10 reasons to quit your job in 2015

You only live once, so you may want to reconsider spending the rest of your life working for someone who gets rich using your ideas, forgets to thank you, and then swaps you for someone who can do it for less. Working countless hours every day in a dead-end job that doesn’t make you happy, suppresses your creative nature, and barely allows you to make ends meet is a depressing thought.

So why not take that long-awaited, exciting step forward and quit your job in 2015? Here are the reasons you should go independent:

1. Work from Anywhere

It is becoming increasingly easy to make money using the Internet, no matter where you’re based. You can work from anywhere—from a café, your bed, the train, your summer home, you name it. As long as you have a laptop and a fast Internet connection, there is nothing stopping you from becoming your own boss.

2. Do What You Love

Countless people are trading their 9-to-5 jobs for their own businesses or to work from home. The traditional way of working for a company or a boss can’t provide employees with the same security it once did. When nothing is permanent or safe, why not do what you like? Get inspired by striking success stories, like designer Sam Jones, illustrator Kyle Webster, or beauty experts Hayley Barna and Katia Beauchamp, founders of Birchbox. If they can be earning thousands of dollars every week doing what they love, so can you.

3. Make More Money

Even if you occupy a highly paid position, you still need to spend more time working than the salary could ever compensate you for. You need to be in a specific place, at a specific time, dressed in a certain way. You need to drive places or waste time in boring meetings that kill your ideas and productivity. Without these constraints, you could spend more precious time doing what you love, which could translate into more money.

Here’s a powerful quote from designer Dustin Lee on earning more than $100,000 selling design goods online last year:

“Opening a shop on Creative Market has been a game changer for my family,” Lee said. “Twelve months ago, I was struggling financially. Meeting the bare minimum financial requirements of my family was stressful and hard. What a difference a year makes. Today I’m debt free, have a down payment saved for a house, work on projects I love, and best of all, work on my own terms.”

4. Crush Boredom

If you quit your job in 2015, you can dedicate your time to doing what you love. You can explore new territories, engage in new projects, experiment, and meet new, exciting people. Your environment and possibilities will be ever changing, and so will the results. Sometimes you’ll come out of it a winner, other times a loser — but you will never again get bored by a stale routine.

5. Express Yourself

When you stop working for a boss, you may find that you previously had limited freedom of expression. There is no idea too crazy and no project too ambitious when working for yourself. You can brainstorm and see where it all takes you. You allow yourself to move around freely — exploring, experimenting, testing the waters, and having fun.

6. Gain Confidence

Going independent this year is bound to boost your confidence. Discovering you can earn a living while working in a relaxed environment and using your talents can work wonders with your self-assurance. You manage to stand on your own two feet, make important decisions on your own, and discover new territories. You adapt constantly and keep growing, without fear of failure or the insecurity that comes with a job someone else decides whether you get to keep.

7. Get Excited About Going to Work

If you’re not happy to get up in the morning and go to work, then it’s definitely time to quit your job. Work doesn’t have to be a drag, and the sooner you go solo, the sooner it will hit you.

Doing something you enjoy can have significant psychological benefits. It makes you more positive, and you may even forget you’re working. Turning your hobbies, talents, and passions into your independent full-time job should be your New Year’s resolution if you want to be excited about getting out of bed every morning.

8. Explore Limitless Possibilities

There is very rarely room for development and evolution when you’re working for someone else. If you want a great future, then you might want to think long and hard about the different ways to get there. Working in your own business means every single project takes you somewhere new and adds to the boundless opportunities that you are creating for yourself. You can tackle new challenges and watch yourself grow while exploring different ideas and prospects.

9. Be More Flexible

Flexibility might not matter at the moment, but it definitely will down the road, especially if you’re planning on having a family. Being near your loved ones whenever you want and not allowing your work to dictate your life is crucial. As your parents get older, the people you love get sick, or the need to relocate arises, your work doesn’t need to suffer. On the contrary, working on your own, especially from home, means you can take on whatever life sends your way.

10. Travel

Working at a 9-to-5 job makes it impossible to move around as you please; working for yourself, however, makes it necessary and allows for boundless possibilities. Explore, be inspired by your surroundings, meet new people, learn new languages, enrich your portfolios, and find new places to live. Such freedom can be a great joy.

It’s time to stop finding comfort in the false security of a 9-to-5 job and start following your dreams, exploring your artistic talents, and trusting your intelligence, passion and hard work to get you to new places. In 2015, let your creativity take you somewhere more fulfilling and stimulating.

This article is published in collaboration with LinkedIn. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

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Author: Ilya Pozin is the Founder of Pluto TV, Open Me, and Coplex. 

Image: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, November 18, 2008. REUTERS.