A life challenge — I decided to change my career
I’ve always longed to pursue something more fulfilling in my professional life, but I struggled to pinpoint my true passion. Instead, I found myself admiring those who had achieved the kind of life I aspired to live. I experimented with different activities like drawing and writing related to my supposed passion, but the lack of clarity on what exactly to focus on made these pursuits short-lived. I felt lost.
So was I lazy at my job? Absolutely not. I’ve always been a dedicated colleague and employee, giving my best in a career path I chose, yet I always had a nagging feeling — this is NOT what I want to do. However I’ve come too far to correct, and more importantly, I don’t know where to go next.
I’ve often contemplated changing my job or starting my own side business to quench my professional hunger. But not knowing what I truly want makes starting the journey seem impossible.
“Find what you love and just do it.”
There are thousands of motivational quotes out there about passion and career, but applying this advice is a different story, especially for those who haven’t had the opportunity of exploring possibilities in their life. Unconsciousness permeated my life, leaving me truly lost about myself and my path.
In the beginning of the journey of discovering my true passion, I actually didn’t know what to do. So I just started reading books like “Miracle Morning,” “Good Vibes and Good Life,” and “The Power of Now.” I delved into podcasts, TV series, and even had therapy sessions twice a week for almost two years.(Therapy — I didn’t start it simply because of the profession, will write about this in another post) It’s been an intense journey, and slowly, I started putting pieces of myself back together. It won’t be perfect, and it’ll be a continuous journey until I die — but I now have a clearer sense of who I am and what I’m seeking in life.
As I began this journey of self-awareness, I felt sadness and shame for my previous ignorance about life. It’s disheartening that, as a child, I wasn’t given the opportunity to contemplate my passion. I wondered, what if my passion is completely opposite to my current career? What if my lack of awareness led me down an entirely irrelevant path? Interestingly (or luckily), my current profession in the creative field aligns with where I want to be. I still need to evolve, learn new things, but at least, in the haze of ignorance, I somehow followed my passion naturally.
However, that doesn’t mean the journey will be easy. The field I’m trying to transition to is highly competitive. Even though I’ll remain in the same industry, the shift demands acquiring a wealth of new knowledge and summoning the courage to put myself out there. Essentially, it requires me to step out of my comfort zone, where I’ve unconsciously lingered with self-excuses.
I am about to embark on this challenging journey, and I will be documenting related stories here. I am genuinely excited about the personal evolution this journey promises, but it will undoubtedly be challenging. I still need to perform at my demanding full-time job. Thus it will require clever and wise time and energy management skills — areas where I naturally struggle. Saying ‘NO’ to unnecessary commitments is especially crucial for me, as I’ve been a typical ‘YES’ person to bosses, friends, and others. Managing my internal peace between professional and personal life, knowing when to run and when to pause, and cultivating patience will be vital skills in this journey.
So, let’s see where and how this journey unfolds. Excited to share challenges I will face and discuss over them and how I am going to go through them as well.
