Hey y’all,

I know this a common one but I’m a special lil snowflake who thinks their situation is unique so please indulge me.

Tl;dr should I take a demotion in my current career to facilitate an industry change with more growth and earning potential?

I’ve been in retail since I could work so, 20ish years? I’m a store manager at a small format grocery store. Work 45-50 hours a week. Make 75k with maybe 2k in bonuses a year and 2-3% increases annually.

I am also a father of 3 with a stay at home wife who homeschools the kids and takes care of the house

Currently I’m working my job and gig side stuff like amazon flex and Instacart to make ends meet. Something needs to change.

I have been studying to get my first IT cert(comptia) and should be ready to test within the next month. I have family and friends in hiring positions at good companies(Zappos, Microsoft, Netflix, price Waterhouse) so GETTING a job when I’m certified to do it is not something I’m scared of.

But my current work schedule is so hectic it doesn’t support doing anything else besides gig work that’s flexible.

I will have an opportunity in January to step down to a position that’s 2/3 my pay. But it would be a steady schedule at 40 hours a week. My plan would be to get an entry level job that’s inline with my Comptia cert and work the two concurrently as I study for higher certs in order to obtain better jobs(6-12 months)

Currently I’m working 60-70 hours a week between the main gig and the side gigs. Long work weeks don’t phase me. The uncertainty, does though.

I would have to put in for this step down position at the beginning of december(it starts in January) and it would be before I get my Comptia cert. I could keep doing gig work to pad my earnings in between but it’s…scary.

My big question is…the scariness. Is that a sign that this is a good idea and I need to back myself and take a leap? Or a sign that I’m an idiot and need to create a more secure path.

Couple bits that help add context

I have 0 savings My wife working isn’t an option

Thanks for reading through, I appreciate your feedback and advice