Hey guys!

I think it’s high time I start a series. I want to share with you all that I’ve learned up until this point when it comes to balancing a full time day job while building a dream from the ground up. Today I’ll begin with an overview of where I’d like to go with this and what I’ll be sharing with you over the next few posts.

Without a doubt, I have learned a lot over the past couple months since I conscientiously made the decision to begin building a freelance career for myself. The first thing you have to do is make the decision. Are you going to make the jump?

It took me a long time to finally reach that point. There's always so much fear involved. Will I be able to get enough clients? What if I screw up? Do I even know what I'm doing? How do I handle the accounting and the taxes and the contracts??

It can all feel very overwhelming at the beginning, but what I found is that all that stuff will come. As I've hit bumps in the road, I've done my research, worked hard, and by the grace of God, overcame them. The wonderful thing is, now that I've dealt with these things a few times, they're suddenly not so bad and scary anymore. You'll discover that as well.

Think of it this way: you can't get anywhere in a parked car. You can think and ponder and turn the steering wheel all you want, but you won't get anywhere. It's not until you start pushing on that gas pedal that you'll actually start moving forward.

So once you've made that decision, there are a few key things you'll come to learn just as I have. And since I'm already going through it, I want to give you a heads up so you're a little more prepared than I was.

Over the next few posts I'll be discussing:

1. Managing Time

You probably work a lot at your regular job during the week, maybe even full time like I do. And often overtime on top of that. It may seem impossible to have enough time to work on your dreams, but there are definitely ways to overcome that obstacle.

2. Still Being a Great Employee

This is very important, because one of the first things I noticed as my side passion was growing is that I began seriously lacking passion at my regular job. You can't do that. While you are still employed somewhere else, you need to continue being the best employee that you can be. They're paying you for what you do, so you can't allow laziness and distraction to creep in. As a Christian, I am called to be the best employee I can be, so I'll share with you how I've learned to still be a great employee while also slowly building up my passion.

3. Planning Ahead

This is something that absolutely cannot be overlooked. I 100% trust God with my future, but that doesn't mean I become a lazy person and expect miracles to fall from the sky into my lap. Like the car metaphor I shared earlier, I gotta hit my pedal to the metal and trust God to steer.

4. Making the Final Jump

Finally, my last post in this series will cover the preparation you need to make the final jump. This is the phase I'm currently in. Some would say that while still working your full time job, you should build up so much side business that you're making more than or equal to your income at your day job so that you can quit and work full time independently. I say that's a really rosy outlook and isn't going to work for everyone.

We have families, friends, and I would think we'd all like a little time to relax. If you do literally nothing but work at your day job and then go straight home and work on your passion project, I'm pretty sure the majority of us would burn out and spontaneously combust.

So the solution I'm working towards is more of a transition period, than a cold turkey quit. For me, and for many people, I believe this is the most feasible option.

Small Announcement

I also have an announcement to make that coincides with #2. My original plan was to post two blog entires a week. However, because things are picking up an insane amount at work and I'm having to pull overtime, I'm going to bring my entries down to once a week. So you'll be getting just one post from me every Saturday. Lord willing I can bump that up again soon, but until that time, I need to be realistic and do what I'm able to.

I hope you're all having an amazing week so far! Check out Saturday's Scripture and the fun links below or a break from the seriousness :P

Saturday's Scripture

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding, in all your ways aknowledge him and he will make your paths straight." - Proverbs 3:5-6