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I realize that I’m writing, without intending to, on the two-year anniversary of having quit my “terrible-awful-no-good-very-bad” desk job. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
I’ve written before about quitting my job without a solid plan. And now, I want to share what I wish someone had told me two (and three, and four) years ago when I was clamoring to quit but had no idea how to do it, or what I would do once I actually quit:
Stop trying to think your way out of this job.
Do you know what I had been doing, day after day, sitting at my desk? Agonizing. Thinking. Worrying. Crying. Panicking. Moping. Complaining. All of it in an endless loop, playing over and over again, every day.
I was waist-deep in the fallacy of believing that if I just “thought hard enough” about my situation, that some magic form of enlightenment or inspiration would hit me and (Tada!) everything would be splendidly clear.
I was completely wrong.
But thankfully, life had its own plans for me. Even though I quit without a solid plan, and without really knowing what I wanted to do, I stumbled on to the right path and ended up figuring it out (even though it took me years longer than it should have).
What I had accomplished by quitting, without meaning to, was breaking the endless loop of thinking and wishing and agonizing. I had taken action. And even though it was far, far from perfect, it was movement. When you’ve been stagnating for a long time, even stumbling forward counts as forward movement.
But I don’t want other people to have to stumble, and call it action. I’d rather people make a solid plan and take action that makes sense for them. I want them to stop waiting for the loop to break, and go break it themselves.
As a coach, I don’t typically give a lot of general advice. I think it’s more powerful when people get feedback that’s very tailored to them. But I’ll give two pieces of advice to you now, anyway, because hearing it at the right time would have helped me tremendously. Maybe it’ll help you, too:
Get off the fence:
Do something. Make a choice. End the status quo in your life by changing something about your pattern right now. Enroll in that class. Read an inspirational book. Look in to your options. Stop trying to think your way into a solution, get off the fence, and make a decision.
Back that action up with a plan:
Taking action is phenomenal! But after that, your action has to be consistent if you expect it to take you somewhere. You’re going to need a plan for how the action you’re taking is going to deliver you to your destination. Otherwise, you’ll be taking vague steps that may or may not be moving you forward.
You can waste years of your life (trust me, I have!) waiting for inspiration to hit, or trying to think your way out of a lousy situation, when all along you could have realized that taking action is what allows inspiration to show up.
I wish, wish, wish I had known how to figure out what I’m passionate about, make a solid plan, and take action that’s right for me to get there.
That’s why Kristen and I were inspired to create a new coaching program, which we are finally ready to introduce to you, after weeks of kind-of-sort-of hinting about it:
The Passion Plan: Escape Your Job, Find Your Life
We made this for people who are thinking, “I know what I don’t like, but I don’t know what I’d rather be doing,” and/or “I have an idea of what my passion is, but I don’t know how to get from where I’m at now to feeling free.”
It’s a combination individual and group coaching experience that lasts for 3 months. The best part: You can enroll with a friend (or you know, maybe a fellow coworker experiencing their own cubicle panic attack), and you’ll both get $200 off the total price.
Enrollment officially opens on May 20th and closes on June 3rd, but we encourage you to get more details and apply to secure your spot right now during our pre-enrollment.
So, back to you: How are you going to answer the call to get off the fence and take action (any kind of action)? Leave a comment below to let us know!
Much Love,
Rachel (& Kristen)
