While quitting your corporate job to work at a local small business for the summer and figuring out what path you want to take next is exhilarating and freeing, it is also overwhelming and daunting and a little lonely.
Don’t get me wrong, the summer of 2022 was definitely one of my favorite summers I’ve had. I worked my part-time job in the mornings, hung out at the beach in the afternoon, spent a ton of time with family and friends, and had all kinds of self-care time. The decompression time of the summer was exactly what I wanted and needed before I resumed my job search.
How opportunities can be overwhelming
Throughout the summer, I was presented with various corporate opportunities. While this sounds exciting and I am grateful to have friends and colleagues looking out for me and desiring to have me work at their companies, it was also overwhelming. I had had my mind set on my “summer vacation” to take the time that I knew I needed for myself, but I felt that if I passed up these opportunities that they’d be gone forever.
I had this fear that I’d miss the perfect opportunity but also had this fear that I would seize the wrong opportunities, and I definitely didn’t want to end up leaving a job after a short amount of time again. That was much of the reason that I wanted to take the time to assess my next move carefully.
As the summer wore on, I realized that my lack of enthusiasm to go back to a corporate job may not be just due to burn out. I had a few months of decompression time and was not enthused by the idea of going back to a more conventional job based on my background. I began to think that maybe I didn’t need to go back to the types of traditional jobs I had before and could find a way to comfortably support myself in more creative ways.
The possibilities seem endless
The possibilities of the number of corporate jobs available on the market had been massive and by removing the filter of just corporate jobs, I had just exponentially increased the potential career opportunities I could endeavor down. However, many of those non-corporate career paths would also generally be riskier.
I’ve spent months trying to figure out “what I want to be when I grow up” based on my experiences and schooling. While it’s exciting to have a blank slate, in some aspects it’s hard to know where to start but from another perspective it’s hard to pull yourself out of your pre-established views. What do I mean by this?
Balancing the universe of known opportunities with new perspectives
Saying it’s hard to know where to start is pretty self-explanatory. I’ve spent loads of time on freelance websites, LinkedIn, reading news articles, and talking to friends to assess all the options out there, but I know even that only scratches the surface. I’d learned that first hand when I started my project management role that I didn’t even know existed when I graduated college because I had no experience yet to have seen that type of role in action. I wouldn’t have even known to search for that type of role.
To that point, it’s important to pull yourself out of some of your pre-established views on the job market. As you’d expect, my search generally began by thinking of things that I could do with my existing skillset and experience. What could I do in the realm of program management, operations, etc.? This generally led to options like consulting, contracting, or taking full-time jobs at smaller businesses if I didn’t want to go to larger ones.
How I gained my new perspective and how I’m still learning…
Slowly, over time my view began to expand through the support of those around me. One of my friends suggested I consider making some money off of my writing. I love writing and have generally been told that writing and storytelling are strengths of mine. This idea excited me, and I started looking into it. I was so excited by the idea and of the stories that I’d heard of other writers that I decided I wanted to make a career out of it.
However, I must admit that even to this day, I’m still exploring my vocation. I know that I can balance a career in writing with other ventures if it excites me. Furthermore, I’m aiming to start a business with multiple streams of income in order to have financial stability and variety.
What this will look like in addition to writing for me, I’m not exactly sure yet. Most likely it will involve coaching, workshops, and/or speaking. Maybe it will involve outdoor adventures. What I’ve realized recently is that I can learn anything if I set my mind to it and need to expand my potential paths to reflect what lights me up, not just what I have experience or education in.
Feelings are all part of the process
While I’ve loved starting this blog and am in the process of writing my first book, I must say that the future is still scary and uncertain to me. While I’m working on self-belief, it takes time and effort to build a new career, especially as an independent entrepreneur in a new creative space. Furthermore, I’ve had to overcome a lot of societal pressures and the way I’ve been subconsciously groomed by society. I’ll talk more about my thoughts on this in next week’s blog.
Having to figure out what makes you happy, what you want to do with your life, how to make that happen, what resources to use, and also overcome the opinions of others and society is no small task. Not only is it a significant undertaking, but it’s not likely that you’re going to be surrounded by hordes of people going through the same thing.
While I’m aware that there are various viewpoints on the journey that I’ve been endeavoring down since I left my corporate job and began my clean slate, there are many lessons I’ve learned along the way:
1. Following your heart is both exhilarating and daunting.
While the public focus on following your heart is often on the positivity and excitement of it, it’s important to know that it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. It’s also a bit daunting, overwhelming, and uneasy. And it should be! It means you’re leaning into something with huge potential. If there were no resistance, everyone would be doing it all the time.
2. Exploration involves “flip flopping”.
This was a really hard one for me to learn at first. When exploring different opportunities and avenues, be it corporate or otherwise, I often had mixed emotions. During the research and exploration, I’d often change my mind.
The first couple of times this happened, I felt so stressed. I had already told some people which way I was leaning, and I thought they’d think I was crazy if I changed my mind. But I was just learning new information and imbibing new perspectives!
That’s what research and reflection is all about and that’s what I’d taken the time to do. Let me be clear that when I say I was flip flopping, I wasn’t signing a job contract and backing out or anything of that nature, so I came to realize that stressing about changing my mind on something I hadn’t fully committed to in the first place was part of the process and to be expected.
3. You can’t impress everyone.
No matter what path you decide to endeavor down, whether it be more traditional or more unconventional, there will always be people that judge your decisions and think you’re headed down the wrong path for whatever reason. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but when deciding how you want to spend your life, your opinion is the most important one. You are the one that has to live most prominently with your decisions. For each person that negatively judges your decisions, there are several other people out there that are inspired by your decisions.
If you’re feeling like this journey of embracing your authentic self resonates with you, I invite you to subscribe to my mailing list so that you never miss any valuable content or inspiration.
Disclaimer: This blog should not be construed as providing, or intending to provide, professional financial, legal, psychological, or other professional advice. It is simply meant to share my experiences for those that may find them relatable and helpful.