Fired for “Crushing It”

About two weeks ago I finished reading, what is in my opinion one of the most motivational books ever, Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk.  Before I read this book, I was already blogging and getting after it.  I was working a 9-5 doing mainly affiliate program management, which is something that I love to do, but there were other things that took up majority of my time that I just couldn’t stand doing and was not passionate about.

After reading the book, I decided to take it to the next step.  I decided to blog more often, be active in more online communities, and just live and breathe my passion online.  I made the decision that I would not do anything for my passion during 9-5 while I was being paid by my employer, on their time I do their work, on my time I do my own.  I kept these two lives completely separate and never blurred the lines between the two.

During this same time, I started receiving more phone calls and e-mails from people looking for outsourced affiliate management, or PPC management or social media consulting, so I was really starting to cash in on my passion just like GaryV suggests.  My employer could not see the difference of working on their time and doing my own work on my own time.  They had the lines blurred.

Earlier this week, I had received the notification that I was no longer needed for that employer.  Now, it was clear and obvious the reasons that I was fired.  I was crushing it on my own time and the employer didn’t have an open mind and did not like it one bit.  I was fired for Crushing It.

For those of you that are also looking to crush it and cash in on your passion, make sure that you are working for an open minded corporation.  If your passion involves doing something or reaching out to some of the same people that you use during your day job, then that is something that you may not want to do, as there is a conflict of interest there.  But if your passion is not what your day job is and you are not doing it on company time, then what you are doing at home is your own business, so if your corporation is close minded, this may not be for you.

If something like this does happen to you, don’t sweat it, don’t let it stop you from crushing it.  In fact, I have been crushing it harder because now I have the additional 9-5 hours to do what I love to do.  I have been able to spend more time with clients and cut down original deadlines.  You may be asking why I don’t just crush it full time, well there is one big main reason, I am diabetic.  Since I am diabetic, I need to have health insurance and with diabetes, it is nearly impossible to get private health insurance because of the pre-existing condition.

So, when I do look for my next employer, I will look for a job doing something that I love and love to wake up in the morning to go to work and just get after it.  I do obviously have to make sure that the health coverage is there.  So having diabetes forces me to continue to have to crush it after I finish my “day job”.

To end, I want to thank Gary Vaynerchuk for writing this book.  Between Trust Agents and Crush It, these books have completely changed my life in a positive way.  Chris Brogan influenced me to become more involved.  Gary V then pushed me to be involved for about 10 hours a day.

If a situation like this has occurred to you as well, please comment and leave your story.