Clutch Magazine posted a great article about how to transition from a day-job to your passion.
I screwed this up last year and had to return to a full-time survival job; but next time, I'll be smarter, following these steps...
1. Find out what you love so much that you'd do it for free.
2. Set up consulting/freelance work based on your skills.
3. Free your mind from traditional opinions about the status of certain jobs.
4. Determine what your necessary expenses are and cut out non-essentials.
5. Make sure you have several different income sources.