Every single year of my life from kindergarten to 2014 has had structure. Kindy to Year 12 were structured by school timetables, and after school activities and then as i grew older, work. The two years after high school were structured by my work and study commitments, and last year I felt was my least "structured" year. I feel like instead of structured I should used the word controlled. Last year I felt I had the most control I ever had because I chose to work part time and the rest of the time I could do what I liked with. I decided to spend my time working on me. I would look at people living my dream and ask - what do I need to do to be like them? First, I noticed no one i personally looked up to became successful working for someone else. So part time, I started working on me, for me.

Last year was FULL of learning & experiences, I couldn't list it all if I tried. Lots of stuff about health, lots more about finances and the economy. I'd heard my mentor tell me and others how he decided to become an entrepreneur and his story at least 30 times. It was after he lost his job. I had heard him and multiple financial experts say dozens of times that the industry is changing, That job security doesn't exist anymore. I believe it myself. I believe that people are becoming replaceable - by technology & by other people willing to do the same job for less money. I believed the only reason job security doesn't exist was because we're replaceable. Anyone else can do that job just as well as I can, so the smallest mistake can lead to being switched for someone new.

I was never scared of getting fired, to be honest. I believe I have good work ethic, high morals and values and am always respectful and honest. I have an incredible relationship with my boss, it's just him and I in the office and we talk about everything. TV shows, latest trends, things that make us laugh, things that frustrate us - he's a super cool guy.

This one time he asked if I wanted to work full time, and honestly...I didn't. I was addicted to the freedom I had last year and working 3 days a week for me was the perfect balance of income and time (due to building up my income part time from home as well) so I said no. I told my parents and they were so concerned about this, warning that he could easily replace me with someone else - which was true, but I never thought he would, and if he did, I've always believed happiness comes first.

A couple of weeks ago my boss told me he had to let me go. Not because he found someone else, not because I didn't work hard enough, not because I did anything wrong at work, but because the lease is ending and he can't find another small office place he can afford. This is the shift in economy I had heard so many financial experts talk about. I feel so sorry for my boss. He has worked so hard and runs such an incredible business and this has to happen to him, he doesn't deserve it at all. The moment I was told I was getting let go was a huge moment of realisation that everything is changing.

This is my last week at my job. Im sad because I'll miss my boss and his family but Im so excited for the adventures and challenges to come. I'm so grateful for the choices I made last year because otherwise Id be back to the beginning...Handing out resumes and waiting for an employer to like the words he/she sees on paper which are supposed to somehow sum me up as a person & if they like what they see they get to determine what an hour of my life is worth. I'd much rather have my fate in my own hands than on a piece of paper in someone else's.

“The best way to predict your future is to create it.”

— Peter Drucker