not yet an professional illustrator. But something worked out and some sales began.
Everything changed when I started earning the same amount as at my current main job.The following lesson can be learned from this - escape routes need to be prepared. In my case, I got a situation where I had the right to choose where exactly I would earn money, and I did not go into the abyss of the unknown, I explored it. The only question left for me is whether I can work independently on a permanent basis.
This is also an important question, because as a hired worker, we become accustomed to the thinking of a controlled person. The main critical decisions are made for us by a higher-ranking person, while we demand wages from him for this superiority.
If I were doing this now I would do exactly the same:
- I would find a niche where I can make money,
- Without leaving my main job I would start trying to do this
- Would wait for a stable comparable income
- I would accumulate a reserve “airbag” for the next at least half a year
I did not fulfill the last point then, because I simply did not know about such a possibility. Now, I think this is a prerequisite. You need half a safety net. Calculate how much you spend per month. To do this, you can install a simple mobile application into which you enter data immediately after purchase.
This is very simple and is necessary not only for leaving upi 9/5 job, but for any person in general. You need to understand how much money you spend per month and on what. Of course, there are seasonal expenses, but I think you can imagine how this will change the overall picture. Simply multiply the resulting amount by 6 and get the required budget, which should be in your bank account. And this money is not for buying a new TV or telephone, this is for your safety.
Believe me, you will feel much more confident, realizing that without day job, you will not run out of money. All your decisions will be dictated by the level of fear and danger that you experience with everything new. And financial thought will reduce this level of fear.
At some point in time, in order to test myself for Endurance, I went on vacation and worked independently for two weeks. I observed how much I liked it, whether I could stick to the schedule, and wrote down how much I worked. I was testing exactly my approach to work, and not the opportunity to earn more, since the fact that the work would be paid was already clear to me.
All my decisions are dictated by a calculation of controlled risk.
You don't need to be a genius to make money
This thought pleasantly frightened me when I first realized that making money without hassle and constant overtime is possible. People are willing to pay money for good work, even if it is not brilliant. But this also means that there is a demand for it. Therefore, when you are looking for options for the industry you want to dive into, you should not reinvent the wheel. Look at how people are already making money. Not everyone does this, but many do, which means there is a demand for such work.
You are required to be a little further, in this chosen discipline, than your client. You don't need to study for many years to get started. Many skills can be learned or developed to a new level in a few weeks.
This way you will enter the process and, depending on the situation, you will improve your skills. And don’t let it scare you that there are super-professionals better than you. The fact is that despite the apparent saturation of the market, many performers, upon closer examination, are not as good as they might seem. Your task is to find these features in order to stand out from the general background.
In my case, I started with stock photos, but later I began to actively turn to the freelance market - providing illustration services. And now, if you choose, providing a service for which you can be paid with money is the easiest way to leave your current day job and become financially independent.
That way you:
- Will immediately start to receive money for your work
- Will start gaining a client base
- Improving your skills
The next stage will be to raise prices for your work, but we don’t have to talk about that for now.
This also does not mean that you will work this way for the rest of your life. Any skill has stages of development, and in the future you will be able to put together a product that will increase the effectiveness of your practice, or maybe it will be a completely informational product that you will sell as an online course. This is a conversation on a different topic.
Conclusion
Any of the options, no matter how much strategically you think through it, will require you to be brave and leave your comfort zone. But believe me, it's worth it.
You create a whole range of conditions for personal financial independence, which is not goal as itself, but rather a lifestyle.
Make plans. Praise yourself for intermediate achievements; literally every day you can write 5 of your achievements, also in a month or a year. You will ake a lot of mistakes, but this is what Moving Forward looks like. You will succeed!
