What's the first thought that floods your mind as soon as your alarm clock rings for work at 6:00am on a Monday morning?

It's safe to say that for most people, it's a feeling of utter dread. The start of a countdown till Friday night.

This feeling is staggeringly widespread too. A recent study found that 85% of people worldwide feel disengaged at work. 

But does this figure even come as a surprise?

In what seems like the wrong way of doing things, we're pushed into making life decisions from a very early age.

We're expected to commit to careers we know nothing about before we even understand ourselves enough to know our deeper purpose, talent or passion.

Couple this with the age-old mantra so many of us were conditioned by that we should "not set our goals or sights too high, lest we fail and end up disappointed".

We're told from an early age "not to dream too much"; that "money doesn't grow on trees" and that security means "having a 9-to-5 job".

From young adulthood we start being encouraged to conform and to be realistic. Self-doubt starts creeping in that many things are out of our reach in life. Challenges become scary and we slowly slip into our comfort zone, shying away from anything out of the norm.

We end up just drifting from day to day, stuck in the minor details. Never lifting our heads up to see where we're heading.

Never giving ourselves permission to dream big, set new goals, pursue ideas, push ourselves to change direction, create more success.

I realised quite a few years ago that I wasn't cut out for corporate life.

The thought of spending 40-50 years chained to the same desk, repeating the motions, boxed into a job description and slotted into a salary bracket made we want to curl up and cry.

I left Malta in 2009 to study in Switzerland, fuelled by big dreams of a luxury lifestyle and financial freedom.

What I went through was 6 years of job-hopping and job-hating. Bosses who never recognized my value. Long shifts, night shifts and boring shifts. Barely enough income to pay rent for my measly studio flat in London (the mice took up more space than me).

Like many people my age who started their career after the 2008 financial crash, I realised that even marriage and a mortgage were now pretty much financially unattainable.

But I knew I was meant for so much more, that there had to be more to life than this.    

So just over 3 years ago I took the leap. I'd seen a growing trend online of women who were starting successful businesses from their living room, in their pyjamas. I wanted to be one of them.

I handed in my resignation and walked out the door, ready to give my own dreams, ideas and ambitions a chance for once.

I had corporate strategy and marketing experience under my belt and a fire in my belly to do work I actually enjoyed.

The start was difficult. Being my own boss, managing my own schedule, overcoming tech challenges, reskilling myself and finding clients kept me busy 16 hours a day.

But I was doing this for myself, and with the vision that any income I made from my own effort would end up in my own pockets.

Within 18 months I had cracked the code. I was working with 3 clients earning 4 times as much as I had been in my corporate job.

Even better than that, I never dreaded Mondays and work didn't even feel like work any more.

I started working with a global online female entrepreneurship platform, creating training content for thousands of women from all over the world who were building the businesses of their dreams.

My mind was blown. I discovered the world of online entrepreneurship and quickly realised that with an idea, a wifi connection and a willingness to believe in yourself and take action - literally no level of success or income is out of reach.

My client herself started her online business from zero (an online membership site for female entrepreneurs) and has grown it slowly to over $2 million in annual revenue.

How many women in corporate ever hit the $2 million salary mark??

From women selling jewellery, to cat subscription boxes, to offering personal development coaching and sharing their knowledge through online courses... there isn't an online business I haven't seen. I've also seen countless women hit the six-figure income mark within a few months of pursuing their passion.

With the cost of starting a business lower than ever and the ability to reach a worldwide audience through the internet, the definition of what's possible for each and every one of us is being radically transformed and the glass ceiling is being well and truly shattered.

For the first time ever, we have a golden opportunity to become the architects of our own careers, the creators of our own success and masters of our own lifestyle.

The chance is now and the only thing standing in your way is simply your willingness to believe in yourself and give it a go.

If you're ready to dive deeper, I'll be sharing with you some of the best and easiest online business ideas in next month's blog that you can start with no money and no stock of physical products.

Jessica is a Business Strategist and Founder of Have It All And More, an online education platform and community for women who want to confidently pursue their bold business ideas. We help women turn their ideas into income, impact and the freedom they deserve, with a plan and a strategy to go from Square 1 to making Sales in 90 days. Find out more on: haveitallandmore.com and connect with me on Instagram: @haveitallandmore