How I Started My Career Transition

The first summer of the pandemic, I did a bunch of soul-searching. I'd just left a 17-year career and sought to figure out what I wanted to do next with my life.

My Type A self needed to see it mapped out so I listed out in Excel 🤓 all the things I could do next from the safest, easiest transition to the most adventurous (at least for me). I listed pros and cons of each, described in detail what I'd need to do to accomplish it (resources, education, network) and any action items to figure it out all.

This took time and there were moments I felt impatient and disappointed with myself and my process. I reached out to people in my network to learn and brainstorm, conducted online research to find out what I could to help me make a decision, and allowed the process to run its course. Thoughts of self-doubt, the what ifs, and the 'shoulds' inner voice naturally crept in. It took months to figure it all out but when I did, I felt more at ease and excited than I had in quite some time.

Throughout this process, I was reminded and still come back to the fact that it's OK to let things fall were they may as long as you put in the work. Change takes time and the space to allow the transformation to unfold. As long as you're nurturing the parts of you that make you light up, you can't go wrong.