The image you see above is my 16 month old son, Nymr (which means Tiger in Arabic) and the handsome coffee holding stud in the back is my husband/best friend of 8 years and business partner, Feras.
What you see above is a typical morning for us, a 7am stroll on the beach here in the sunny San Diego, CA. This is our "morning huddle" everyday to jump start the daily grind before we plunge into the tasks at hand and try to take over the world.
However, it wasn't always this way. A little over a year ago, my husband and I were both living "the dream" working 60+ hours/week, successfully moving up the corporate ladder, bringing in well over 6 figure income, maxing out our 401k contributions, taking the allotted 3 week vacation each year and we were completely miserable. Completely dissatisfied, depressed and hungry for life.
We had so many ideas and dreams about starting our own business and finding freedom in becoming entrepreneurs. After a few failed attempts dabbling in different business endeavors(which were all worth the experience), we started e-commerce spending our evenings after work making it something that could create a bit of side cash. It wasn't until our son was born that we both felt the pressure to wake up and pull ourselves out of the vicious cycle called corporate America and "the dream". We both quit, we saved up enough and went with it. Holding our breath we jumped full force into cold unknown water, hoping for the best. We packed up leaving rainy Seattle and made our way down to sunny San Diego.
IT ALL STARTS WITH "STUFF"
In order for you to walk away from a secure job and the average everyday life, you have to be willing to separate from the false idea of happiness. STUFF. What is material stuff anyways? For my OCD personality I realized all of these physical things were dust collecting, room consuming, depreciating assets that constantly reminded me that I was buying "stuff" to forget I had to go back to the same dreadful job every morning.
So what was our first step? I listed literally everything for sale, that didn't fit in our small Uhaul. We made a few thousand $$(surprisingly) and forced ourselves to "let go" of things. Best feeling ever. Aside from this, I have always followed a rule I picked up from Oprah years ago. "If you haven't worn it in over a year - run on and throw it away". It feels great and I highly recommend clearing your life from junk.
BE PREPARED TO FEEL A LITTLE "CRAZY" AT TIMES
I'm writing this post from my perspective and not my husband's, but I can say in full confidence that he has seen some of my "crazy" days. These are the days where I don't quite know how to handle myself, life, my son or the next 5 minutes. The key and most important piece of advice I can give you if you are thinking of making a major shift - you must have a wonderful support team in place. Something or someone to remind you that you are on the "right path" you are doing what you are supposed to be doing and everything is going to be fine! For me this is my husband and a small handful of really great friends/family.
BE OPEN AND FIND BALANCE
Celebrating the "wins" is very important for an entrepreneur. There are so many ups and downs. You have to constantly find a balance and remain open to positivity and opportunities. I'm a firm believer in thinking in abundance, there's plenty to go around. We all just have to find our share. Find your PASSION and remembering your "why", for what you are doing is another powerful factor in keeping yourself driven, focused and motivated to keep pushing forward. I also recommend constantly "mastering" yourself to become the best version of yourself. This could be a separate blog in itself, but we can interpret this in our own way. Basically making a daily effort to improve ourselves in areas that need a little work. For me personally, that means having more patience.
TAKE TIME FOR YOU
You know that inflight announcement: "If you are traveling with a child or someone who requires assistance, secure your mask on first, and then assist the other person". This is a real thing people. Learn it and live it.
Leave me a comment below and let me know what adventures or leaps you are about to take or curious to take. You are also welcome to email me: Rita@mintpear.com.