My Job Left Me So Drained and Hopeless That I’d Forgotten What I Loved and How I Wanted to Live
I’d spent years working at jobs with employers who had no loyalty to their employees, no compassion. I’d been making progress in my career, until the grant that funded the best job I’d ever had evaporated, and I, along with the rest of my team, was laid off. My infant daughter was eight days old when I got my pink slip. In no physical or emotional condition to do a concerted job hunt, I went, daughter in tow, to visit an old supervisor to see if there might be a job opening anytime soon. Turns out, there was. So when my maternity leave was up, I returned to a job I felt I’d outgrown two years before.
I immediately began to stagnate. I was terribly unhappy, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on why. I was bored, unchallenged. Eventually, I began to wonder why I was doing the work at all. It seemed to me that my entire life centered on meaningless, mind-numbing work. It was unfulfilling, and I wanted out, but I didn’t know how to do it. I didn’t even know what I wanted to do instead.
I had to force myself to get out of bed in the morning, and I was exhausted by the end of the day. I didn’t have the time or the energy for the people I loved after I got home from work. My performance suffered, and I wasn’t the person or the parent I wanted to be. I hit rock bottom when my husband walked out on the marriage. This only made my work situation even more unbearable, as my husband worked in the same building, and in the end, I lost my job just five days before my divorce was finalized.
I was in dire straits both personally and professionally, and I didn’t know what to do. It never dawned on me that there was an option other than getting another full-time job working for someone else, though I wasn’t eager to return to a work environment like the one I’d left. I eventually found work as a substitute teacher, which I enjoyed despite the low pay. Part of its appeal was the knowledge that every day was different, and I had a choice about whether and where I worked. Over the course of the year, I decided that I never again wanted to put myself in a position where I depended on someone else for my livelihood and that I just couldn’t subject myself to another soul-destroying, meaningless job. It was then that I knew I had to seek another path. To think outside the traditional job box.
I Found Another Way to Live, and My Passion Is to Help You Find Yours and Turn Your Dreams into Reality
I started by looking for work in which I could use my significant editing skills that would pay the bills while I got my own business up and running. I also sought out temporary jobs. My proudest moment on this path occurred when the temporary job that provided the bulk of my income came to an abrupt end, and I was immediately able to get enough contract work to make up the difference.
Having been through such difficult times and understanding the feeling of being adrift and unhappy in life and work, when I stumbled upon Valerie Young’s Profiting from Your Passions coach training program at ChangingCourse.com, I knew that it offered the perfect opportunity for me to help other people who are going through what I did. I wanted to help people avoid the paralyzing fear of believing that there are no options. You can find the work you love and design your life so you can fulfill your dreams for both work and life. And I can help you discover how to do that. I’m still working to design and live my ideal life, and I’d be thrilled to work with you if you have the desire to profit from your passions!
If you see some of yourself in my story and you want to change your life and your work, I invite you to contact me at info@LifesWorkInspired.com or 512.699.4286 to schedule a discovery call.
