Dear Diary: Adventures in Transitioning Careers after Job Loss

No really, I'm okay. Well, I will be.

Documenting my journey transitioning careers after job loss. This is going to get messy, a little vulnerable, and hopefully fun at times. Maybe it will even resonate or help someone a little down the line? In any case, thank you for joining me as I walk this path!

Dear Diary,

Hooooo booooy, what a week to talk about mental health, amirite?!? For context, it is Nov. 7, 2024. However you feel about it, I hope you're taking care of your body and mind. FWIW, I have found that volunteering or otherwise seeking to provide support to others can be deeply healing.

Last week, I laid out a bulleted list of what I wanted to discuss today, but am throwing it out and focusing exclusively on mindset and mental health. Mostly because they are interesting and on top of my mind, but also because there is no way I can talk about everything on that list within 500-ish words.

I still blew way past my (self-imposed) word limit. Sorry about that.

Mental Health

I mentioned in my previous entry that, after the initial shock and hurt of losing my job wore off, I began to feel excited. So that means everything was great from then on and I never had a bad feeling again, right? RIGHT??

Dear Diary, I wish that were true. I have had some dark moments. I am sorry to say that if you are ever in my position and lose your job for whatever reason, there are probably going to be some difficult times ahead.

Just know that there is hope. Even through pain, there is opportunity for growth and building resilience. You will get through this. There will be some moments when you're really not okay, but you will always be okay again.

What's that saying? "It will all be okay in the end. If it isn't okay, it isn't the end."

Like I suspect is true for many people, I have a well-curated list of unkind thoughts about myself just waiting for an opportunity to make themselves heard. And what better time than getting laid off for these guys to get some real attention? (Did I mention that I've personified these thoughts and picture them as little angry booger-looking monsters?)

To successfully move forward, I cannot give any space or justification to these thoughts. I used to believe that I needed to examine and process them, but I've come to realize they are actually more like weeds in my garden. All they do is suck up all the air and nutrients I need for the things I'm actually trying to grow.

One technique that has worked for me whenever I start to ruminate is to make A-Z lists. As in, "name as many fruits and vegetables as you can for every letter of the alphabet". For me, it's horror movies.

I have so many A-Z lists of horror movies that I am any goth trivia team's best friend. And when I'm alone with my thoughts these days, I'm less likely to indulge in self-doubt and more likely to think about how (as far as I know) the only English-language horror movie to begin with an "x" is, well, X.

Mindset

Have you ever had one of those epiphanies? A moment of stunning clarity that illuminates exactly what you need to do to navigate something you've struggled with? I've had a few in my life going back to childhood, but here are some more recent examples:

• In 2009, I realized that smoking cigarettes brought me more shame than pleasure. I made the commitment to quit and never pick it up again. My last cigarette ever was December 24, 2009.
• Sometime in 2014, I realized that it would be perfectly acceptable and perhaps even empowering and joyful to propose to my boyfriend, rather than waiting around for a ring. Our wedding was September 26, 2015. We just celebrated our ninth anniversary.
• Shortly after losing my job, it struck me: so much of our waking hours as professionals are spent at work. I did not want to spend another moment in a role that was no longer 100% working for me.

Look, work is work, and even if you really love what you do there are still going to be days or tasks that feel like a drag. There's no getting around that (at least I assume there's not getting around that. If you have found a way to make every second of every day enjoyable, please illuminate me ASAP!).

But at some point even before losing my job, I felt a creeping dissatisfaction that evolved into me spending every day trying to psych myself up to do the smallest tasks. I even researched mind hacks to try and "trick myself" into loving my work again.

Dear diary, if you had to guess, how well would you say that strategy worked out?

In my defense, I absolutely loved my workplace, a mission-based non-profit. I was proud to work there, and I loved both my colleagues and our customer base. I was not interested in working anywhere else, and figured I would stick with my current role until the time was right to pivot (hopefully within the same organization). Well. You already know how that worked out.

So add these to the epiphany list, and please excuse the language:

• The good thing about getting laid off is that you literally have nothing to lose
• As tempting as it might be to pursue another sales role as a stop gap, "for now" is no longer acceptable
• Basically any excuses I might make not to pursue this path are bullsh*t

One thing I hope you know about me by now after reading my first two big epiphanies, one of my core values in life is this: I mean what I say. When I say I'm going to do something, I do it.

When I commit in my heart and mind to do something, whether that's take better care of my physical health, marry the love of my life, or make an honest and committed effort to pivot careers, I am all in and there is very little that can stop me.

In fact, one of the reasons I am writing these articles and sharing my journey is an accountability measure. I didn't want to share publicly that I was even considering a career transition until I was ready to commit 100%.

Sharing my story as it unfolds means I am far less likely to respond to those recruiter emails with lucrative sales gigs piling up in my inbox.

Next up

If you're still reading, thank you for sticking with me. This was one of those messy, vulnerable things that sometimes feels like I'm supposed to keep close to the vest. At the same time, I am proud of the mindset I've cultivated and what I've already accomplished so far. Next week we can get away from some of this "feelings" stuff and go back to tapping my network and choosing the path forward.

For now, I'm going to go pick my son up from daycare and give him a couple of extra hugs.

-Sarah