WHAT TURNING MY BACK ON MY CORPORATE CAREER FOR 6 MONTHS TAUGHT ME
I left my full time job in October and since then I have been on quite the adventure.
I knew I needed a break from my career - I had been working pretty much constantly since I graduated minus one 6 month travelling stint over 10 years ago. Work was quite intense and I just felt a bit tired of it all. I wanted to try something else but I didnt really have a plan. Since then I have done a bit of freelancing, launched my coaching business, had a good old rest and reset and found another job!
Here is what I learnt in this time:
You MUST listen to your body. When you’re body says no, don’t ignore it. The impact of this could be hugely detrimental. It isn’t normal to feel anxious, exhausted or stressed all the time and it’s up to you to take control to change this.
Your network is everything - my family, friends and corporate network have been incredibly helpful and supportive. It’s so important to reach out to connect and be open to opportunities. I will make it my mission now to always message back, connect and share support for people I see out there doing something different. The support can mean the world when you’re on the receiving end of it.
You have to believe in yourself and this is quite hard when you are stepping into the unknown and doing things for the first time. There is no boss or colleague to tell you the work you did was great so you need to do that for yourself.
Putting yourself out there is liberating! How scary it was when I first posted on Linkedin or my blog - worrying what everyone would think, how I would be perceived. Now it just feels so natural and normal and I don’t worry about what other people are thinking. As long as what I am doing is aligned to my vision and authentic to me then I’m posting it!
I miss a team, I miss going to an office, solving problems together, brainstorming, having a post-meeting debrief, coaching my team - I miss all of it. This was my biggest insight and helped me to realise I needed to be back in an environment where I could be with other people vs. wfh on my own.
I’ve launched something I am proud of; my coaching business and I passed my Optimus Academy coaching observation in February with Professional EMCC accreditation. Whatever happens I have this and it’s down to me how much I promote it etc. Knowing I have this feels amazing!
I gave myself the greatest gift I could have ever given myself with this time. I am now moving forward a new version of myself with a fresh perspective and an appreciation of so many things I took for granted before. More on that to come!