7 Good Reasons To Quit Your Desk Job To Become A Digital Entrepreneur
Aug

The Grind Of Your Desk Job
It’s 10 o’clock in the morning and you’ve already had enough. Your eyes are glazed over, you’re half asleep in your chair, the week has dragged on so slowly. You just can’t wait for it to end. It’s only Monday. You are in the grind.
Millions of us are slaving away at jobs we are bored to death with and can barely tolerate. Millions of us will piss away the best years of our lives with a big empty hole in our souls. Millions of us will retire after 50 years of workingย jobs we hate and be left with little more than a shell of our former lives.
The grind will slowly wear us down, eat away our passion, and steal from us our very souls.
It does not to go down like this. No, life does not need to suck.
Becoming A Digital Entrepreneur
First off, becoming a digital entrepreneur is not for everyone. It is however, for me. If you are reading this post then there is a very good chance that this is a life that you want to pursue as well.
Make no mistake about it, being able to live life on your schedule while building a digital empire for yourself is awesome! I can almost smell the ocean air thinking about what it will be like when I walk away from my desk for the last time and drive straight to the beach to celebrate.
I’ve met a good many successful online entrepreneurs who have the life that many of us desire and the good news is that we can have it too. It won’t come easy, but then again, nothing great ever does.
I put this post together as a reminder to those of you who desperately need to leave your current jobs and would love nothing more than to run your online business from wherever you want.
And if you think that working from a balcony overlooking the Pacific Ocean as the sun is setting isn’t worth busting your ass for, you might just want to crawl back to that lifeless cubicle you call home.
7 Good Reasons To Quit Your Desk Job
Your Office
This is the place that you will spend more than 90,000 hours of your lifetime. If that doesn’t depress and scare the shit out of you, something is seriously wrong. This is so unnatural it’s not even funny. Do you really want to spend 15-20% of your entire life inside a fucking cubicle? If you think this is ok or even acceptable, then you at the wrong website.
Your Commute
Welcome to the biggest waste of 1-3 hours of each day. For years, I spent 3 to 4 hours in the car driving to a job I detested. If that doesn’t de-motivate someone, I don’t know what will. Sitting in bumper to bumper traffic for hours knowing that you are headed into a job you hate is an incredibly shitty feeling. And don’t even get me started on gas prices….
Your Boss
Yup. This may very well be your boss. An inept, overpaid, under performing jackass. Bosses come in all shapes and sizes, and although there are plenty of good ones, too many of us are stuck with idiots, micro-managers, or corporate stooges.
Your Co Workers
Co workers can make or break your work life. If you’re fortunate enough to work with intelligent, socially adjusted “normal” people, then goody for you. If you’re working in a job that tends to attract low caliber employees, then your life may become intolerable. Unless of course, you’re one of them.
Your Status
You get no respect! You are merely a cog in their system, an expendable resource. Hence, many of you are treated as such. Many of you will bust your asses working for your company and never receive an ounce of praise. That’s a tragedy. People don’t just want recognition, they need it.
Your Mentality
If you’ve been an employee for a long time, you may have fallen victim to the employee mindset. This can be a death sentence to you because it means you’ve been institutionalized. You are happy to get whatever your company hands you. You are ok with getting fed the table scraps while others are eating 5 course meals.
This is not your fault. Most people don’t know any better. If you work in a job you hate, isn’t rewarding,fulfilling, or interesting, you need to ask yourself some questions.
Questions like:
- Why am I still working here?
- Am I only doing this for a paycheck?
- Do I have the skills to do something else?
- Why am I afraid of getting fired or losing my job?
- What would I do if I lost my job today?
If you to ever transition out of being an employee, you need to answer these questions honestly. You may find that you actually like being an employee and that’s fine. If you don’t like it however, you need to figure out why and then what you’re going to do about it.
Your Day
I hate meetings. Therefore, I choose not to attend them. Many of you however are not in a position where you have the luxury of opting out of them. For the most part, I find that meetings are an incredible waste of time and have no real benefit other than letting your long winded boss talk about how important they are.
Your 8 hour day will feel like 16 if it’s filled with pointless meetings, conference calls, and conversations. Redundancy in the workplace will bore the shit out of you and slowly drive you to commit hara-kari.
What All This Means To You
All of things added up equals a death sentence. Yet, this is the American way. You MUST, MUST, MUST get out. Do you want the night cleaning crew to find you face down on your keyboard, dead from a stress induced heart attack. And even if your job doesn’t actually kill you, it will take your life from you.
Please don’t let it be yours…
7 Good Reasons To Become A Digital Entrepreneur
Your Office
This is the dream for many of us (and definitely me). Having the ability to work from anywhere has to be one of the sweetest things in the world. Of course, not all of us will end up on white sandy beaches with flip flops and a laptop, but it IS possible for those who make that their goal.
The chance of your boss letting you work remotely are slim, but it’s still worth asking. If that’s not an option, I say build yourself a business and make it a reality.
Your Commute
How many of you would be ok with waking up, walking downstairs in your pj’s, and being in your office? I certainly wouldn’t have a problem with that. No traffic, no need to fill up your gas tank every 3 days, and no scramble to get out the door before rush hour. Working from home has its advantages but also has plenty of disadvantages.
Make you understand the cons before you jump into full-time blogger mode. And I will say this, you had better be one hell of a self motivated individual or you could end up crawling back to your boss begging for your job back because you just couldn’t get your shit together.
Your Boss
The good news is that it’s YOU! The bad news is now you are 100% accountable for every single thing you do. No more wasting the company’s time looking at porn CNN. No more 2 hour lunch breaks. No more showing up late.
You will need to work harder than you ever thought possible. Forget about logging your hours, your days will star to blend together after a while. You will struggle, be frustrated, and probably want to throw it all away once or twenty times, but don’t let yourself!
It will pay off in the end. And if it doesn’t, then try again!
Your Co Workers
Wouldnt it be nice to have your kids as co workers. Well..let’s be honest here though. I love my children as much as anyone, but at some point they do become annoying.
That being said, I would take having them in my home office over having to deal with random people any day of the week.
My ultimate goal is to work from home (or a tropical location) and be able to spend as much time with my children as possible. This will be the biggest benefit for me.
If you don’t have kids, then you’ll get to spend more quality time with your significant other or maybe even your pet. Whatever the case, the point is that you have the option to spend your time how you choose and work with whom you want.
Your Status
Take back your respect and pride! You work for yourself now dammit! You are no longer required to eat large quantities of shit from your boss on a daily basis. Hopefully, there will be no shit eating whatsoever…
Being an entrepreneur is rewarding beyond measure. I’ve had my own businesses in the past and currently have a personal training business and there is no better feeling than having an asset that YOU created and nobody can take from you. (Unless of course you get sued by a client who was performing flying squats on a stability ball in the dark). Then you’re screwed….
Your Mentality
The world is now yours. As an entrepreneur and business owner, the world is truly your oyster. Create the best possible business you can and build your life how you think it should be lived. Your destiny awaits.
Your Day
While owning your own business is certainly not going to be all sunshine and marshmallows, it IS 100X better that slaving away in a cubicle and doing work you find uninspiring and meaningless.
The most awesome part is that you get to choose how you spend your time. Success will depend on many factors,but they all will lead back to you. And if you fail miserably, it’s your fault.
What All This Means To You
FREEDOM!!!!!!!!
Yes, it is possible, this I know. Will it become your reality? That’s up to you to decide.

TrafficColeman
Your boss can be your best friend or your worst enemy, but most of the times you just hate him so you hate the job also.
“Black Seo Guy “Signing Off”
Jens P. Berget
Hi Steve,
It sounds amazing to be a digital entrepreneur, and I know exactly what you’re talking about when you talk about the desk job ๐
There are really just two problems for me when it comes to being a digital entrepreneur. The first one is money. I have a wife and two kids, and I have no idea how easy it will be to make enough money to be working on my own, and if I’m going to be able to support my family doing it. The other problem is finding out what I’m passionate about. I have been searching for it for a long time, but I still haven’t found my passionโฆ although I think that I might have been staring at it all the time. I’m passionate about helping people, no matter what the topic is. Making people successful and happy, and helping them with marketing might be something I should be doing as a digital entrepreneur.
Anyway. The money, and supporting my family is what really matters the most ๐
Jens
Steve
Jens,
The life of a digital entrepreneur does sound awesome! And the good news is that we can have it.
I also have two small children and a non working spouse and think about how I can replace my day job income. It’s a very daunting idea to think of losing that regular paycheck. I just keep it in my mind that my happiness has suffered long enough and it’s now or never.
I have decided to make this my life now and am willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen. I can tell you with certainty, that making enough money to support your family will not be easy. Not even close. In fact, it might be the hardest thing you’ve ever done. Will it be worth it? Only you can decide that?
As far as finding you passion, that’s can be frustrating. I spent years trying different things and never found my passion. I moved all over the country, worked dozens of jobs and finally, after 8 years of working in a shitty job, I realized what I wanted to do. I HAD to do it!
I would suggest trying different exercises to try to figure out what really drives you. What would you do for free every day if you could? Play with your kids? Read books? Work in a homeless shelter? Try asking your wife and close friends what they think you are excellent at. What do they think you would be successful at? It might stir up some ideas and get your brain working.
In the meantime, keep supporting your family and hopefully you will figure out your passion sooner rather than later!
Meg
This is a really cool post! I just received a very awesome opportunity through my work where I will be able to work from home. Although, I will be student teaching at the same time it will still be really nice to not have to go into the office. I am hoping the bf gets the same opportunity becasue I hear him asking those very questions all the time. I think posts like this are helping him get out. Thanks for the inspiration and breath of fresh air. I may have to work a couple days at the beach, that looks amazing.
Steve
Hi Meg,
That’s great news that you can work from home. Talk about getting to work smarter now. Hopefully your man gets the same deal. I’m sure you two wouldn’t mind sitting on the beach working on your laptops, while the waves rolled in…so nice…
Barry
So good that I just wrote a post urging my readers to read-this-post.
Steve
Thanks Barry! I really appreciate that. I was really hoping to light a fire under people’s asses to get moving on their online businesses. We’ll see if it works!
Mr Frog
Wow, fantastic post. I’m sitting on a conference call right now (don’t worry – me not paying attention isn’t going to have a single impact on anyone’s life), and feel like I want to quit right now!
Steve
Glad this post hit you! If you did quit by chance, let me know ๐
Justin | Mazzastick
Hi Steve,
I always tell others to at least begin the transition to entrepreneurship. They don’t have to become online business owners but they could start up a small, one man operation and work for themselves.
Eventually hire employees and let them do the work. Anything beats working for someone else.
The cubicle, the driving to and from work, meetings, yuck man, I’m getting flashbacks.
Benny
The 7 reasons to become digital entrepreneur is what I dream about. Too long I’ve been in the restaurant business and though I’m not at a cubicle it feels like one big cubicle to me.
It’s not easy to get there but like you said, you’ve met people who actually get to live that kind of lifestyle. If they can, why can’t we right?
Steve
That’s right Benny. I spent 13 years working in restaurants and I know exactly how you feel. You seem to be on the right path, so keep it up dude!!
Hector Avellaneda
Haha.. loved this post Steve.
Check this out man.The other day I was talking to a co-worker and I don’t really know how but somewhere along the conversation I mentioned that my dream was to live in Colorado Springs. This is how the conversation went
Coworker: Uh Uh – you don’t want to live there. There’s no work for you there bud.
Me:well, maybe I don’t want a job!”
Coworker: What! You need to be able to eat
Me: is there no food in Colorado!
Coworker: Smart-ass! You now what I mean. what are you going to do about money. You need to work!
Me: Well, I don’t NEED anything and I only work to live right now, I don’t live to work!
Worker: Dude, you’re too young to be having that I don;t give a shit attitude.
My (final word): Oh trust me, I give a shit! I give a shit about me! (he didn’t like that fact that I was not falling head-over heels for the company as he had).
My worker looked at me, grinned and just walked away.
The reason I share this story with you is because I find it amazing how some people out there have absolutely given into their life conditioning of “The only way to succeed in life is to get a GOOD JOB!”
It simply amazes me how some people just dont think out of the box. To be fair, the coworker I mentioned here has about 3 decades on me so I would say he’s definitely old-school!
I’m not sure if the reasons you mentioned above just don;t bother some people or if they have completely given up and given in.
What do you think?
Steve
Hector,
I get this response all the time and it drives me crazy. People are so conditioned to be on auto pilot that they have no clue that life doesn’t need to include a regular job. I’m glad you’re not falling victim to that mindset. Just keep your head in the right place, brother!
Have you ever been to Colorado Springs? I lived there for almost a year, so if you have any questions, let me know.
Dave Lucas
Working from home may not suit everyone – but if you think you can make it work, it’s worth a try!
Steve
Your absolutely right, Dave. I know plenty of people who have no interest in that lifestyle. I’m just not one of them!
Jenny
This is bloody hilarious and spot on. Thanks for making me smile ๐
Steve
You got it Jenny! If we can laugh at how shitty our jobs are, that’s a good thing ๐
Adrienne
Oh, I remember those days! Yuck… The problem is that the majority of people have that employee mentality so unless they are willing to change that, they might as well stay behind their cubicles.
Loved this post Steve, brought a big smile to my face. Thanks for that!
Adrienne
Steve
It’s been a long time for Adrienne! I know you don’t miss it!
That employee mentality is a dream killer. Many will never even realize that they’re there. So very sad…
Glad I could bring a smile to your always smiling face ๐
Keshav
There is nothing more appropriate or perfect as reading THIS post on THIS day of my life.
Thanks Steve!
Steve
Rough day, my friend? What are you working right now to get you out??
Ben D.
Hi Steve,
Great post, I just discovered your blog a few days ago, and it’s incredible how I relate to everything you are posting. I’ve been “hating” my job for too long (roughly 7 years now-and not just the actual company or boss, but “the job”), and I’m trying to find an alternative… thats’s the difficult part. I know I need to change before it kills me (haha love the office heart attack freaky image…that would be a really sad ending), but the difficult part is finding what to do about it. At least I’m seriously thinking about it (but for too long now), so I need to act NOW. By the way, also started listening to your podcasts, loved the Chris Ducker interview, I could so relate to everything being said, and your questions to Chris. Take care.
Ben
Steve
Ben,
7 years in a job you hate…..that’s waaaay too long, man. I’m at 9 right now and about ready to snap! Are you planning on leaving? Do you have any idea what you would like to do?
Just make sure you don’t screw yourself by quitting prematurely.
Glad you like the Podcasts. Have you visited Chris’ site? He is really an awesome dude and has tons of great info. Are you a blogger?
Ben D.
Hey Steve,
I’m not about to quit prematurely, because I need the revenue, and that is one of the big issues I have. So if I start anything right now, I would need to start it on my free time (evenings, weekends..)
Like you, I need to support wife and daughter, and that is of course my first priority. So I can’t say I’m planning to leave right away, but I need to find a way to start generating some revenue by building a side business. I’m not sure what type of business really, I’ve had several thoughts in the past and almost started a franchise business last year (full time of course). But to be honest, I realized that simply paying lots of money to apply someone else’s business model was not really was I was interested in. Plus the fact that the business would probably take up more of my free time. So big $ investment + less free time didn’t make much sense to me.
I’m really interested in digital entrepreneurship since reading your blog (and a few others) recently, so I’m going to start looking into that now. I’d love to make extra time for myself and my family, still while generating enough revenue to keep a similar lifestyle. But to be honest, I’m not sure whether that is possible, and more importantly at this stage, where to start ! Also, I haven’t really found that ‘passion’ for something that would make a logical starting point. So to answer your question, NO I don’t have any idea on what I would like to do, and that’s my biggest issue right now!
Ben
ps: I’m not a blogger (not yet anyways…)
Mario
This post is extremely funny and spits the truth to your face. I work in a place with cubicles and I reaaally hate cubicles. I’ve been struggling with this very same thoughts but I didn’t knew what to do about it. Fortunately internet exists and you have a chance to get a business up and running with little investment.
Very cool article, will share it…
Melissa
Wow. I read this and realized that the photo of Cubicle-land was actually causing me to have an anxiety attack at even thinking about going back into office work! (I was forcibly ejected…read: laid off… from my corporate job back in ’08 and have been doing odd jobs here and there since. Just recently started up my own blog and have been contemplating ways to make more income through it’s concepts.) I had been considering making another stab at getting a part-time office gig for a while, but that reaction is a pretty telling one. More focus on my own biz for me, thanks!
Excellent timing. Thank you for the great post!
Steve
Hi Melissa,
Welcome to my world! Every day is as boring, dull, and meaningless as the day before. Loving that you got out! Good for you!
I’ve often thought about doing random jobs to make money but with 2 small children, it’s just too inconsistent.
If you want to bounce some ideas off of me regarding your blog, please feel free ๐
Michael
Hey Steve –
I am new to your blog but I like it already! I came over because I found a link from Adrienne’s site.
You have an awesome blog here with some great content. I really enjoyed this post. This is exactly how I feel about transitioning from my full time job to being my own boss and making myself rich and not someone else.
Steve
Michael,
Thanks for the visit and I’m glad you are digging what I’ve got going on here.
What are your plans for creating your own business? Is it an online business?
Michael
Right now I am working on developing my main blog that has advertising on it and I am also building out a portfolio of niche sites online as well.
So yeah it’s my online business that is slowly coming along pretty nicely. Just need to start outsourcing more of it and speed up the process of my business now.
Kevin Wells
Hi Steve,
I only just discovered your blog and I’ve only looked at a handful of posts so far, but I’ve already been really impressed by your outlook and what you are doing.
Your site is excellent, I can’t believe just how much you’ve achieved with it in such a short time.
Far from being “full of sh1t” (I think thats what you said in one post)… maybe you need to acknowledge your abilities much more. Never put yourself down!
Im in the same age group as you and Ive also experienced things in a similar way to you. That’s why I found this post so true. It’s also hilarious, especially the pics, I was laughing my head off when I read it.
I too have experienced the horror of big corporate employment and all the sorts of loonies you describe. I was also a contractor with these kind of outfits, for far too long, but – same difference.
Doing something for money is *never* a good reason for doing something in life. We must always make sure we follow our passions. Too many of us deceive ourselves and take the weak way out.
We have to take account of what is needed in the community and the economy, but if we match these up with our passions and abilities then we should do fine.
By the way, I agree with what Adam Baker said about people with kids and commitments… they can just as much break out of the corporate nine to five as anyone else. Plenty of people just use having kids/mortgage etc as an excuse! Its no excuse. In fact, its even more reason to break out and achieve something better.
Also I really like your podcasts, Ive only heard a couple so far, but from what Ive heard they are brilliant.
Just by looking around on your site, it seems to me you have MASSES of ability. You should have no problems getting out of the corporate cubicle and doing something better for yourself. Good luck mate and keep going!
Kevin