Why did I resign from a secure 8 to 5 Career?

It was a remarkable career in government service that I enjoyed for almost 15 years—spanning various units and functions such as audit, business process, information technology and finally accounting and finance.

I did not wait for the completion of my government insurance which requires a full 15 years of service. I already have 12 years of regular employment (the first 2 years were as a job order employee) and would have to stick it out for 3 more years to earn my pension that would be given by the time I reach 60 years old.

I tendered my resignation from the government exactly 6 years ago by the time this article is published. I felt I could do more outside of employment and fulfill what I wanted to do, which is to set up my own business.

But hold your horses' people, maybe you are thinking that I would say I jumped straight into setting up my own company after resignation.

Nope, that is not what I did. I took up another job in the private sector. So why did I resign due to my entrepreneurial desires just to take a job in the private sector. Why did I jump from the government to the private sector. I should have waited for the 15 years of service to be completed first if that's the case.

Yes, what happened seems counter intuitive. Actually, what I did makes perfect sense for me because the job I took is "work from home". Before the pandemic forced people to work from home, I am already working from home. And I took this step of looking for a work from home job because I believe I could slowly setup a business identity by doing so, even if there are still no operation or client yet, just setting up the identity or papers of the business is an important step.

Fast forward 6 years, I had a sole proprietorship consultancy business at first, then incorporated a year ago. The incorporated business is into the development of online web platforms, IT services and consultancy.

It was five (5) years of trials and low revenue that is not really commensurate to the steady stream of income that I got being employed, before a faster business growth was achieved during the height of the pandemic which is kind of ironic. However, running a business fulfilled my desire to be on my own. It provided the possibility of greater growth both in personal development and financial potential.

There are still many challenges to overcome and new learnings and competencies to be developed in order to provide more value to clients. But the exciting part is the journey. You will never really arrive at a certain destination because the journey is actually the destination itself.

Thus, the reason I resigned, is to enjoy a chosen life journey.