Life handed me a surprise change in fate last week when my office announced a major reorganization and let a large number of us, including me, go.<\/p>\n
I’d been contemplating a job change for a while, since while what I was doing was interesting, it wasn’t what I was passionate about. But I was comfortable, I liked the people I worked with, and I was afforded enough freedom in the breadth and accomplishment of my tasks to keep me content, if not happy, so I didn’t pursue the hunt with much vigor, dismissing job listings frequently and applying for new positions rarely. Obviously that approach no longer works.<\/p>\n
In my better moments, I’m inclined to look at this change in fortune as an adventure: Who knows what the future holds?! There are a great many possible paths before me yet, and I am okay with experimentation. When traveling places in real life, I like to look at the big picture, plot a rough line to my destination, and then wing it, much to the frustration of those companions who prefer a plotted course. I figure that this jaunt to my next career will likely take a similar approach, and I am okay with that. <\/p>\n
I have some ideas about what I might like to do, but remain open to what the winds blow before me. I had an older coworker at one point who said you don’t have to figure out what you want to do when you grow up; you just have to figure out what you want to do next. I can do that. After all, I’ve just spent 15 years working on projects that I never would have chosen if left to my own devices, and I’m probably the better for it. And I have a healthy appreciation for the role of whimsy in decision-making.<\/p>\n
My current game plan is to divide my time up into thirds: a third will be devoted to job hunting, professional development, and other career-related tasks; a third will go toward getting our apartment cleaned up (because we were already short on space before I brought 15 years’ worth of odds and ends home from the office); and a third will go toward personal enrichment and mental health care, so that when I do find that next position I’ll be able to enter it as my best self.<\/p>\n
Obviously, though, if you can send some good thoughts my way, I’d appreciate that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Life handed me a surprise change in fate last week when my office announced a major reorganization and let a large number of us, including me, go. I’d been contemplating a job change for a while, since while what I was doing was interesting, it wasn’t what I was passionate about. But I was comfortable, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n