That day job you’re plugging away at… there’s so much more benefit than you think.

I promise.

You may be in a season where you’re wondering if you’ll ever make it to that coveted “full timer” status.

Or perhaps you’re a full time entrepreneur, but you remember the 9-5 hustle and late night/weekend working all too well.

Or even more so, maybe you’re rocking the full time dream life, but there’s a transition in your future… and that “day job” feeling of your current dream job is holding you back, making you dream even harder for what’s next.

BUT WHAT IF I TOLD YOU THERE IS ACTUALLY A GOOD BIT OF YOUR “DREAM JOB” IN YOUR “DAY JOB?”

In fact, I saw that every day during my 6 years of marketing & public relations agency life before opting for the solopreneur style.

During those late nights working on the dream, there were times I wondered if it was all worth it.

In fact, the career I had before was even considered a “dream job” too. Some days, I thought it would be easier to just call it quits on pursuing the new dream job of working for myself.

But, I kept coming back to that glimmer of remembering that one day down the line, I wanted to be able to have a job that served my future family well, wherever we lived, and when we welcomed little ones into the world.

BUT IT’S HARD TO FOCUS ON THAT SOMETIMES, ISN’T IT?

We trick ourselves. We convince ourselves that our work is a waste, our talent will never be enough, and we might as well just give up before we even get started.

We cry into our wine glasses (not that I know from experience or anything…) when the speed bumps (more like mountains, y’all!) cross our paths.

But you know what happens in those moments of wondering and wandering? In the moments that feel hard and confusing and all the road blocks come, I learned one thing.

OUR “DAY JOBS” ARE ACTUALLY WHAT MAKE OUR “DREAM JOBS” POSSIBLE.

In our day jobs, we gain skills, expertise, knowledge of what we love, knowledge of what we don’t love, customer service insight, and more. We put all of Jon Acuff’s Quitter to the test.

We gain passion. Talent. Experience.

If you told me 5 years ago that I’d be here today 4 years into full time life as a small business owner & pursuing marketing and communications alongside photography, I’d likely laugh. Especially because when I started my photography career and left life in a public relations agency, I never thought I’d look back. I thought I left the communications world for good: a season I left behind for the click of the shutter.

But my work as a marketing, public relations, and social media gal is single handedly the thing that’s made the biggest difference in my current career. Leading, strategizing, and executing these elements alongside creatives has been a game changer in my business.

It seemed hard, exhausting at times, that day/dream job hustle during the agency days.

But do you know what it was even more than that?

It was: Teaching more brand strategy skills, self-starter-ness, and entrepreneurial mindset than I could have ever imagined.

OUR DAY JOBS BUILD A FOUNDATION FOR OUR DREAM JOBS TO STAND UPON.

And you have that too, friend.

In whatever style of day job/dream job land you find yourself in.

You have something, even the smallest of somethings, from your day job that let’s your dream job flourish and grow.

Whatever season you’re in: whether you love your day job AND your side-hustle, or if the dream job has become your day job, think back to where this all began.

Think back all you learned and experienced in the “day job” that now lets you (or will let you!) thrive in your “dream job!”

If you’re in the day job days right now, think on what you’re…

doing

learning

experiencing

I guarantee you the future impact is there, and if you’re anything like me… you just may find it one day guides the work you do in your “dream job” in incredible ways.

Wherever you are in your entrepreneurial journey, don’t let your dream job kill your day job.

In fact, use your day job to build your dream job.

For those of you currently in your day job, looking to build your dream job, currently in a season of waiting… here are 3 tips on how to make that happen:

3 Tips on How to Build your Dream Job While working a day Job

1. List it: Make a list of everything you do in your current job… now write down one way every role in your day job will impact your dream job. This might be related to marketing, to workflow, to backend business management. It may even be that you’ll know how NOT to run your business. Write that down.
2. Hone the skills: The elements you know will make the biggest impact? Focus on those. Hone those skills. Take online courses now that will impact not only your dream job role, but also impact your current role while you’re at it. Might as well excel in your day job while building your dream job, right?!
3. Know when it’s time: Save every dollar you can from the day job days. Read Real Artists Don’t Starve by Jeff Goins. Prepare financially for when you’re ready mentally to make the leap… and know you’ll never be fully ready. At some point, you’ll just have to jump. And it will be a good thing. Do it gracefully from your day job… after all, they helped you get to your dream job. And then let yourself fly, always looking back to the skills and expertise you have gained in the day job days to be your encouragement that you can absolutely do this and you know more than you think you do. You are not am imposter. You have trained and learned and are growing. You are green, but not clueless. You are a business owner. You got this.