I wish I could claim to be super-duper smart, but I’m not. I am, however, fortunate enough to see myself as pretty much the same as most everyone else–which means I recognize that I’m likely to wind up in the same situations as others, unless I intentionally do something different.
Over the past few years, I’ve learned a lot from my friends’ experiences. Some have gone through really tough times, where they’ve lost a great deal. One thing I found, in just about every situation, is that the amount of “damage” done could have been significantly reduced, had problems been addressed right away. In some cases, it may very well have been possible to walk away virtually unscathed. But, this is much easier said than done.
Often, people become so overwhelmed by a problem that they can’t think clearly nor act swiftly. The longer they wait, the fewer their options. Sometimes people wait until they haven’t any options left, leaving their fate up to someone else.
If I wanted to not only get through this situation, but emerge as the butterfly I dreamed myself to be, I knew I couldn’t afford to throw myself so much as a 5-minute pity party–lest I run the risk of unwittingly getting stuck there.
Instead, I starting thinking about what I might like to do next. I didn’t think about it in terms of specific job titles or career fields. Rather, I approached it from the perspective of the things that are most important to me. Many of my previous jobs gave me a good idea of what I didn’t want, so I flipped that around and found there were 4 things I really wanted:
- To work for myself
- To be out “in the field” (not stuck in an office behind a desk all day)
- To travel internationally
- To do something meaningful, something I truly care about
Then I started thinking of possible occupations that offered these things. I also thought about things I could do to develop skills and get experience in areas I was lacking.
All this thinking took place during the hour-plus drive home. (Well, actually back to my Aunt’s house. Click here if you’re interested in the “backstory.”) When I finally reached my Aunt’s, I hopped on my MacBook and went straight to Indeed.com, to see what jobs were out there.
And that’s when the tears started.
I could care less about the job I’d just lost. The thought of going back to a traditional 9 to 5 was worse than being fired! I just couldn’t stomach it.
So I switched gears and started scoping out schools (perhaps I could get funded to study full-time) and volunteer opportunities (something to keep me busy, until I figured out my next move).
Within a couple of hours, I had a to-do list of things to look into. I had no clue where I was ultimately trying to go, but at least it was a start.
Monday Morning Margarita 