"Real Steady" doesn't necessarily mean "9-5".
Many like myself, work a steady gig as in-house FT employees at a facility -
road house, production company,
etc... but work wacky hours. In some cases it's a steady check as we (me) might be salaried. Others might be hourly but guaranteed a minimum salary. Still, those wacky hours.
I've only recently (past 2 years) transitioned to a more regular 9-5 type schedule as our roadhouse undergoes renovation. On one
hand I like it as I see my wife both days on a weekend, as well as can schedule activities with friends who also have weekends off. OTOH, I used to do 12-18 hr. days on weekends, with much better car commuting times, and then had 3 days off starting Monday. I liked some of that aspect. Now I spend at least 11-12 hrs. commuting per week, that's much more time sitting in a car and sucks.
I got this particular job by responding to an advertisement in "Backstage Magazine" a few decades ago. It's an odd-ball tenured technical position as head electrics/
Lighting Director at a producing and rental theater. Thus the long hours at times, but it has great benefits and a pension that I will be using in not too many years. Outside of becoming a member of
IATSE, you have few choices to make it
thru a lifetime career - full time academia either teaching or technical,
IATSE, or a shop/production company that needs FT.
In my experience, being a non-union freelance technician will not A) Give you a retirement pension unless you are very, very astute with what you do with your money, B) Cost you for medical benefits, C) Make it hard to do the "American Dream" things like buy a
house, raise a family,
etc.... there's just too many variables to make those 2 things possible. Medical insurance that you pay out of pocket for 100%, for a family, is just too expensive to try to
cover on non-union pay. Add a mortgage (if you can get one) and it's really, really difficult.
So in answer to how to transition to 9-5. It's easy. You just do it 'cause it's a steady check. Period. If you want to make it to retirement at age 65, you just do it no BS. And as note, 65 as a goal is a tough goal as this is a business that is hard on the body. I've too many colleagues with many, many health issues. Bad shoulders. Bad hips. Torn tendons
etc... in wrists, arms, knees,
etc.... bad ankles. Bad knees. Diabetes from too little exercise combined with bad diet resulting from schedule and eating habits that the odd schedule aggravates.
This thread comes to mind
https://www.controlbooth.com/threads/drill-recommendation-for-aging-tech.45395/#post-397136