Photo courtesy of Joost Markerink and Flickr
“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”
– Lao Tzu
This week is the second in my series of articles about transitioning from employment to doing work that’s more fulfilling and on-purpose for you (I find that most people who want to make this move don’t have a clear sense of exactly how they’re going to do it, and what it’s going to look like). If you missed last week’s article (Parallel Jump), here’s what’s happening: we’re walking through the five main “transition strategies” involved in starting your own venture, and highlighting some of the key advantages and disadvantages of each. As you read through the five strategies, you’ll start to get a sense of which strategy (or combination of strategies) makes the most sense for you.
Transition Strategy 2 – Incremental Jumps
The second transition strategy is what I call “Incremental Jumps”. With this strategy, you identify intermediate stages leading to greater freedom by taking greater responsibility for your income (E.g. become a contractor or an interim manager to increase revenue and reduce your working hours so you can develop your new venture.)
Pros / Advantages
· Steady or increased income (contract roles often pay better than FTE).
· Opportunity to develop skills.
· Roles provide funds (and potentially extra time) for training and development of new venture.
· Interim roles can provide a “sandbox” for practicing new skills.
· Additional time flexibility.
· More freedom, independence and personal responsibility. *
· Encourages development of the entrepreneurial mindset you’ll need for your new venture.
Cons / Disadvantages
· Takes time and effort to find interim / contract roles.
· Involves multiple role-changes / requires high adaptability.
· More freedom, independence and personal responsibility. *
* “Freedom, independence and personal responsibility” are listed as both pros and cons. Moving away from full-time employment and taking responsibility for generating your own income is a challenge for many people. But it’s incredibly useful to “build that muscle”, and can bring the benefits of an increased sense of freedom and independence.
By the way, this is actually the main transition strategy I used when I went from employment to doing my own thing. My “interim step” was working as a contract project manager. As a contractor, I earned more income and had greater time-flexibility, which meant I could invest additional time and money in learning and developing my new skill set. It also gave me plenty of opportunities to practice what I was learning in a live environment, while bringing additional value to my colleagues and the company I was contracted to.
Next week we’ll be looking at Transition Strategy 3, the Negotiated Transition (I’ve coached several people through this counterintuitive approach). By the way, if you’re looking to transition, I’m researching something new, and I’m looking for the right group of people to take part in it. Here’s how you’ll know if you’re right for my experiment (and vice-versa):
– You are currently in full-time employment, but…
– You want to transition from your job to something more fulfilling and “on-purpose”
– You sense that it’ll probably take 1-2 years to complete the transition, but…
– Your goal hasn’t been getting much closer; it seems to stay the same distance away
– You want to make progress, but lack clarity about either the ‘what’ or the ‘how’
– You know that if you were clear on those, with a solid plan, you’d do what it takes to make it happen
– You’re coachable, and willing to stretch yourself
If that’s you, reply to this email and tell me a bit about yourself. Change the subject line to “Project Jupiter” so I know what it’s in relation to. I’ll be choosing people in the next couple of weeks,
Big love
Jamie
Jamie Smart
Sunday Times Bestselling Author, Speaker and Executive Coach
PLUS: Whenever you’re ready… here are 4 ways I can help you get the clarity and results that matter to you:
1. Hire me to speak at your event
If you want an entertaining and impactful keynote speech or breakout session for your conference, offsite or town hall meeting, email Nikki at info@jamiesmart.com and type “Keynote” in the subject line.
2. Apply for the 2017 intake of the Certified Clarity Coach Training Programme
If you want to be part of the class of 2017, this year’s intake of the Certified Clarity Coach Training Programme starts in September. You can find all the details and get your application in here: https://www.jamiesmart.com/clarity-coach-training-sh/
3. Join the Exponential Practice Professional Group
Join the Exponential Practice Professional Group and connect with the growing community of like-minded transformation professionals who are passionate about exponentially increasing their grounding, impact and their livelihood. You can join for free at www.JamieSmart.com/expo
4. Join the next intake of Project Glasswing
We’re putting together a new practice-building case study group at Coaching Package Power next month. If you’d like to work with me and my team on growing your practice… email Nikki at info@jamiesmart.com and type “Project Glasswing” in the subject line.
PLUS: check these out :
Get your free Exponential Practice Scorecard book
www.JamieSmart.com/scorecard
Listen to the Results Mindset Podcast
www.JamieSmart.com/resultspodcast
Listen to Your Exponential Practice Podcast
www.JamieSmart.com/podcast
Read the first 2 chapters of my Sunday Times Bestseller RESULTS: Think Less, Achieve More www.JamieSmart.com/instantresults