Relying on yourself for your income is a double-edged sword. On one side we're in FULL CONTROL (no boss but me!). On the other, we have NO CONTROL (oh crap, I have to pay for this myself?!). 
But I'm here to tell you that life is like that no matter where you go. So why not LEARN TO SHOW UP FOR YOURSELF IN YOUR BUSINESS, doing the thing you love to do? 

And let me tell you, it was scary as all sh*t.  I was shooting any wedding I could get, for any client. I was also wearing golden handcuffs--the secure job with benefits and a pension--and it was comfortable. But I was miserable. 
And so, after DECADES, I walked my ass away from the office with a window that I HATED because the office symbolized all the dreams I kept in a box. 
Unfulfilled. Denied.
I finally admitted I was scared. Scared of scarcity. And scared of believing that what I had to offer the world was good enough.. 

I met a mentor who reminded me how to dream. She asked me, if I could do anything, what would it be? 
It broke my brain. The only 'dreams' I had were ideas instilled from a childhood raised in fear of failure and 'safe' jobs, that told me I had to trust someone else. That my dreams were silly. That I couldn't actually be a FULL TIME PHOTOGRAPHER for REALS.  I scoffed out loud at the inner voice that said I COULD MAKE IT as a photographer. 
I didn't even know what MAKING IT was. Because I hadn't allowed myself to dream it. 

My dog, Harlan

 I learned to stop trying to be like everybody else. I learned to be unabashedly me, to trust my photographic eye, and to stop doing the things I didn't believe in (hi, Instagram dance reels). This change translated into a CONSISTENT 6-FIGURE INCOME, and a deep satisfaction in who I was. 

When I realized my inborn beliefs were why I was unsatisfied living two lives, why I wanted to be like any other photographer but me, why I constantly undervalued my work and compared myself to others, I also realized I was the only one who could change it.