22 min
Issue #9: Quit Your Job. Travel The World. Never Look Back. Going Places
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- Self-Improvement
Dear friends, welcome to Ad Astra. It’s so good to have you here and thank you to everyone who’s joined us since last week.
We’re two months into this newsletter journey! It makes me so happy sharing everything I know on the subjects of creativity, pursuing your dreams, becoming a professional storyteller, and living boldly — thank you for giving me this opportunity, for tuning in, and for providing such kind feedback.
Today I’d like to dig into a subject that seems to be quite popular with many of you: quitting your job and taking a plunge into living your life a little bit — or a lot — differently.
I’m going to share with you the exact path I took to get where I am today. I hope that it inspires you to make some changes or start making plans to change your life for the better.
First, a little bit of housekeeping. I got a new, better microphone, so if you prefer hearing stories rather than reading them, check out the audio file. (It should be much better than when we first started!)
Today’s issue is a bit longer than usual. Alas, quitting a job is a big topic.
Alright, let’s get started.
Part I. The Breakdown.
In the Fall of 2015, I was miserable. By all external marks, I had “made it.” I was a brand manager in a top global corporation. I earned a six-figure salary and rented a beautiful apartment on Upper West Side in Manhattan, a dream come true.
But every night as I came home from work (usually around 9 or 10 in the evening), I cried in my pillow. I worked all my waking hours, nights and weekends too. Most of the time, I felt like a zombie, tied to my laptop, praying to the holy trinity of the early twenty-first century — Email, Powerpoint, Excel.
I felt like I had no right to feel bad about my predicament. Yes, many people don’t enjoy what they do, but that’s why it’s called a job, right? And wasn’t I living in the best city in the world? And what if all I saw of it was a rush-hour subway disaster? And what about all that money I was making, the first in my family to ever do so?
I was an immigrant coming from a poor background and it was especially difficult for me to admit that the summit I’ve reached, with my MBA and a cushy salary and stock options and a nice title, turned out to be full of empty words.
So I drudged on, dying a little inside every day. I kept telling myself all the things we tell ourselves to get through our work week. I lived in a constant state of slumber, barely waking up on the weekends, only to return to the dead zone come Monday.
Honestly, I was a wreck.
I saw no value in the job I was doing (“hey, let’s sell another widget to consumers #becausecapitalism makes the world go round!”) and I didn’t know how to get out. Worse, days turned into weeks, weeks turned into years, and a sinking feeling was filling me up with cold sweat: this could be it. This could be my life.
The status quo would probably go on forever… but the absurdity of it finally got to me. I started having issues with my back, no longer able to sit at my desk in the office. My body was smarter than I was and it began giving me signs that something had to change.
Looking back now, it seems as if everything that happened to me that fall was smartly designed by the universe. As my back gave in and I reached burnout, the brand I was responsible for hit rock bottom after years of sales declines. Then one day, just like that, I found myself no longer employed by the company I worked for.
This was my ticket out. I could chalk it up to ‘bad cultural fit’ and get right back into the game. My new gig was only a recruiter’s call away.
But I didn’t call a recruiter. Instead, I decided to use this as an opportunity to explore what else in life is out there.
Insights for you:
I realize that unless I reached this very low point, I probably would not have made this jump. That’s just the reality of how humans behave. We avoid risk at all costs, even if the “safer” status quo i
Dear friends, welcome to Ad Astra. It’s so good to have you here and thank you to everyone who’s joined us since last week.
We’re two months into this newsletter journey! It makes me so happy sharing everything I know on the subjects of creativity, pursuing your dreams, becoming a professional storyteller, and living boldly — thank you for giving me this opportunity, for tuning in, and for providing such kind feedback.
Today I’d like to dig into a subject that seems to be quite popular with many of you: quitting your job and taking a plunge into living your life a little bit — or a lot — differently.
I’m going to share with you the exact path I took to get where I am today. I hope that it inspires you to make some changes or start making plans to change your life for the better.
First, a little bit of housekeeping. I got a new, better microphone, so if you prefer hearing stories rather than reading them, check out the audio file. (It should be much better than when we first started!)
Today’s issue is a bit longer than usual. Alas, quitting a job is a big topic.
Alright, let’s get started.
Part I. The Breakdown.
In the Fall of 2015, I was miserable. By all external marks, I had “made it.” I was a brand manager in a top global corporation. I earned a six-figure salary and rented a beautiful apartment on Upper West Side in Manhattan, a dream come true.
But every night as I came home from work (usually around 9 or 10 in the evening), I cried in my pillow. I worked all my waking hours, nights and weekends too. Most of the time, I felt like a zombie, tied to my laptop, praying to the holy trinity of the early twenty-first century — Email, Powerpoint, Excel.
I felt like I had no right to feel bad about my predicament. Yes, many people don’t enjoy what they do, but that’s why it’s called a job, right? And wasn’t I living in the best city in the world? And what if all I saw of it was a rush-hour subway disaster? And what about all that money I was making, the first in my family to ever do so?
I was an immigrant coming from a poor background and it was especially difficult for me to admit that the summit I’ve reached, with my MBA and a cushy salary and stock options and a nice title, turned out to be full of empty words.
So I drudged on, dying a little inside every day. I kept telling myself all the things we tell ourselves to get through our work week. I lived in a constant state of slumber, barely waking up on the weekends, only to return to the dead zone come Monday.
Honestly, I was a wreck.
I saw no value in the job I was doing (“hey, let’s sell another widget to consumers #becausecapitalism makes the world go round!”) and I didn’t know how to get out. Worse, days turned into weeks, weeks turned into years, and a sinking feeling was filling me up with cold sweat: this could be it. This could be my life.
The status quo would probably go on forever… but the absurdity of it finally got to me. I started having issues with my back, no longer able to sit at my desk in the office. My body was smarter than I was and it began giving me signs that something had to change.
Looking back now, it seems as if everything that happened to me that fall was smartly designed by the universe. As my back gave in and I reached burnout, the brand I was responsible for hit rock bottom after years of sales declines. Then one day, just like that, I found myself no longer employed by the company I worked for.
This was my ticket out. I could chalk it up to ‘bad cultural fit’ and get right back into the game. My new gig was only a recruiter’s call away.
But I didn’t call a recruiter. Instead, I decided to use this as an opportunity to explore what else in life is out there.
Insights for you:
I realize that unless I reached this very low point, I probably would not have made this jump. That’s just the reality of how humans behave. We avoid risk at all costs, even if the “safer” status quo i
22 min