Is It Time to Leave Your 9-5? How to Know If You're Ready for Entrepreneurship

Is it time to leave your 9-5?
Wondering if you’re ready for the path to entrepreneurship? In this episode, Jamila Grier explores the signs that it’s time to quit your 9-5, how to prepare for your transition, and what the journey to global entrepreneurship really looks like.

You’ll learn:

• How to know when it’s time to leave your 9-5
• The first steps on the path to entrepreneurship
• Common fears and how to overcome them
• Real stories from those who made the leap
• Resources to help you get started

Resources & Links:

• Related episode: “From Corporate to Global Entrepreneur”
• Watch the Jamilia Grier Show on YouTube

Have a question or story about leaving your 9-5? Share it with us using #PathToEntrepreneurship!

Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review The Jamila Grier Show.

Transcript

Jamilia Grier: 0:00

you Hey guys, what's up? Welcome to the Jamilia Grier Show. I'm your host, Jamilia Grier, and on this podcast, we talk about global entrepreneurship, global living, and what it really takes to live the life of your dreams. And today, we are talking about the 9 to 5, that dreaded commute into the office and everything else that comes with it. Is the 9 to 5 evil? Is it not? What has changed? We're going to talk about it today. So stick around. Have you ever sat at your desk on a Monday morning and wondered, is this really what my life is supposed to look like? Or maybe you've asked yourself, are nine to five jobs evil? Are they bad? Is this just something wrong with me? Because I cannot stand them. Then you're not alone. You know, actually, according to Pew Research out in Washington, D.C., 63% of workers who quit their jobs said it was due to low pay or no advancement. And more than half cited feeling disrespected. And this is just their feeling, right? Whether or not they actually were disrespected is a different thing. And a 2023 Gallup study found that only 23% of workers worldwide, we're not just talking about the U.S., worldwide, feel engaged at work. The rest are mentally checked out, emotionally checked out, burnt out, or both. So what is really going on? And doing this episode today, because I think it's so important to talk about it, I'll share with you guys some behind the scenes on what I'm going through on this journey with entrepreneurship and balancing this passion and profit, which we always talk about on this show, But I think for many of you, and what I see online is that people are mentally and emotionally checked out from their jobs. They really are. And this whole idea of the nine to five, we have to look and think about how did we get here? How did we get to the point where we feel so limited in our job, our work? We're supposed to, you know, when you think about your job or your profession and You're supposed to feel proud, fulfilled, engaged, passionate about what you do. Some of you may recall being in kindergarten and teachers like, well, what do you want to be when you grow up? You're supposed to have that feeling. So how did we get to this point now where many people dread Mondays? They just dread it. And some people actually suffer physical ailments from stress at their job. So how did we get here? I mean, if you want to take it way back, the eight hour day was first demanded in 1835 by American laborers that were protesting a 14 to 16 hour day. Now, I don't know about you, but that sounds crazy to me that that was the norm at that time, a 14 to 16 hour day. And if you look at the timeline of like the industrial revolution and capitalism and the invention of the automobile all around that time and getting towards 1926, I should say, all around that time when Henry Ford came in and he said, okay, we're going to have five days a week, 40 hours a week for what? For purposes of manufacturing vehicles, right? And it was because he believed... That workers that rested well would be more productive and they would buy more cars. So guys, once again, we went from 14 to 16 hour days back in like the mid 1800s to fast forward another 100 years to wait a minute, let's cut those days down to be shorter to eight hours a day. so that people can be more rested and buy more. So this was all for the purpose of consumption, of consumerism. And then finally, in 1938, if you're in the U.S., this is probably interesting to you, the U.S. government passed the Fair Labor Standards Act, which kind of locked in this 40-hour workweek. So from a historical standpoint, We basically, as when I say we, I mean, we as workers, people who have these jobs have gone from, you know, basically giving up your whole life to work to now, okay, we're going to put in law that you can work 40 hours a week. But I think what people are realizing is that 40 hours a week is still a substantial part of your life. five days a week, 40 hours a week, still a substantial part of your life. When I think about this, I think about my son, who many of you know, he's out at Morehouse and this summer he had a internship in New York and he's working at a firm and he is for the first time in his life dedicating a huge amount of time, even more than eight hours a day because he's in finance and working long hours. And he's like, this is crazy. And I'm like, yeah, get used to it, buddy. Now imagine doing this work and coming home and having four kids, right? And it's just so funny to see someone who has never had to work, has never had to squeeze their life into these five days a week you're going to be working and how many hours a day will you be at the office? Then you're going to come home and you have to have dinner or you're having dinner at the office if you're working long hours. And to see him transition from this mindset of basic freedom and do what you want with your time to this other mindset of, oh, if I want to get paid, I get to do this. And so it's just so interesting to see that. And it's a hard transition, guys, is when we look at this rat race or with this nine to five, we fast forward to today and things are so different from when I was growing up, 80s, 90s, 2000s, people were going into the office. And then because of COVID, because of the pandemic, we've transitioned to this age of Zoom. Slack, ChatGPT, all these other tools that will glue you to a monitor, glue you to a chair, make sure you're behind the desk. And most people are not moving around when they're behind the desk, but people are still tired, right? And so there's so many different other downsides to this 40-hour workweek. than just you not having time to focus on yourself. Now it's that you're not even moving anymore. You are just sitting in a chair. Some of you are sitting in a chair listening to this right now, listening to this podcast. And that's part of it. So you have the sedentary lifestyle. Then you have the stress. According to a Gallup poll in 2023, 44% of employees say that they experience stress a lot. during the day at work. And that really adds up. You look at the stress, you look at some places have toxic corporate culture, really getting this new generation to a place where they are quiet quitting, which means they stick around in the job, but they do the least. They are minimal about it. And you see it on TikTok. I don't know if you guys are on TikTok much. I am, but people are, are, making crazy insane videos about what they do at work, whether they're working from home or whether they're in the office, doing the bare minimum, having what is now called these lazy girl jobs, where they just reject the hustle. They just reject it. Culturally, they're not into it. And someone has said, work isn't working anymore. Not like this. So that's why people are leaving. And Look, the numbers don't lie, really. People aren't just dreaming about leaving. They're actually doing it. And for me in this stage, when I think about my sort of career path, practicing law for 15 years, and I was really on the grind. I was in the hustle. I wasn't just sitting behind a desk. I was traveling. I was leaving my kids, going away for several days at a time. And not just going to another state, but going to different countries. Sometimes my trips were back to back. I remember one time I had to do training and I took a trip from, I think it was in, I went from Shanghai to Australia and then I had to come back. I can't remember whether I went to Singapore or India, but I was, I was taking these crazy trips. trips, work trips, flights, doing it all, doing trainings, doing audits, doing investigations. And that was the bulk of my life. And then everything else was just secondary. It wasn't the main point of my life. And I think that this generation, people now who are like in their twenties, they're able to kind of see both sides. They're able to say like, well, I see people who are out here living their life and making good amounts of money by doing other things. Now you have social media platforms that are paying people to create content. Streamers are getting paid to stream. And so there's all these other careers that are coming up and they're more flexible in terms of what hours you have to be on, et cetera. And I think it's becoming really attractive to them. But another thing that's happening, is the older generation. Now I'm thinking about people like my age, right? If you're above 35 and you're listening to this, even around 40 and plus, and you're like, yeah, I see it too, right? You've given up so much of your life for these jobs and now you're looking around and you're saying, hey, something has changed. What has changed? One in four workers under 30 say they'd rather be unemployed than work for a company that doesn't align with their values. And so people aren't just looking for jobs that pay well. They're looking for jobs that align with their values, jobs that make them feel a certain way when they wake up in the morning, like, do I really want to go here? Do I really want to do this? And this is a huge change. And I really don't think we stress this enough or we talk about it enough Um, I'm on LinkedIn quite a bit as well. And I see that people are applying for so many jobs, but they're not getting the job. So there's all of these things that are happening in the job market. Employers are hesitant to hire because they realize, oh, well, employees aren't the same anymore. And employees are hesitant to apply for roles because they don't want to tie themselves to a desk. Um, And they also don't, some of them don't even want to go into the office, right? Some of them want to work from home. So these are huge changes that are happening in the job market. And it really makes you wonder, like, what is it with this concept of the nine to five? Is it evil? Is it something that is pulling people away from the life that they're supposed to live? Or is it just not for everyone? You know, I think maybe, right? I think it's just like shoes. I think some people love heels. Some people love flats, right? Some people love a nine to five. Some people feel like that is stability. That is comfort. That's what they enjoy doing and they want to do. So that's why they stay there, right? I mean, my parents, my mother particularly worked at one company for 30 years. 30 years, guys. And she certainly is the type of person that liked stability. Now, of course, that was in a totally different generation. She was born in the 50s. So in the 70s, she started working at this place and she worked there for 30 years until she retired. And that was perfect for her. But I don't think you're going to see that type of employee much anymore. I don't think that kids these days are graduating college and they're saying, you know what, I want to find one place and work there for 30 years. I don't think you're going to see it. I think people are trying to get the best pay, the best benefits, really thinking about whether the company itself aligns with their personality, their values, and where they want to be in life. And they're quite honest that those things might change, right? This year, they may decide, that they want to work in consulting. And then two years later, they may decide that they want to do something artistic. It really just depends on the person. And if you're listening to this and you're thinking, well, you know, I don't like my nine to five. I wish I could do something different. I don't think you should beat yourself up about wanting that change. I think that it's really healthy to ask yourself, Do I like this? And that's probably a question that many people don't stop and pause and ask themselves day after day is, do I like what I do? Do I enjoy it? Does it make me feel good about myself? How am I being treated at work? How is my health? You know, the health part, I will always pause and just say for the record, you know, I looked at photos of me about five or seven years ago. And my husband's like, wow, you look so much better now. Now that I have my schedule, he's like, you just really started to take better care of yourself once you had a schedule that allowed you to pay attention to yourself, whether it's how much sleep are you getting? How much rest are you getting? Um, Are you eating the right foods? All of those things take a huge toll for better or for worse on yourself. And so one of the things that I'll always tell you guys is that if you can find a job that allows you to take care of your health, whether that's going to the gym or you have time to prepare your meals at home or you have time to, you know, Spend time with your kids. That makes you feel better. Hopefully that makes you feel better. But that's the sort of thing that you got to count in as part of like, is this type of job for me, right? Like it's better to have your health than to have a fat paycheck and be checking into the doctors every other week. That is not a look for 2025. So It really depends on what you're going for. And for some people, especially those people who are raising families or who are creatives, a nine to five can feel like a trap. It can feel like a prison. And I, for one, I think at this stage, as I'm doing this podcast and have been an entrepreneur for the past four years with my company, ByteBow, I think even as I do this episode, I'm finally coming to terms with, well, maybe that is not for me at this stage, which is really hard for me to say, to even say it on this podcast. Maybe a nine to five is not really going to fit me, even if I should say, unless it is really just perfect, it's got to tick all the boxes, right? It's going to have flexible hours. It's going to be aligned with my values and things I talk about, whether it's technology or law and really cutting edge. It's got to be something that supports the podcast because I am 100% committed to continuing this and talking to you guys and bringing on a really great lineup of guests to talk about these things. And so at the end of the day, if I weigh that, I weigh this path of traditional nine to five, go in and collect a paycheck or swim in the ocean and not know what's coming next in this crazy journey of entrepreneurship. For me, I think it's the latter. I would definitely say that at this point, I'm much more aligned with entrepreneurship Now, the third option, which I also want to bring to your attention, is that sometimes you don't have to choose. And you're probably listening like, Jamelia, what do you mean sometimes you don't have to choose? I mean, it's either you have a nine to five or you don't. Well, there's a lot of fractional work out there. So you could be a freelancer. and pick up work at certain times of year and then decline work at other times of year. You really have a lot of flexibility these days. And so what I hope you take away from this episode is that you don't really have to choose nine to five or nothing. There's plenty of other gray areas of the spectrum of work where you can decide, I'm going to do part-time or I'm going to pick up work here and there, or I'm going to do freelance. I'm going to create. There's other ways to make money in between entrepreneurship and full-time job. So that's something I want you guys to really take. And you shouldn't have any judgment about yourself on what you decide to do. And I think this is something that many people probably fall flat on is, You feel like, oh, if I have a nine to five, I'm responsible. I'm mature. I'm, you know, we put all these labels on things and, oh, if I'm an entrepreneur, I'm risky and, you know, selfish and don't care about others and just focus. It's not that. It's going to be different for every person. And then there's going to be points in your life where a nine to five just makes sense. And there's going to be points in your life where it absolutely does not make sense. And both are okay. So I hope you guys can take that and kind of digest it a bit. Think about what that means. And if you're nodding along and thinking, yep, the nine to five ain't it. I need to break free. I don't care what she's talking about, stability and reliability, but the nine to five is not for me and I want out. then I want to give you some steps, right? For those people who are like, nope, I went out. I want to give you some steps and some things to think about on how you can start to slowly move away from that. A lot of times when we talk about entrepreneurship, people envision that you just wake up one morning and you quit your job and then you start your business. And I'm telling you, number one, that's not smart. Trust me, I did it. It's not smart. Number two, it's not common. That's not really how entrepreneurship comes about in most forms. It's a slow, gradual process. So let's look at the steps that you should take before you even give notice. Don't even give notice. Do not start acting funny, declining meetings, et cetera. This is what you got to do first. First, you have to ask yourself, and I tell people this all the time, ask yourself, What kind of life do I want? And what income model supports that? So this is where it gets very real. This is where it gets very real. If you say you want a life where you drive a very expensive car, you live in either a huge home out in the country or a penthouse in the city, and you You want a very expensive life, but you don't want to do certain work that will bring in that type of money that will finance that lifestyle. You're having an issue. You've got some kind of problem in your planning. That's not how things work. You've got to pin down the numbers of the income that you could potentially be bringing in. And does that income support the life that you want? And this is where the process, where most people tap out, and I know I said it's step number one, but most people don't do this because it's hard to look at numbers and say, I may not be able to afford that three-bedroom apartment in New York City. I may not be able to afford that. But you've got to do it. You've got to do it. And what happened to me is that I had a level of income when I was working my nine to five. And I thought, hey, this is a level of income that's great. It's supporting me and my family. I'm just going to go ahead and start my business. Guys, the reality check that I got about, hey, Dorothy, we're not in a... We're not in fairytale land anymore. This is the real deal. When those paychecks stop coming in and you have to rely upon the income of your business, the profits of your business, that is a real reality check. So the first thing you got to do is you got to look at those projected revenue streams and you got to look at the kind of life that you want. And even if there is a gap in the short term, you can work your way up. You can give yourself time, give yourself some runway to start to get to the profit or revenue levels that you need, but do it in a way that's healthy and do it in a way that is rational and reasonable. So what's next? After you plan this out, you look at numbers, you look at the type of life you want, you think about things. Do you have kids? Do you have to pay for tuition? Do you have car payments? Do you have debt? All of that stuff. Think about that. Let's be reasonable. Then you think about your ambition. So this is a piece that I also didn't consider. And when you think about ambition, it's not just like, do I want X, right? You could say, do I want to have X? a badass podcast where I'm talking about these things like entrepreneurship and building a business abroad. Yeah, I want it. But that's not ambition. That's just desire. Ambition is filling up the form, putting in the work every single day to get there, recording the episodes, writing down the content, publishing on YouTube. making micro content, being on TikTok, you know, talking to people, interviewing guests. That's the ambition to get there. Saying that you want something is not ambition. That's just desire. Ambition is actually doing the stuff and having the energy to do it because guys, I don't want you to start something and then just quit. So make sure there's enough fuel in the tank. If you know you have X, Y, Z number of responsibilities or obligations that would pull you away from starting a business, you have to be honest with yourself about, is this doable right now? If it's not doable right now, take baby steps, right? And this is what I always say, you know, maybe you can't have a full fledged, um, content creation business, but you can do small things. Maybe you can do some UGC content every now and then, user generated content. Maybe you can learn some skills. You can learn some tools and have like a side hustle. There are so many platforms that enable people to do this. And I think for the most part, what you need to do to start is really just start thinking practically. So That is my advice to you guys. I mean, I think at the end of the day, nine to fives are not evil, but they really do take up a lot of your time, your mental and emotional energy. And you better make sure that if you're doing a nine to five that is serving you, and fulfilling you in ways beyond a paycheck because the paycheck is not enough. I hope you enjoyed this discussion. Of course, I have many, many more thoughts on nine to fives, which we will be sharing. We're going to have great guests coming up over the next few months. You guys stick around and I'd love to hear from you. Um, if you ever thought about quitting your nine to five job, or if you ever did and never looked back, I'd love to hear your story. Um, make sure you comment on this video on this platform, wherever you're listening from. And it's always a pleasure to talk to you, but I love to hear from you. Of course. IRL and on socials. So you can always DM or comment wherever you're listening to this. If this episode hit home, make sure to rate the show, share it with your overworked group chat and subscribe for more no fluff conversations on life, on work and on building wealth anywhere in the world. Until next time, guys, take care and stay safe.