During COVID, a lot of people started thinking about the meaning of life, the universe and everything. The result is what some call the “great resignation” and many people starting new roles in completely different fields as before.
What can we make of this? Are you still in your old job or have you started a new one? What was your motivation or final thought before the big step?
For me, I have taken a year out in 2021 to deal with health issues (not COVID!) but mainly to re-focus on what I want to do with the next section of my life. According to official life expectancy numbers right now, I am about half way through my life… well, possibly a bit more. So, what I should I do with it?
For one, I want to keep learning new things. So I got myself a subscription to a learning platform and will continue learning languages.
More importantly though, I wonder if sitting for 8 to 12 hours in a chair in an impersonal office is right for me. Don’t get me wrong. I have had a lot of good years of showing up in person in a large company, learning a lot of skills and I met a lot of great people there. Looking forward though, I’m not sure it’s for me.
The challenge is though that I still need to earn a living and this is where the rubber hits the road. What should I do to keep myself fed and clothed and under a roof?
After a long time thinking about it, I decided that my next small actions is to redo my CV and apply for jobs in which I can use my existing knowledge and would continue to learn new things.
Ideally I this next role would be remote. This would allow me to carry it out in new locations so I can experience different ways of living and possibly learn another language in my spare time. Most importantly, I wouldn’t want to be bound to a single country anymore. The COVID crisis has shown how governments treat their residents and not all of these ways are to my liking.
In addition, I have started to learn more about art, poetry, music and try it out myself. With trying it out myself I mean to really give it a chance over a couple of months. If I am not that into it though, I won’t be crying over it because it’s may not for be me. For example, I know that I’m unlikely to continue with water colours. I tried it, went to a class and it doesn’t make me as happy as some of my other activities. So I stopped doing it. Who knows, one of these may be my big passion and is just waiting to be discovered.
It’s all about taking good decisions. It’s all about having meaning in your life. It’s all about taking small actions that matter which bring you closer to your ideal life.