“So what exactly do you do?”
The Christmas season is over and you’re probably happy to have this question behind you for a little while. How you answer this question can, apparently, tell a person a lot about you. I used to hate this question. I would go to get my haircut and the stylish would make small talk around:
“So did you come from work? Where do you work?”
Once this question was asked, I could feel my shoulders sink and my energy level go off a cliff. I don’t know why I didn’t lie to make it more exciting. Does this resonate with you at all? Keep reading and I hope to inspire you with my story a bit more.
A Long Time in the Making
Over the last 2 years, I’ve made it a dream to quit my day job and show my depression that I’m the one in control. The simple act of owning my own domain triggered an area in my brain that said: “Welcome!” I make the decisions on my domain. I had no manager telling me what was allowed, why I can’t work on this or that right now, and what the content must be related to for this quarter. It was like the dark clouds suddenly moved aside and the sky opened up a beautiful blue, and a plane flew buy with a banner attached saying: “Don’t ever look back, Scott.”
In April of 2009, Marika and I went out to Calgary and British Columbia to see some of her family. We stayed with her Uncle Ben’s Family while in Calgary. It was a really great experience and synchronicity played a big part. This visit with Ben and Pam made me realize how not doing what I love would be a disservice to myself and the world. We didn’t exactly get that literal but it’s what I saw. There was a moment when Marika asked Ben: “So what is it you do exactly? We always wonder!”
Ben laughed and I loved that it was so hard for him to quickly define his “JOB.” If my memory serves me right, he said that he does Engineer Consulting, Podcasting, Video Editing, ect. He works from home doing what he loves. He’s now got a wicked thing going on over on a domain called Mechanical Mashup. MechanicalMashup is a Mythbusters like webcast for the DIY garage types. Check it out!
Fast forward 9 months, and I’ve quit my day job. Interestingly enough and unplanned it fell in line with the name and purpose of this blog. A fetus incubates in the womb for what, 9 months? Go with it. I didn’t plan this out; However, I do believe that I set this intention in motion a long time ago.
I cut the cubicle umbilical cord!
I have taken the biggest risk of my life and I wish I took it 7 years ago. Last week I said goodbye to my life in a pseudo-cubicle. I handed in my security pass and the dreaded dog-leash-of-a-call-centre headset. You’re probably looking at the number of subscribers and gasping. You have due cause. The number of subscribers is higher right now than it was at the time of my resignation. Remember, I am taking the biggest risk of my life.
Or am I?
Absolute Certainty
n my life, I have always felt a connection with the right side of my brain. I loved the design aspect of my architecture program, yet dreaded the technical drawings. I am drawn to expressing myself in a creative manner. If I can’t than I am not myself. At my first call centre job, I would design a new time-sheet everyday. I wish I had kept a few and not handed them in. I became known as very creative and people would want to see what I would come up with at the end of the day. This was while mindlessly taking inbound calls for loan applications, or payment arrangements for a hydro company. I was grateful for having a job and being able to go out on weekends with friends, but everything became mind-numbing. I would drink so much on weekends that I would not remember anything due to blackouts. And the follow days were spent in bed trying to recover. Ever read the book Million Little Pieces? My life felt like that book in the first few chapters.
With the time that’s passed, and the amount of knowledge and experience I’ve gained I came to a conclusion:
I had to put an end to soul crushing work. In all my heart, I believe with absolute certainty that I will succeed. I am beyond excited to have the ability to focus 100% of my energy on blogging, design, photography and life. Everyday that I spent at my day J.O.B. felt like my creative soul was being power washed away. It took multiple talks with my fiance, Marika. We weighed out pros and cons. We saw what the work there was doing to me and my doctor, at our last follow-up, had said he didn’t want to mess with my medication much because he felt it was my job at this point. I had adjusted and made the effort to change everything else in my control and the last thing standing was the job I hated.
People were shocked, and some are still confused. How or why would someone leave such an outstanding company to work for?
The company was highly recognized:
This company one of the strongest major banks within Canada. The job served its purpose for the last 3 years, but it just beat me down. I knew deep down that the work was not for me. I believe this is where the body, and the universe sends you a wake up call. I mentioned my wake up call before here.
As much as I would love to say everything that did not work for me at that job, there is not value in doing so. Since starting a blog, I’ve done so much self-reflection, self-development and it’s allowed me to combat depression. Combining blogging, design, and photography is a serious dream. I remember saying:
I want to blur the line between blogging and photography!
I feel that I am and more. I have to focus on earning an income and creating a greater value for you readers. I am in this for the marathon.
What’s to come?
You’ll hear about progress on the blog from time to time. A lot of the behind the scenes progress will be communicated via my newsletter – you can subscribe in the form below. I finished the design and love how it looks. We’re in business! I can finally commit my time to your needs. Recently, I would have to put some work off because I would be at my other job, or just too mentally drained.
You’re going to see:
- More frequent blog articles. Blog articles are free and I know that free rocks.
- More frequent newsletter communication about this process and ways it could help your small business online
- My other projects gaining some ground and getting more attention
- Free eBook
- Future eBooks
- Blog Critiques
I am open to blog topics, questions, and things you’d like to see here.
What will I be doing?
Nuwomb Creative is, in a way, going against the grain of the information provided by a lot of other bloggers. At Nuwomb, I’m not just about personal development, or business development, or business marketing. I what to help you out on a holistic level. Nuwomb does have an overall desire to help you in your own rebirth. A rebirth, or reinvention of yourself to follow your dreams (finally) and quit the job you somehow found yourself stuck in. To make such a shift is not subjected to a micro-niche. I want to help with giving you a look at everything that goes into this democratic renaissance. I will help you:
- Start a blog to have a place of your own online
- look within to realize that you’re not trapped in the cubicle
- to be inspired to pursue your passions
- pursue a number of passions and not just one
- help you with your business blogging – either starting out or preventing you from giving up on it all
- to see what other bloggers are doing right that you may want to do with your blog.
- realize that now is the time to take control and you’re welcome to join me in my journey.
I want to do this in so many ways, ie blog posts, newsletters, eBooks and Critques. I have made a start on my services page. It’s located at the top under “Hire Us.” This is to get going. I am here to get you going too. There are way too many blogs out there now that try to teach you how to blog, how to install your blog and so on. I don’t want to waste my time or yours on those kind of things. I don’t think you should waste your time on learning that information either. I’ll do that work for you. I’ll install wordpress on your hosted website domain, set everything up with a premium theme like I have here, and we’ll do a walk through of the basics. This gets you going in 24-48 hours!
If your looking for more – which I would highly suggest – I can also work on the design of your blog to make it unique to you and give you some schematic blueprint type ideas on where to place future features if you decide to expand. Premium wordpress themes are great! I adore WooThemes because of the many outstanding designs and then I can go to town on making graphic and code changes for you. This is great for lower budgets. I also love Thesis because the framework is there, but it lacks serious personality. I have learned a lot about Thesis in the last year and I can go to town on making it unique. You would then have a unique looking design, but know it’s using all the unseen benefits of the framework. We would discuss the use of your site, and your industry and other things if you’re starting up. If you already had a blog and domain, I would hopefully be able to tell your intentions and we could keep the same theme and just give it a makeover, or rock out a totally new route entirely.
Lastly, I am also looking to help people with a blog currently. You may have seen the blog critique I did on myself. Check it out if you haven’t. I am interested in helping you with that service as well. So much time is wasted on blog tweaking and trying to figure out what to do. You should focus on what you do best, ie your photography, your writing, your recipes. I’ll take a look and give your a review of what I see going on with the blog from a new set of eyes. The prices for a blog critique are on the hire us page as well.
I am in it for the marathon, and I hope you are here to join me. I started with 60 people on the sidelines and I am excited for us to become a strong family that inspire each other. We’re not an army, and we’re not out to take over the world. We’re here to take part in, move with the changing world, and live a life by our own set of rules.
A bold move. Similar to one I did leaving a different call centre environment a few years ago. All the best success to you in your ventures.
Thanks Mike! It is bold. I am raising my standards for myself. Excited to see the awesomeness comes with it.
Congratulations! Stories like yours are so inspiring. Anyone who “takes the plunge” is someone I admire and hope to emulate.
My goal is the same as yours, but I am taking the longer, harder (in some ways) road of working on my business at night and on the weekends until it is earning substantially. Of course, it sounds like our situations are a bit different; rather than consulting with a fiance, I’m deciding with my husband whether or not we will have enough to pay the mortgage each month!
Reading blogs like yours and watching others succeed is motivation for me, so thanks for sharing it.
Hi Dava,
Thanks! It wasn’t an easy decision but I just had to do it. I tried for so long to make the 2 work out. It was just the final thing that I couldn’t control and still causing issues for me.
Definitely keep talking with him and see where it all goes. I can’t wait to hear when you say you’ve taken the plunge and doing what you love 100%
The greater the risk, the greater the return. I certainly admire you courage and I believe you will succeed. Just remember to never entertain the thought of impossibility.
Walter,
Great advice! Appreciate you taking the time to comment. Means a lot to me.
You are an inspiration to all those that are still afraid to leave their “security” of what is familiar and what they think is the “right” thing to do in life. Get a job, work day in and day out, doesnt matter if you like it, everyone has to work right? What is the point of living a life where you are just on auto-pilot? I find myself asking the same question lately. Way to make the leap – Good luck Scott
You’re not the only one that’s questioning it. The more you look around the internet, the more you’ll see. It’s a place full of digital nomads looking to escape the cubicle prisons. Sometimes I wonder if aliens were to download everything online and look over it, they would wonder why so many people live the way they do. The desire to create is something so deep within all of us and we want to create true value. We want to keep growing and moving up the ladder isn’t providing enough growth.
The recent recession helped people realize that more money isn’t always what’s going to make everything better. Striving for that next rung on the latter, for a minimal raise and longer working hours is a recipe for disaster. People are willing to take a pay cut for more time with family and to pursue a passionate life. There were like 4 people talking about this at work as I left.
Thanks for the comment though Cathy. It really really really means a lot. I hope you come back often and share. I want to help others follow their passions and find income streams to escape the cubicle.
I wish I could make the leap but currently it’s not feasible so I am still stuck in a three walled prison. All I could do is create a website for people to complain lol. Either way good luck on your new ventures. I will be sure to keep reading and following along.
Hi Scott, I had to comment on this post because I did the same…quit my job back in October after 3 years of mind-numbing work. Wow, did it feel good to walk out of that office! And the past few months I’ve had to really deal with some emotions… especially some fears and doubts. I don’t regret my choice, and I’m now focused on my new blog. I had this blog in my head for the past year or so, but like you, my job just kept bringing me down. Drinking myself into oblivion on weekends didn’t help!
Congrats on your decision, and I wish you well with this website. At least you waited until you had 60 subscribers… I have none! But I do have 5 FB fans…LOL
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Hey Scott! It’s funny that i came across your blog because i too want to quit my job so bad! Reading this gave me a bit more confidence and definitely made want to take the risk!
I really appreciate you sharing this with us and giving us the “powa”.
Thank you!
Scott. I read this post a month and a half ago, and I was inspired. Now, I’m well on my way to becoming a blogstar LOL. Do I plan on quitting my job? No way, but I don’t plan on getting one either because I’m still attending high school.
Thanks for the motivation man, I revisit this post frequently.
love bob
“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure its worth watching.”
Hey was just checking out your blog and you have some amazing content. We will be sure to come back visit on regular basis. Making sure werss you so can stay up to date when you post new content. Me and family are on 3 year trip around the world feel free come check us out as well.
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My last comment did not go… So I will not write it all again time I know it is working… keep up the good work scott.
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