35Things I Wish Someone Told
Me Before I Quit My Job Ross Simmonds Digital Strategist & Founder GetCrate.co | HustleAndGrind.co | Foundation Marketing

Learn to say no more
often than yes.1 Lots 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.

2 Show people that you
(1) care about their problems and (2) have the ability to help solve them. Build relationships before you quit. Escape the 9 to 5 in six months or less with the Hustle Manifesto

3 Don’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

4 Everything. 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

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

6 Everything 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.

7 Keep 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 before and after you quit.

8 As 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.

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

10 These 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.

11 Streamline 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.

12 Tools 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.

13 You 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.

14 I 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”

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

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