Making the Transition

After repeated attempts at squeezing your square self into a round hole, you finally admitted it wasn't going to work. You said good-bye to corporate America and bravely embarked on a journey toward the greener pastures of entrepreneurship. You carried with you tons of tangible information-details on marketing, health insurance and places to find cheap office supplies. The one thing missing from your backpack was an understanding of the myriad of changes you'd experience as you made your way through this transition.

If you find yourself sitting in your office, blasting the stereo and fighting the temptation to surf the Internet until your eyes bleed, you're not alone. According to Manhattan psychologist Dr. Vicki Ianucelli, we are conditioned, from the time we first step foot in school, to function optimally in a structured environment, so the idea that you can actually ditch this kind of life isn't always top of mind. "In making the jump from a 9-to-5 job to trying to establish a business, you need to create a new reality," says Ianucelli. "That's very difficult."