Have you ever felt that you were stuck in a rut, that everything you were doing was rather humdrum and tedious and you rarely felt a spark of joy in your day? We’ve all had a day or two like this, haven’t we?
When we first began our careers, started living in a new city, entered a new relationship, we felt giddy with excitement – something new was around every corner. Now we can count the steps between those corners, the work doesn’t feel as exciting and challenging, and there’s just no pizzazz in our day.
What would it be like if we tried something new? Moved to a new city? State? Country? Tried a new way of working? Most people would say, “No, I can’t do that.” But what if someone said you could and you would thrive – you’d get that passion back, the wonder, the giddiness?
The first step is always the hardest, but can you imagine what’s waiting for you?
I recently had a chance to make a huge change. I had a small freelance firm with amazing clients, but my husband and I wanted to leave the city and move out to the mountains. It was so scary and exciting. I hemmed and hawed for several months and then the most perfect property became available. We saw it and made an offer the same day and then… We won the house (with 7 acres of land, a stream, a spring, all on a dead-end road in the foothills of the Blue Ridge)!
GULP. What had we done?!?!
Now I had to tell my clients that I couldn’t work with them anymore because, well, it’s about a three-hour drive back to our prior home county. There was no turning back now. I had totally committed. It was so scary to leave my clients behind because they had been a joy to work with and I didn’t know what exactly I would do once we moved to the mountains (Would I report? Would I only scope? Would I be retired?) but to paraphrase John Muir, the mountains were calling and I had to go.
I miss my clients and the familiarity of a city I lived in for 30 years, but the move has wrought such a positive change – we love our neighbors, we’re 20 minutes from a state park or a canoe put-in, there are hiking trails all over, and we have the chance to have a real garden. The quiet of the country and the ability to see the stars at night have brought us so much peace.
The work is different – scoping more than reporting, though I’ve been able to do a little bit out here – and the pace is slower. But the change in our attitudes has been nothing short of life-altering. We sleep better (no alarms), every drive to town is gorgeous and not full of traffic, and the stillness and quietude is soul affirming.
Join me and the Stenovate team as we explore the challenges of change and how we can make change a little less painful and develop a new paradigm for our working life. Please follow Stenovate at their website at https://stenovate.com/blog/ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Stenovate.
Close your eyes, take that deep breath, and make a change. It could be just what you didn’t know you needed.