"I know what it's like to be that planner without a plan.”
"I know what it's like to be that planner without a plan.”
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I I had made it.
Flash back to just over ten years ago. I had worked hard and did well in school. I had graduated with an engineering degree from Stanford and specialized in decision analysis. I was a management consultant living in San Francisco. For my age, I was very well off: lived in a cute condo in Japantown, went out on the town every weekend, took annual vacations overseas. From the outside looking in, I should have been happy. But I wasn't. Earlier on in my job I was learning a ton, but my days were more churning than learning. I was burnt out by long days and nights of client work. I was uninspired by the projects I was assigned. With every day that passed, I could feel my future job opportunities narrowing instead of widening. I knew with every ounce of me that I didn't want to stay in that job. What should I do instead? I didn't know. I was the kind of person who was always on top of it, always had a plan. But for the first time in my life, I felt completely lost. Yet, in the midst of feeling lost, I made a crucial decision. I decided that I was not willing to settle for a job that paid the bills and made me miserable. That is not what I had worked so hard for. So, what should I do instead? To answer that question, I went through the same process that I now walk my clients through to get a clear picture of what I wanted and how to get there. Equipped with clarity, confidence, and a plan, I felt back in control of my career. After just six months, I successfully transitioned into a new job that I loved. It was everything I didn't have in my former job. Work-life balance, exciting work, and a new world of possibilities. Life was different. I felt different. Those around me took notice and asked me to help them navigate a similar transition. And that's how I began doing this work. Over the years, I've made a couple more career shifts, gotten my MBA from UC Berkeley, refined my process for navigating career pivots, and have shown hundreds of professionals how to resolve the question, "What should I do next?" I don't want anyone to have to feel as lost as I did. I know what it's like to be that planner without a plan. What it's like to feel guilty for being unhappy with a job that many others would love to have. What it's like to feel so alone because you have no one to talk to about it. But you aren't alone. I do this work so that you don't have to be. |
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