"This job is crushing me. I want more freedom." he said.

On a recent trip to Tampa, I had a chance to meet up with "Alex," a friend I graduated college with.

In college we were a lot alike, but today our lives look dramatically different.

Today he has a stable job as a financial planner, makes $65-80k a year, gets 4 weeks vacation, and just proposed to his fiancee.

And overall he seemed happy.

But as we caught up about the major life changes and our adventures since graduation, I could sense he was holding something back.

Then he let is out:

"This job is crushing me. I want more freedom. Nick, how can I start working for myself?"

As we continued to talk I laid out the proven repeatable path to building your own consulting business.

The Repeatable Path To Success

Step 1: Start Consulting Today

The biggest advice I gave Alex, is to start consulting today.

Take the skills you already have from your job and start out as a freelancer.

This can be pro-bono or even low paying.

Your goal is to learn the true benefits you drive for others and how they value your work.

This phase is as much about understanding what type of work you want to do as it is about making money.

When you're first starting out, managing your own internal dialog is key because our subconscious is consistently telling us to "play it safe."

Posts on hacking your own psychology:

• How to tell if your business will be successful
• How to take control of your business and life
• How to avoid peer pressure

Step 2: Narrow Down Who Specifically You Serve

Once you've been freelancing a bit, take time to niche down and decide who you serve and who you don't.

Most new business owners aren't clear on who they serve causing them to flounder and market to everyone (a really bad idea).

Your goal is to get clear on who you serve as soon as possible.

Use these 3 guides to help narrow down exactly who your customer is:

• How to avoid problem clients
• How to effectively answer "So what do you do?" (backed by science)
• How to communicate your expertise without sounding arrogant

Step 3: Build a Runway and Start the Transition

Once you've got some experience and satisfied customers under your belt, start building a 3-6 month financial runway.

This will give you that will allow you to shift 100% focus to running your own business.

These 3 guides will help you navigate the main challenge you'll face in making your transition:

• How to create (and multiply) entrepreneurial luck
• How to ask for advice from a mentor
• How to create the perfect contact or "hire me" page

Remember: Mistakes = Tuition Cost

The biggest mindset shift I can challenge you to make is to begin thinking of your mistakes as part of your tuition cost.

Entrepreneurship is messy and the best way to learn is to observe other people's mistakes... and learn from your own.

Always on your team,