![]() “Before he died, my plan was working: I was making more money and getting ready to buy bigger things.Īfter he died, the sustained growth in income was dwarfed by the growing fear that if I didn’t take action somehow, I was headed down the same path”įor me, I kept changing jobs every 18 months convinced I would shake this restlessness. Losing a job, facing a health crisis, losing a loved one or even having a child can inspire people to start looking for a new train of thought.įor David Vaucher, it was losing his father before his dad was able to fulfill his dream to retire in France: Others come face to face with their own restlessness in recovering from a crisis or major life transition. Many others describe it as a feeling of “low-grade anxiety” that they cannot shake. Khe Hy described this feeling of restlessness as a “pebble in his shoe” that he couldn’t remove. “it is a cry for something else, often the physical body’s simple need for rest, for contemplation, and for a kind of forgotten courage, one difficult to hear, demanding not a raise, but another life.” - David Whyte It took another couple of years for my imagination to be ignited in a way where I had the courage to take my first steps and now I’m committed to the journey and I’m not sure how long that will last until I decide to blow it up and head in a new direction… #1 Restlessness In my case I remained restless for almost ten years. These phases can last months or they can last years. How much money did I want to try to make? A Map For Navigating The Pathless Path Is this the map we are looking for?Īs I’ve explored what it means to be self-employed I’ve realized that many people progress through a series of four phases. ![]() Why was I so sure that self-employment was just about making money? Instead, I found myself staring face to face with uncertainties and questions. I imagined a smooth transition from executing on consulting projects for a company to doing the same on my own as a freelancer with a bit more flexibility. I underestimated the transition to self-employment. Not one that gives a perfect sense of certainty or comfort, but one that helps give language to feelings that are hard to name. While this question has no answer, I respond with what I know to be true: “I am following my creative energy and seeing where it takes me.” This tends to drive a lot of people who are deep into career thinking a bit mad.Īs I’ve spoken to hundreds of people that have been carving their own paths and researched how people navigate life and stay sane along the way, a new kind of map has emerged. Other people’s confusion with this fact comes out when people invariably ask “what’s your plan?” or “how’s business doing?” The next step being up, of course.īeing self-employed, there are no promotions or paths to judge yourself against. Here is what I wrote a year into it:Ī career is an artificial path which you must always manage, have a story for and be networking so that you can take the next step. The truth was I had no idea and it took taking the leap to self-employment to open my eyes. Self-Employment Opened My Eyes & Made Me Curious The scary thing is that I had almost started to believe my map was right.īefore I left my full-time job in 2017, I had the sense that things were going to be okay. In my grad school interview, I outlined a very specific plan that also happened to align with the goals of the program. In job interviews, I lied about my career path and intentions to stay at that company. ![]() ![]() It seemed that was what you were supposed to do as an adult. Over the past two and half years, I’ve been navigating unknown territory, grappling with the deep philosophical questions of how to live life, and wondering how my parent’s generation, the boomers, lived life as if they had a map.įor most of my life, I pretended I had a map. ![]()
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