Journey to Home (based)

I’ve quit my corporate job 6 months ago, and I definitely miss it. After all, I loved my job, and I had so many many memories while I was working there. However, I’m positive that I did the right thing. Not all of my goals worked according to plan, but I’m enjoying my time as a freelancer.

I was a team leader at a business processing services company. I worked there for more than 6 years, and I must say that I’ve grown in the company so much, not just as an employee, but as an adult. What I am now, I owe a lot to that company. While working, I crawled to finish my thesis for my Master’s degree. I was at the final stage of my thesis, and I wanted to finish it badly, so I decided to quit my job.

After I did, I was lost for a few days. I didn’t know what to do with my life. This is to add to the fact that my roommates and I parted ways. There I was, homeless and jobless.

Then, I woke up a few days into my “freedom” and realized that I gained one thing: time. I had all the time in the world! I can sleep all day if I want to. With the savings I have, I can travel for a few days. I can do the things I promised to do when I had the time. It was liberating!

So, I packed my bags and joined a trip to explore Mindoro for a week. Then, the following month, I explored Marinduque.

But then, reality kicked in. I realized that I cannot spend all my time (and money) traveling. I realized that I have to make a living so I can live. So, I started browsing for online platforms that can help me land a job. There’s Upwork, PeoplePerHour, and Livingston Research. I realized that my experience as a team leader or a trainer wasn’t really on the trend in the freelancing world, so I had to think of what my strengths are that will help me land a job. That’s when I got into writing.

I was a bit rusty when I started. My articles were initially absolute crap. I felt like I wasn’t a very good right. But then, practice definitely makes one better. I took job after job. I wrote articles about Biology, iPhone Cases, Car Tuners, Cannabis Oil, and even steroids. In a span of six months, I must have written over 300 articles. I can’t say that I’m a pro now, but I am better. I realized that juices flow much faster when you write often. I also learned that, in order to improve, you must be willing to take criticism, even when they’re not constructive. No matter how it was delivered, criticism can help you understand your skills and find out how you can overcome your opportunities.

Since writing was more of a side job, I looked for other opportunities. That’s when I landed a role as a Training Coordinator at a Cloud Solutions company. I am also now a Manulife Philippines Financial Advisor, helping people have a more secure future (Yes. I just had to take this opportunity!).

From this whole corporate-to-freelance journey, I learned that:

• You must not be afraid to take calculated risks. Yes, I inserted the word calculated there because you must weight your options first before you decide to get into the risk. Being spontaneous and bold is fun, but being rational and logical can render better results.
• Failing is an opportunity to try again with experience. At some point, you will fail. You must decide which opportunities are worth failing on. As long as you don’t make the same mistake twice, you’re gonna be okay.
• Be in competition with yourself. Sometimes, we lose ourselves for the hope of succeeding. However, success is a very subjective word, and if you define it by comparing yourself with what others have achieved, then you will never reach success. The best competition you can have is with yourself, and if you always strive to be a better version of yourself, you will always win.
• Health is, indeed, wealth. Having heard so many stories about people passing at an early age, I realized how important health is. Though death is inevitable, you’d want to have a fighting chance and strive for longevity. Being able to sleep in full hours and having time for exercise are things that I’m now capable of and very thankful for.
• Turning to nature helps. When you feel like you’ve spent too many hours holding your phone or looking at your computer, it’s nice to turn to nature and destress by looking at trees and feeling the breeze on your face.
• You need to enrich your imagination. Though we lost the kid in us, we can still enrich our imagination through reading. I found that reading can be therapeutic and can allow you to escape your physical world and explore a different one, all through the magic of words.
• Don”t lose the passion. Find time to do something you really love. If you need to, incorporate it into your schedule. Your passion makes you who you are, and there’s always a way if you do your best to make it happen.

The most important thing about taking that leap is that I’m happy. Being a freelancer has given me the gift of time and space. And when I escaped my comfort zone, I found that my world and my clock are bigger than I was allowing them to be.