In lawyer mode - life will change...
Today is my one year anniversary of quitting my “good” job. It wasn’t only my job that I quit but my entire 13 year career as a corporate lawyer. Why did I take this step to quit what some would see as a good job, especially when we were in a recession?
While my legal career had been fantastic in many ways; working with and for some fantastic people, being involved in challenging international business deals, having dinner in Edinburgh Castle and flying from London to Rotterdam on a private jet for a thank you lunch (a little excessive but still an amazing experience), I had begun to feel as if there was more out there for me. In particular, I was feeling that there was something more worthwhile that I could be doing, something that In fact when I tried to picture myself doing the same job for the next twenty years I felt physically ill. Have you ever felt that way about your job?
My career had required some very long days and nights and stressful moments. These demands had worn me down and allowed less and less time and energy for the other passions in my life.
I remember the moment clearly when I decided that I was ready to quit. I was on sick leave for the first time in my life and had taken myself away from London for a few days to give myself time and space to recover. I travelled to a little seaside town called Padstow in Cornwall, England. I woke on my first morning there and knew right away that I didn’t want to live like this anymore. It was such a relief to say out loud “I don’t want to be a lawyer anymore!”. I made it my goal to leave the law within 12 months.
Life has a way of taking its own course and the actual implementation took a year longer than planned. From the time I made my decision I found my first coach, decided to do a coaching course myself in London, travelled to Chile and the Falkland Islands, moved back to New Zealand after living in London for 8 years, found and lost love, started a new (and my last) legal role, quit my London coaching course and instead trained as a coach in Auckland with CoachU, lived in 5 different parts of Auckland and finally quit my job. Phew! It was a roller coaster of a ride and I learnt a lot about myself, some of which was not that easy to learn!
When I started my legal role in Auckland in 2008 I quickly realised that it would be my last. The worst part of that job turned out to be a blessing. I didn’t get on with my boss; we had very different ideas about how to work efficiently and I quickly lost confidence in my abilities. That lack of confidence destroyed all the enjoyment I would usually get from the job. I say that this was a blessing in disguise because I could have easily become trapped back into the corporate way of living if I’d had a more supportive work place. I have to say at the time it didn’t feel like a blessing at all! Hind sight can be a wonderful way to learn about ourselves and take a fresh look at an old way of thinking.
While I was my last job I put a plan in place to save enough to allow me to take a career break for a year and live at the same standard of living. This meant sacrificing my short term spending to achieve my long term goal. I didn’t think it could be done at the time but I didn’t buy any clothes for 18 months! This coming from a woman who loved to explore the shops of London. I guess if the motivational driver is strong enough anything is possible!
What have I been doing for the last year? That will need to wait until another day…
