How Riding The Waves of a Career Change In The Midst of A Pandemic Lead Me To Serve.

This article is for those millennials who are struggling right now.

In 2019 at the age of 30, I chose to leave an industry and a professional career in technology development and investment to follow my passions in surfing, yoga, travel and wellbeing. What could go wrong! I’m sure you can see where this is going.  

The nature of my career change meant there was no gradual departure, part-time transition or nest egg tucked away to manage those rainy days. It was a handbrake maneuver and a rip the bandaid off, cold turkey exit. 

Leaving the world of private equity, startups and tech dev all to pursue the sought after “lifestyle dream”. The reason I got into startups in the first place was thinking it was the vehicle to that dream, it wasn’t. In fact, it was the opposite but my personal wellbeing practice kept me afloat. 

It became clear that the life path ahead for me was driven by my ambition and my ego, not vision, personal truth and an inner alignment. The difference being, ‘vision’ is what you want for yourself and others, with ‘ambition’ just being oneself. 

Full respect to anyone who loves their role in that space. I have many friends making an impact and paying it forward there but it just wasn’t for me. Square peg, round hole kind thing. 

Knowing this I started flirting with my heart, listening to my passion and exploring the possibility of what life would look like if I followed my dreams. 

How could I do that and make a meaningful and fulfilling impact in the world?

The steps unfolded and I gained the qualifications to become a yoga teacher, a kids yoga teacher, a life coach, a surfing instructor and a meditation teacher. All while jumping back in the hospitality sector, something I had done nearly a decade prior. 

Then the opportunity came, to become a yoga and surfing instructor in a beautiful resort in the Maldives from October 2019 to March 2020 (surfing offseason). “That’s me!” I thought and I jumped at it. Having set myself up to be able to take an opportunity like this in a moment's notice I was ready. 

I handed back the keys to my Manly apartment, left my job and jumped on a plane. The intention I set in making my own ‘hero's journey’ was to recalibrate my entire life and reinvent myself. 

What follows may sound strange to many of you, but the perspective and intention I held really did change my life. It also lead me into my purpose of service.

The reality I created in my mind around this change was more of an initiation. It was not just a simple career change. For me it was a metaphysical ‘portal of change’ that I was entering. 

One in which I would gain “20/20 vision” for my life, by “returning to my center” represented by moving to the equator of the earth, on an island 10,000 kms from home. 

Somewhat of a sabbatical hermitage to live autonomously in a new life path. In doing so I could explore myself more deeply and express myself authentically.

What other people saw as a ‘quarter-life crisis’ and the dramatic pendulum swing of ‘burn-out’ I saw as a chance to rewrite my story. That is exactly what I did.

Little did I know that the depth of intention I carried to an island, the size of 6 football fields and surrounded in every direction by coral reef, was a seed that would sprout in the most unusual conditions.

After four months of living it up on a resort, snorkelling the reef, riding the jet ski’s and fraternising with the guests, being the “Aussie surfing yogi” I felt it was a mission accomplished. 

Successfully managing a surf resort in the offseason only to hand the office keys back to the crew that were arriving to see out the rest of the surf season. 

However, two days before my flight was scheduled everything started to close down. It became clear that the window to head home was becoming increasingly difficult. I had two options.

Do I race the gauntlet and maybe make it home amongst the panic, on a string of returning routes closing by the day, or do I lean into this and see what unfolds?

Fortunately, I was able to stay and in exchange joined a skeleton crew of staff that maintained the island resort with no guests. Daily activities include raking the coral and maintaining the coconut trees before having the remainder of the day to myself. 

Almost six months later and I am still here. Having intended to be away for four months it’s rapidly looking like a year before I can return home. With flights booked for September we shall see what unfolds. 

I am so incredibly grateful for the company I was contracted with and to the resort for allowing me to stay. No one is isolated from suffering, not even on an island. I have so much compassion for those in despair at this time, it’s devastating.

Since being away from Oz, from the fires until now, I have had friends businesses go under, people fall sick to the virus and I know many others are struggling with their mental health. Something we are yet to see the full impacts of, in terms of isolation.

Since being here my brother has had his first child, turning me into an uncle, and all I can do here is savor this strange time in history and use my time meaningfully.

Since I was no longer able to serve any clients face to face I created a business online supporting people with meditation, yoga, and life coaching services. My career in virtual wellbeing started to take shape.

Specifically, I work with Millenials who are the ones struggling the greatest right now. Most people think they are the ‘entitled generation’, but it’s actually the forgotten generation.

Statistically, millennials are the generation experiencing the greatest levels of distress, more than any other generation in history. Which is insane considering the events we know happen in history.

Yet, there is something about the resilience of millennials that are struggling to adapt. The issues of mental health, anxiety, stress, burnout, and the sense of hopelessness are rampant in this generation.

Millennials came of age and joined the workforce during the GFC as a result their careers were stunted. Something that carries the scars with them through their entire professional career. Now, at the time of their peak earning capacity, when the baton is meant to be passed down from the boomers and Gen Xers, they are hit with a pandemic. 

I’ve spoken to so many friends who have crazy student debt and are on the ‘just over broke’ cycle of working multiple jobs and side hustles to pay off the rent. Those who managed to remain employed don’t think they will ever afford a home or have a strong retirement fund. 

They feel blocked from growth opportunities, deflated, and trapped. With many of the ones who started a business hitting the walls the hardest with this situation. There is a common consensus among millennials that the world is not worth bringing children into.

To me that is insane, to have an entire generation deflated and on the sidelines is a tragedy.

This generation was meant to be the ‘game-changer’ generation, the ones that changed the status quo from inside the system to make way for the upcoming generation.

With all of the expectations met that they were told to meet, many have come to feel that they were jibbed and are checking out of life. Checking out with addictions, substance abuse, depression, anxiety and are just not fully engaged in life. 

It’s been confronting to see this unfold from the comfort of an isolated patch of sand. The world I left is gone, combined with the role I played in it too.

 It’s becoming clear that during times of crisis there is so much opportunity for service and support. Wellbeing regardless of your financial situation should be something each person can manage themselves. It is something we have the right to own and control ourselves.

This is what I teach, basic mindfulness and wellbeing tools and techniques that are needed now more than ever. Although my personal belief system is one of faith and not religion, I know there is a Greater Intelligence to Life.

This Greater Intelligence makes itself known to each of us when we go within. When we soften and seek nourishment. This inner knowing and language of wellbeing is what has helped me throughout my life and is what I am offering others.

I have created a series of free courses, free guided meditations and resources on my site. I’ll be launching a powerful program shortly that distills everything I have learned into a step by step wellbeing system. 

All designed for people seeking to strengthen this inner connection. 

I don’t know what the future holds but as a surfer and a yogi I know that all I can do is get myself into position, trust myself, and the divine mystery to ride through it. 

If you know anyone seeking this kind of support please feel free to subscribe to www.hartspace.org and join our weekly wellness community updates.

Feel free to share this message to a wider audience.

In Greatness and Responsibility,

Alistair Hart

Love from 3°54'13.1"N 73°28'25.9"E