35Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Quit My Job

Ross SimmondsDigital Strategist & Founder

GetCrate.co | HustleAndGrind.co | Foundation Marketing

Learn to say no more often than yes.

1Lots of opportunities will come up but picking the right ones is more important than saying yes to everything and not being able to focus on the things that matter.

2Show people that you (1)

care about their problems and (2) have the ability to help solve

them.

Build relationships before you quit.

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3Don’t wait to read books and blog posts on

entrepreneurship or accounting until after you quit. Read now while you’re employed and have a steady

paycheck so you’re not scrambling for this knowledge

Invest in yourself and your future today.

Escape the 9 to 5 in six months or less with the Hustle Manifesto

4Everything.

It might not actually happen but this mentality will help ensure you’re prepared and doing the best you can to keep things on the right track.

Expect things to go wrong.

Escape the 9 to 5 in six months or less with the Hustle Manifesto

5Sounds like basic business advice but too often will you find entrepreneurs forgetting the importance of keeping costs down. I’m not saying nickel and dime people but don’t be afraid to ask for lower rates.

Maximize revenue.Minimize costs.

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6Everything takes longer than you thought at first. Once you get a few projects under your belt it will be easier to estimate timelines.

Everything needs more time.

7Keep a couple thousand dollars in a separate bank account for a rainy day. Trust me, rainy days will happen. And before you quit, make sure you have 3-4 months runway in projected revenue or in the bank.

Save cash beforeand after you quit.

8As much as you might hate

talking on the phone; some of your clients and partners will

prefer it. Make it a habit to pick up the phone and call someone instead of relying on email, text

and instant message.

The phone isn’t your enemy.

9You’re going to be your own worse critic. It’s easy to become paralyzed by critiquing your own work – Just ship it. Whether it’s a blog post, proposal,

email campaign or media outreach – JUST SHIP IT.

Just ship it!

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10These projects and clients might not pay as much but during your early days, it’s important to take on work that will help differentiate you from the

crowd.

Take on amazing clients and projects as early as possible.

11Streamline your workload with the right technologies

in place. Use a tool like Freshbooks for invoicing, Basecamp for managing projects, Dropbox for storage, WPEngine for your website hosting,

GetCrate.co for managing social media and Slack for communicating with partners and suppliers.

Embrace the right tech.

12Tools like Boomerang that will help you schedule emails to go out at a later time. People don’t like

emails at 2AM so use Boomerang to schedule it to go out at 8AM the next morning. Other tools

include FullContact.com, Sidekick from Hubspot and CannedResponses.

Hack your inbox.

13You get more done by

simply focusing on one thing during a

set period instead of attempting to do 2 or

3.

Multi-tasking is a myth.

14I like to call mine a “kill list” and it highlights the various items I need to do the next day every night before bed. Start with the most

difficult items and cross them off your list one by one as you do them.

Embrace The “To-Do List”

15When it is obvious that the goals cannot be

reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.

- Confucius

Make goals and revisit them every month.

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16 Ask for help.

Don’t be afraid to reach out to others

for advice, mentorship and

support.

18 Remove distractions.

"No enemy is worse than bad advice.”

- Sophocles

19 Learn to handle criticism.

Never take it personally. Whether it’s a project or an idea – isolate the criticism from yourself as an individual and recognize that it’s a vehicle for you to improve.

Escape the 9 to 5 in six months or less with the Hustle Manifesto

20 Charge what you’re worth.

Understand that your time is worth something. Understand that the service you’re providing has value.Understand what the industry is charging and don’t be afraid to go against the norm with higher pricing.

Escape the 9 to 5 in six months or less with the Hustle Manifesto

21 Know at least two good stories or jokes.

Memorize a story or joke you can use at networking events, meetings and first time encounters with folks.

Escape the 9 to 5 in six months or less with the Hustle Manifesto

22 Keep your word.

Never make a promise that you're

not 100% committed to fulfill.

23 It’s okay to delegate.

People who help you might do things differently than you but they will still get it done. It might not be exactly the way you wanted it but sometimes you just need to walk away and let people learn on their own and do their own thing.

Escape the 9 to 5 in six months or less with the Hustle Manifesto

24 Drink more water.

25 Don’t take on projects you don’t believe in.

The opportunity cost is too high. If they’re haggling for a lower price point, it’s likely that they don’t value

your work as much as a client who you actually believe in, but because you said yes to this project

won’t have time to take on that work.

26 Spend less time with talkers and more time with doers.

Lots of people will talk about what they are going to do in the future. Few people actually step up and take action. Spend more time with those who take action

and it will rub off on you.

27 Meet more people.

Go to events but don’t spend all your time hanging out with the

same folks. You build your net worth by building your network, so meet

new people.

28 Keep your mental health in check.

Entrepreneurship is filled with highs and lows. It’s filled with Gutters & Strikes as Tomasz Tunguz

once said. Stay sane through personal reflection, spending time with great people, journaling,

meditation, etc…

Escape the 9 to 5 in six months or less with the Hustle Manifesto

29 Public speaking is a great business development tactic.

The conversion rate at events for new business is higher than the conversion rate of tweets and

LinkedIn updates.

Escape the 9 to 5 in six months or less with the Hustle Manifesto

30 Streamline your process.

Create a proposal and process at the beginning that can be used in a very cookie cutter approach from one

client to the next. The steps you take to onboard a client should be so straightforward and automatic that

someone else could come in and run that process without you. The goal here is simple: create a

business that could some day run without you.

Escape the 9 to 5 in six months or less with the Hustle Manifesto

31 Understand how to give effective feedback

32 Challenging work is the best work.

When you take on a project that sounds very challenging – you’re either going to do something awesome or learn something new. Say yes to challenging work because it’s going to look amazing in your portfolio when you’re done.

Escape the 9 to 5 in six months or less with the Hustle Manifesto

33 Invest in those who invest in you.

Escape the 9 to 5 in six months or less with the Hustle Manifesto

If someone is willing to take a chance on you during the early days, don’t forget them. If someone is willing to invest their time into your business, cherish it and pay it forward.

34 Get a good lawyer.

Escape the 9 to 5 in six months or less with the Hustle Manifesto

Contracts can be tricky.Ensure that they’re tight.

35 Read these books.

Additional Reading…Blog Post For Freelancers

The Hustle Manifesto: Available Now

Get more from Ross at RossSimmonds.com