Another support request. I'm about to jump ship too (& visualizing the net/doors)

[elisabeth]

Dear all,

Funny how LOA works. After not having checked in here for a few weeks as I was swamped at work etc, now I come in and there are TWO threads with similar issues right on top (and probably more, but I haven't read all the way through yet). Is this the season, or my reticular activating system or LOA?

Anyway, I'm on the verge of jumping ship too. A few things to sort out. A talk with a lawyer left, but basically, I've made the decision, against the kicking and screaming of some of my friends and with the enthusiastic support of others:

I'm on the verge of resigning from my tenured teaching position to do...

Internet marketing. Speaking. Writing. Reinvent myself as a personal growth author etc.

Maybe even find another teaching position, but it would have to be one with a better salary. A MUCH better salary, plus one that gives me the freedom to pursue the above as well. And one that will pay for my conference travel. Etc.

Why now? I'm in the weird position that I have to choose between

a) Chapter 13 and being locked into a very stressful and severely salary-compressed positon for several more years (which makes my soul whimper and want to curl up in the corner to die) (there's a long story here which I'll spare you right now), or

b) cash out my retirement fund now, pay off my creditors, and give myself a fresh start.

If I wait, the interest on my overdue credit cards will go high enough that the latter may not be an option anymore. So it's go for it now or, well, stay. And when I'm not overcome with the jitters, if feels right too.

It's scary too, though, because when I've paid off my debt, there won't be much left over, but I've got lots of marketable skills, and while some people have told me that if I haven't managed to make internet marketing work so far I won't be able to make it work now either, my thinking is that I haven't really been able to put in the time, plus I'm only now in a place where the information is coming together in terms of how to do it properly.

And I have to thank Steve for his encouraging and inspiring posts -- they certainly helped to get and keep me going in this line of thought. And a lot of you here on the board for your wonderful posts and support for others in similar situations.

Anyway, any encouraging words or other input would be very much appreciated.

Thanks a million.

Elisabeth

[1000feet]

Internet marketing and personal growth are huge right now - there's probably thousands of new blogs covering them every day. What are you creating that didn't exist before?

Anything is worth a try though - setting out on your own allows you be a lot more flexible both in how you do something of value to others and how you get rewarded for it. I'm working on some great things right now, and the experience that has brought me this far is giving me exciting ideas for the future.

[Marth]

We can work through your debt if you like. Just post specifics & your goals. Sounds like you've really got things going how you want them. Best of luck

[elisabeth]

Thanks Marth and 1000feet.

Marth: re debt -- I feel lucky that I have the option to get rid of it (or the vast majority of it) with one fell swoop (paying the rest off over time) and then build a business (actually start building it right away... ). I'm really psyched...

1000feet: Personal growth IS big right now. Is there room for another voice/blog etc.? Well, I've slowly started building subscribers etc. Without doing anything much fancy, I'm getting some 60+ visitors a day to my blog and growing, and my "list" has grown to, oh, a couple of hundred, but I've barely gotten started with serious marketing. Just some article marketing, some posting in forums. I love the web!

What makes me different? A lot, I think. My personal history (former foreign student, breast cancer survivor, former deejay, poet, etc.), my perspective, my "voice," I can hardly wait to discover where it'll all take me.

And I'll be quite happy to do things like copywriting and teaching businesses how to build their web presence etc. to make money while I keep building my personal growth web presence and speaking "platform" and write books. Oh, yes, and I want to speak at colleges too (to students, about college success, managing/alleviating exam anxiety, and so on).

I HAVE been thinking about doing this for years, actually, though I didn't think I'd have to give up my job to do it. But it wasn't possible to do those things while still at that university. Still, I also didn't have the web marketing knowledge I can now use to create cash flow while I wait for my book(s) to hit the big time.

So what can I say. Maybe it's divine timing. I think I'm actually grateful to Amex for forcing the issue. Although I could have done without the stress all of this caused me over the last several months until I came up with this plan, and I didn't really recognize the gratitude aspect of it until maybe yesterday.

[uberinquisitive]

Well, what's helped me in pushing forward: if it doesn't follow you into the next life, it probably isn't that important. You bank balance won't follow you. But the regret of not following your dream - now that may just haunt you.

[Angela]

Elisabeth, good great wishes to you in your next endeavor! It's exhiliarating, isn't it?!

[Dave Kaminski]

Originally Posted by 1000feet

Internet marketing and personal growth are huge right now - there's probably thousands of new blogs covering them every day. What are you creating that didn't exist before?

Anything is worth a try though - setting out on your own allows you be a lot more flexible both in how you do something of value to others and how you get rewarded for it. I'm working on some great things right now, and the experience that has brought me this far is giving me exciting ideas for the future.

I'd honestly take a skills self-assessment if I were you, Elisabeth.

As a tenured teacher, there MUST be ways you can use the skills you already have without having to 'reinvent' yourself. Be careful of your path, because you have a lot of skills already that can serve you well instead of trying to learn something COMPLETELY new.

I don't know much about you or your skills, just a heads up.

[elisabeth]

Thanks ueberinquisitive: wise words to keep in mind! That's exactly what I've been thinking. And also, if not now, when?

I seem to have a window of opportunity here during which I can pull this off, and the time is right now. So while I feel a bit panicked, I feel even more exhilarated (thanks Angela!).

I've been doing some writing exercises too, and carefully observed my feelings.

When I write "stay, stay, stay..." I get that sinking feeling in my stomach, and when I write "leave, free, free to go" etc., I feel much happier.

Dave:

As to my skills... well, sure I could use my skills where I am right now, but for years, they haven't been rewarded the way they should have been (i.e., with a fair and equitable salary), and that would not change in the foreseeable future (I checked). So I'll take me and my skills, combine them with new ones I've acquired in the meantime, and take them out into the big wild world to see where they will take me. Wheee!

Just watching myself as I'm writing stuff online, bursting with ideas, being happy as a clam... I really want to give myself a chance to see where this can take me.

Just got yet another idea on how to "monetize" my skills on the Warrior Board.

Thanks.

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by uberinquisitive

Well, what's helped me in pushing forward: if it doesn't follow you into the next life, it probably isn't that important. You bank balance won't follow you. But the regret of not following your dream - now that may just haunt you.

wow wow wow wow

What a quote.

[elisabeth]

Well... I did it. I turned in my letter of resignation.

Now I feel like I've jumped off a huge cliff. Eeek. What did I do??

It feels quite disorienting, to leave a place that has been such a bit part of my life (and identity) for almost two decades. Like a divorce I suppose.

I realize that grief is a normal by-product whenever one gives up a big part of one's life, in spite of the excitement at the possibilities that lie ahead.

And that the alternative wasn't great. And the alternative, to continue there happily without debt and at a new and improved salary wasn't an option that existed.

In fact, I had been chomping at the bits for years, but until now didn't see an alternative.

So now I'm going through all the accumulated mp3s and other materials about how to build my internet marketing biz, finally listening to them and/or reading them, ready to create my own new and improved "salary" or income rather!

And no more guilt about taking away time from what I really should be doing ;-)

Thanks for all your support.

[Athena Arianna]

It's going to sound nuts... well maybe not here, but mainstream anyways.. but it's one of the best things that have happened in my life so far!!!

I was a Director of Finance, on and off, for 20 years. I'm now 41. I've never wanted to be a "director of finance", mind you. From the beginning, I've always wanted to be a writer or artist. I did what I thought I had to do...

How ironic these things can be. Anyway, I have 1 year, to live in the home I've been paying a mortgage on for some 20 years, to manage to make enough through writing/art to keep it. I'm giving myself that year, I've decided. If I have to let my home go, I will. I have no husband, no children, only pets, which I will make sure I care for.

But I'm not giving up my soul, and the things it - I mean *I* - were meant to do, ever again.

I think I'll be here more frequently, to come - you all seem to be common spirit, if you will! Alas, now, I allow myself to celebrate FREEDOM from, what I've come to call, Corporate Indentured Servitude. HURRAH!!!

Ghizwiz

PS, anyone that has a beloved pet of any species they would like immortalized in graphite or oil pastels, now is a good time to have one done by me! arcadiafarm@juno.com

[Athena Arianna]

Hey, I didn't realize they would post this right under Elizabeth's post, I would've started my own.

But since they did... you rock girlie! Go for it and I'll be here for support & to celebrate your success.

Ghiz,
aka arcadiafarm@juno.om

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by elisabeth

Well... I did it. I turned in my letter of resignation.

Congratulation! I hope to join you soon in turning my letter of resignation.

about how to build my internet marketing biz,

What is it about building an internet marketing biz that excites you, that drives you?

[elisabeth]

Thanks Ghiz and seeker 5 for the congrats! That really helps as I'm still reeling from
the shock of having actually done it and reminds me of why I did and to focus on the exciting things that I'm free to do and pursue now.

And Ghiz, you rock too & good luck with your (ad)venture! So exciting. And I loved your comment about "indentured servitude." My sentiments exactly.

Seeker 5: what about IM excites me? So much I don't know where to start...

The possibility of sharing information as well as inspiration and empowerment with such a potentially unlimited audience. The fact that I can do it. The freedom. Oh, and the potential financial rewards, especially the self-perpetuating passive income streams if I set things up right are very appealing too ;-)

I might write more later on that. thanks for reminding me -- it helps me focus on what I'm aiming for.

[ericabiz]

Hi Elisabeth,

Do you have a solid financial plan in place so as to ensure that you won't go back into debt again? IM can be an expensive field -- there are always more ebooks and marketing classes to buy. Do you have a budget, are you sticking to it, and are you confident that you can keep your expenses below your income?

In any industry, it will take 6-12 months for you to start making money.

I would just hate to see you back in debt and having to make a tradeoff like forfeiting your retirement account again.

-Erica

[elisabeth]

Hi Erica,

solid financial plan? Not really. More like a wing and a prayer!

And plenty of visualization, positive thinking, Abraham-Hicks techniques, etc.

But I do have marketable skills and intend to use them. In a pinch, I can always sell my writing skills (I just learned. When I needed cash fast, it materialized very quickly. Of course, I'll be writing my fingers off for another week or two to fulfill all the orders, but that's okay). Or my tutoring skills. Or my teaching business writing workshop skills. Or my WordPress blog creation skills, or...

And I might even get another academic job, only this time sans debt!

But actually, I rather like the freedom of IM ;-)

And yes, I know all about "investing" in assorted ebooks, courses and programs, and I'm doing that too, but I see myself on the upward swing where this is starting to pay off.

About the timing of making money... I think I'm well into that 6-9 months, and I've made about two grand in commissions in the last 6 weeks or so! Now I plan to promote that person's programs even more... (plus others).

I'm also in several coaching programs and I'm learning like gangbusters.

As an update for everybody:

I'm feeling happier and more relaxed than I have in YEARS! Considering that I'm out of a job and I've taken a big leap without a net, I'm feeling great!

I have even discovered that I don't have to clean out my retirement account completely, and will still get a lot more than I had originally anticipated.

It was definitely the right decision.

Thanks,