Most of you know by now that I’m pretty darn happy about the major career change I made about a year and a half ago. I often mention how thankful I am for my current work situation, but I haven’t posted much about how I planned for a career change in my 30s or how scared I was when I actually took the leap and left corporate America to join my husband full-time at our business.
You’ve heard me go on and on about how you shouldn’t take the easy way out when it comes to your training regimen or your diet. It’s become easy enough for me to take my own advice when it comes to fitness and nutrition, but recently I realized that I failed miserably for a long time at following this same advice {choosing the best path, not the easiest} when it came to my work life.
For nearly 10 years I worked as a marketing manager at various technology companies. Looking back, I only remember a few days when I felt happy and excited about what I was working on during those years. I’m not exaggerating; job satisfaction was pretty rare for me when I worked in Corporate America.
You may ask yourself why I stayed in an unhappy job situation for so long. At the time it felt like sticking-it-out as a marketing manager in IT was the easier route. I had a consistent paycheck, health insurance and paid sick and vacation time. When I look back now, I can finally see that I was afraid to be uncomfortable. I was scared to jump ship and start all over again.
I chose to “muscle-through” my workdays and I focused on living for the weekend. Boy was I was missing out! Let’s just say I can’t remember the last time I wished a day away. In my short time as a gym owner I’ve already experienced countless days where I am literally dancing and/or smiling ear-to-ear with excitement about my job and/or our clients’ successes. A client emails me saying she feels better than ever? Dance for joy! A new program fills up? Yippee! I’m all caught up on paperwork? Score! (Yes, I even get excited about paperwork being done now that it’s my own business.)
Despite the fact that I feel like I work every second of every single day, I feel incredibly lucky because I love what I’m doing and I feel fulfilled career-wise for the first time in my life. The line between my work life and personal life has become very faint, but fortunately I work with my husband so it works for us.
What area of your life do you find it hardest to take risks?
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