Such an odd feeling

Over the past few months, I’ve been interacting with lots of folks who are either in job transition, contemplating resignation, or in the midst of chaos but not yet ready to let go of a no-fit job. The emotions are varied and often covered up, because we all process in different ways and on different timelines.

The insecurity can be tough. At least in a job you have some stability, a place to hang your hat, a paycheck, and for some, an identity. However, at this point in time, jobs do not really offer that much stability, it just feels like it. We stay because the known is safer than the unknown.

I’m only a few years away from collecting a pension. Due to that, I was trying mightily to stay in a job that was not using my strengths in ways that allowed me to thrive. And darn it, since I do trainings on wellbeing and happiness, I knew – I knew! – nothing was likely to change that would allow me to thrive. Leaving was the only remedy, unless I wanted to just stick it out until 2025.

Not to blow the ending, but I didn’t stick it out. The self-talk every morning of “only two and a half more years,” became inauthentic to what I know about strengths and thriving. More importantly, it conflicted with how I want to show up every day.

In her book Resonate, Nancy Duarte talks about identifying what is and what could be. The context she uses is from a storytelling perspective. But it also works in life – we know and perhaps even feel safe in what is, until we get a look at what could be.

Sometimes called a new reality, we have a very tough time moving out of the familiar – until – we see what possibilities lie ahead. Once we see them, we want to move forward. Each at our own pace and in our own way.