Here’s my journey from Employed to Self Employed

I used to work in project management as an employee but never seemed to be very recognised or my pay increase more than a tiny bit each year and I wondered why it wasn’t happening for me. I always worked long hours and sometimes even experienced low-level bullying at times but just got on with it. I recently found a photograph of myself in that team at that time, I looked tired, pasty in complexion and I am stood in a crumpled stance. 

A freelance consultant contractor came to work with our team for a bit and he wore an expensive suit and always used to approach me for all the intel on the project even though I was the most junior in the team at that time. 

Time passed and this Consultant quietly noticed my ability and diligence and one day took me on one side and said ‘Have you ever considered being a Consultant Contractor yourself? I laughed and said ‘What is that?’ I had been offered a promotion in the past to become a Project Manager but had turned it down. I had a big fear of failure so avoided risking it. The Consultant would not be brushed off so easily and insisted that I was the best informed, hardest working, and very knowledgeable in Project Management in the team. Don’t you have to be a specialist in your field to be a contractor running your own company and offering your services to businesses? He said you already have your exams; you are diligent, you are experienced and you work well with others – the rest you can learn. We all have fears now and again but ultimately, it’s about trusting your training and experience and putting yourself through the experience and this will show you how capable you are. 

I was afraid but there was a small part of me inside that had awakened and suddenly felt more alive and excited even if a little tinged with fear. Little did I know that this would be the start of a journey to becoming that consultant and working for many high street names and organisations and a pay rise of 10 times my hourly rate. I learned how to advertise, to do my bookkeeping and learned so much more about myself as a person by taking that leap of faith. 

I had always been a part-time evening counsellor and when contract work dried up eventually, I was able to once again take a brave move in trusting myself and I branched out to do what I LOVE best now – changing lives as a counsellor and although afraid whether I could find enough clients – slowly but surely, they grew and now I am full time and living my dream! I realise that in my old life I had become stuck and restricted by my own fear of failure and my own paradigm as to how I saw myself and what was possible for me. I am so glad that the consultant came along and shook my tree and made me face my fears and take a leap of faith in myself. 

 

How about you? I would love to hear your stories... 

 

https://www.yourtruefreedom.co.uk/blog/transforming-a-scarcity-mindset-into-one-of-abundance/