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I know that my blog is not a place where I talk about my job or career ambitions, but I felt the need to share this today. I hope that it can resonate with a few of you. For me, healthy living is not just about eating right and exercising, it encompasses so many things. I am a firm believer that being your healthiest self requires a sense of fulfillment. Fulfilment with your relationships, your job and especially yourself.
For the last year or so I haven’t felt fulfilled. I have an amazing life in front of me but I just wasn’t making the most of it. Most of this stems from my lack of contentment with my job (I do brain imaging research on babies born preterm and sick) but slowly these feelings started to creep into other areas of my life. I spent far too much time complaining and not enough time taking action. There are some people in life who have it all figured out. They’ve known from birth what they wanted to do with their life, got into a good college, continued on their professional path and life plays out as they expect it to. I am not one of those people.
Unless being a professional figure skater counts as a career ambition I really had no clear life aspirations growing up. Like most people, I knew I wanted to be successful, but in what domain I really had no clue. In university I switched my major 3 times before finally settling on psychology. I really did love studying psych. I find people fascinating so learning why people act like they do was really interesting to me.
To continue in the realm of psych you have one of two options, more school or research. I was looking to try something new so I opted for the latter. First in New York and then in Toronto. In my brief stint of funemployment between NYC and Toronto I knew that going onto another job in research wasn’t the right move for me, but I am a practical person and employment meant more to me than passion. I discovered quite quickly in my current job that passion is necessary to not getting burnt out. I was lacking that key element and my motivation waned.
Despite my lack of enthusiasm for research, I have been fortunate to have incredible bosses in both of my jobs. They epitomize intelligence and work ethic and the passion I see in them is something I would like for myself. I’m just in the wrong field. Coming to that realization was easy, but making the change was incredibly difficult.
Quitting has a bad reputation. It’s viewed as giving up or throwing in the towel, but I really don’t see it that way. Sometimes you have to let go of things that aren’t good for you. This year I had to quit running, and you know what? Life went on. If anything I’ve grown from the experience. And that’s how I’m choosing to view quitting my job, as an experience from which I can grow. I see it as an opportunity to try new things, step out of my comfort zone and become a better version of myself.
So what’s next? A few things. First, I will be dedicating more time to Kewaza. I could not be more thrilled with this opportunity and am excited to be a part of a growing company led by an inspiring young entrepreneur. I also will be trying my hand at some catering. Clearly I love to cook and bake and nothing makes me happier than having people share in this goodness.
I also want to expand my knowledge of nutrition and have toyed with the idea of taking classes. I’m waiting to see how much free time I have in the New Year before I commit to anything. I have a habit of overburdening myself and I’m trying to avoid this in 2014.
And then there’s the blog. I’m not going to pretend like I don’t have aspirations for it. I love this little space of mine and I love being a part of the blogging world. I do not anticipate blogging ever becoming a full-time gig, but food props can get expensive so the pocket change I make from ads helps to pay for those. I do, however see it as a platform to many different opportunities that will hopefully present themselves along my journey. I do NOT blog for the money. Blogging is my release, it’s what I look forward to at the end of the day and has connected me to unbelievably inspiring and talented friends around the world. I could not be more grateful to every single one of you who shows up here everyday.
It makes me nervous that I am giving up a formal title for an unknown one. I’m no longer a research assistant and instead am becoming a trick of many trades. I’ve made peace with the fact that I don’t need to have it all figured out. I probably never will, but I need to try out many different things to figure out what fuels my fire. Because if not now, when?
I really like it when ppeople come together and share ideas.
Great blog, stick with it!
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In the midst of exams I missed this post so I am SO thankful that you put it in your yearly recap otherwise I’d be more than a bit behind on what is going on in your life. WOOHOO! I was waiting for you to decide that some change was in need. So proud of you for following your heart. Leaving Starbucks was beyond difficult for me in the summer because I a) Loved the discount b) Loved MOST of the people), (It’s probably not fair to make such a comparison given mine was part-time) but like you I was burnt out and it just wasn’t my calling anymore. Can’t wait to see what your heart has in store but I am glad that you found inner strength to follow your heart even if it goes against your plan/practical personality. 🙂
Oh GURL. This is something I struggle with DAILY. Sometimes I feel and worry that I’ll NEVER know what I want to do. I want to help people, but how? In what capacity? I feel like a bum when I come across people who’ve always known what they wanted to do and are doing it because I’m not one of those people. Sometimes it feels like everyone is passing me up and leaving me in their dust. And it chokes me.
From experience, I know how scary quitting can be. In general, change scares me. However, sometimes change is exactly what you need… we shouldn’t run from it we should run towards it because unfamiliar territory is where some of the best things tend to happen! 🙂
P.S. Kathy sent me, and I’m glad she did. 🙂
Oh honey! I am so SO proud of you! You expressed your feelings so well in this post…and honestly, I can say I’m right there with you on all of it. While I didn’t change my major in college (as that would have put me behind and I was bound and determined to be outta there in no MORE than four years), but once I FINALLY picked a major, I was just so focussed on getting my degree and getting my career that I never really thought much further than that. I’ve always been interested in biology and the medical field and I knew I didn’t have the stomach for anything that would involve blood and guts so I really thought imaging would be the perfect path for me. Don’t get me wrong, I like what I do, BUT…I don’t love it. I’m not sure what the future will hold for me…especially since I have absolutely no idea what I’d rather be doing, but I hope that once I find out, that I will have the same courage as you! <3
I am definitely passionate about health and fitness and know that eventually I may change careers to move into something within the industry but nothing has stood out for me enough to know exactly what I want to do yet. I’ve looked at courses too but I don’t know what I’d do at the end of the course enough to think it is worth completing.
I like my job but I don’t love it like I do health and fitness.
If you figure it out I can’t wait to hear about it but good on your for taking the first leap of faith towards your passion 🙂
And it certainly is a leap! Can’t say I have 100% confidence in myself but I knew I would regret never trying. I’ll let you know how it goes 😉
This is fantastic, Davida! I think it’s really common for us to not know what we’re going to really be passionate about in our work. I’ve taken several turns along the way too and it was so worth the risk! Who knows, in another 5-10 years I could go down a completely new career path and I’m open to that, too. It keeps life exciting and fulfilling!
IT totally keeps life exciting! Nerve-racking at times but I’m trying to live with no regrets and I know I’d regret never trying. I’m excited to see where both of us are in 5-10 years!!! Who knows, maybe I’ll be a mommy too 😉
HOLY SHIT!! What an AMAZING post!! I think you know by now a LOT of people our age are in this same boat. I haven’t even finished school yet because I was turned down twice by the dental hygiene programs I applied to (apparently my 3.6 wasn’t as good as a 4.0) I was upset for a bit, but then realized I don’t want to sit on my ass all day cleaning teeth..I have a passion for nutrition (oh hey twins!) and I now have all my stars aligned for whenever I feel ready to get back to school. Sometimes life has a funny way of working, and letting go of the career path I worked towards for five years was scary, but so liberating! Your new chapters sound so exciting, and I think you definitely made the right decision!! YOU GO GIRL!
YOU GO GIRL! It’s amazing how when you just relax about everything things start to fall into place. I know you’ll do great things and I can’t wait to keep reading about it 🙂
I think it’s SO brave that you’re doing this and following your dreams! I completely understand what you mean about not filling fulfilled! I love my job, but I’m not sure it’s something I want to do for the rest of my life. That’s why I’m going to grad school — I’m hoping that I can transition into another career!
Thanks so much Lindsay! I am constantly being inspired by people around me who are taking steps to go after their dreams. It was about time I joined in 🙂
Good for you for taking this leap of faith into the next chapter of your life!! Excited to find out what’s in store for you!!
I wrote a post titled ‘the first step is admitting there’s a problem’ about my career struggles….it’s tough to figure all of that out. I felt like I was working in the career I was passionate about, but not being respected or appreciated. It was tough!!! Wishing you luck on your journey!
On another note, I think I’ve read some of the studies involving those images!
Ah that’s awesome! My team does some pretty cool work, just not for me 🙂 Must check out your post!