260. "Oh my God, I just killed my career!"
Exactly six years ago, I killed my career. It felt like I committed professional hara kiri, the Japanese ritual suicide by self-disembowelment on a sword.
Although I was pretty good at what I was doing (project coordinator / account manager) and brought a sizeable six-figure revenue to the company -- in fact, the boss of my boss wanted me to work for him, which would have put me on equal footing with my own boss, I felt there was no honour in my job.
The job itself is honorable, but I did not feel it was honorable for me because I felt I was capable of doing more with my career. So in a moment of blinding mental clarity, I called for a meeting with my boss, and gently announced my resignation.
That fateful Friday afternoon, as I walked out of the office for good, I look up at the cloudless blue sky where the sun was shining unusually bright, and whispered to myself: "Oh my God, what did I just do?! I just killed my career!"
Now that I look back, I realize I was unsually sensitive karmically speaking. I did the right thing by quitting a job where my heart and soul was not fully invested in (although my little brain did a pretty good job at it).
But my career turnaround decision is not as courageous as what Peter Drucker did at the beginning of the 20th century, when he quit his lucrative investment banking job to become a writer. He basically became poor overnight and engaged on an arduous path when he left his banking job, since writing in those days (or even now) is not a very profitable nor stable job.
Yet Peter Drucker has become the father of modern management, a super guru who has advised and still keeps advising (even after his death) people who care about management.
From my own experience and from reading about other people's experience, I conclude that human beings usually have two careers: the first one is one imposed by society or, to be more precise, one that we choose after we have been brainwashed by society into believing we should "get into this field or that field because that's where the money or opportunities are."
The second career, the true work we were born to do, usually comes in a moment of mental clarity as a person matures and realizes that a career is not just a financial instrument, but a legacy and a visible signature of who we truly are and what we are truly capable of achieving.
Today more than ever, with so many proliferating information and communications technologies, individuals have the power to design, shape, develop and accelerate their careers in a way that was not even imaginable a few years ago.
We can do so much! The only question is, Do we have the guts to walk the path that is uniquely ours? Do we have the courage to pursue our dream in this life? If not in this life, then when?
Although I was pretty good at what I was doing (project coordinator / account manager) and brought a sizeable six-figure revenue to the company -- in fact, the boss of my boss wanted me to work for him, which would have put me on equal footing with my own boss, I felt there was no honour in my job.
The job itself is honorable, but I did not feel it was honorable for me because I felt I was capable of doing more with my career. So in a moment of blinding mental clarity, I called for a meeting with my boss, and gently announced my resignation.
That fateful Friday afternoon, as I walked out of the office for good, I look up at the cloudless blue sky where the sun was shining unusually bright, and whispered to myself: "Oh my God, what did I just do?! I just killed my career!"
Now that I look back, I realize I was unsually sensitive karmically speaking. I did the right thing by quitting a job where my heart and soul was not fully invested in (although my little brain did a pretty good job at it).
But my career turnaround decision is not as courageous as what Peter Drucker did at the beginning of the 20th century, when he quit his lucrative investment banking job to become a writer. He basically became poor overnight and engaged on an arduous path when he left his banking job, since writing in those days (or even now) is not a very profitable nor stable job.
Yet Peter Drucker has become the father of modern management, a super guru who has advised and still keeps advising (even after his death) people who care about management.
From my own experience and from reading about other people's experience, I conclude that human beings usually have two careers: the first one is one imposed by society or, to be more precise, one that we choose after we have been brainwashed by society into believing we should "get into this field or that field because that's where the money or opportunities are."
The second career, the true work we were born to do, usually comes in a moment of mental clarity as a person matures and realizes that a career is not just a financial instrument, but a legacy and a visible signature of who we truly are and what we are truly capable of achieving.
Today more than ever, with so many proliferating information and communications technologies, individuals have the power to design, shape, develop and accelerate their careers in a way that was not even imaginable a few years ago.
We can do so much! The only question is, Do we have the guts to walk the path that is uniquely ours? Do we have the courage to pursue our dream in this life? If not in this life, then when?
posted by Super Peter at 10:49 AM
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