At first I thought I was going to do freelance work, but the longer I didn't start doing that the more I didn't want to do it. So after a year or so of playing with new tech and starting several personal projects which didn't turn into viable businesses, I began making some money with a website.
Because that profitable website and others I built afterwards weren't actually that profitable, 2 years after I quit, I had to do some freelance work to not run out of money. I had to do 3 years of small freelance gigs while growing an online business. So for me it was 5 years before I could pay myself without having to sell my services.
Not knowing from the beginning what I really wanted to do cost me 5 years of, let's say, austerity. Never really had any financial problems during this time, but I also wasn't comfortable applying for loan to buy a house.
I don't want to offer any advice, just share a personal story which might be relevant.