Career Epiphany

So I've had a bit of a "reverse brainfart" over all my career-related issues ...

Last Thursday evening, I was out getting a casual dinner at a little diner on Chapel Street, and saw some office workers walking around on their way home from work. Suddenly I was reminded of the days when I was one of them - and how in context it doesn't have to be so bad.

Initially I felt like a total tool. Like these last two years and three months have been all for nothing. But then it quickly hit me that it's not the case at all - it was all part of a journey. The realisations could never have happened in the state I was in back in late 2010. If I had tried to face it down - I simply would have ended up stewing more and more, potentially going nuts in the process.

I think a lot of it comes down to accepting a situation you're in emotionally, rather than purely intellectually. ie It's easy enough to intellectually understand that a "job is just a job" for example - and not take it personally when it's not a little slice of heaven every day. But if you don't emotionally grasp that, you can slowly dig yourself into a hole which leads to burnout. I can see that now, and know when to fold in future. Though I suspect that now I'd do a lot better - and last a lot longer and be more productive - even in jobs which I find incredibly mind-numbing.

So where to now? - I'm not 100% sure yet. I've re-done my CV. Created three versions of it for different types of jobs in fact. But mostly I'll be looking in an IT specialisation which I haven't directly worked in before (although I'd been in that kind of role informally at times - as part of jobs which were officially something else).

I'm not expecting to get something in a hurry. I've got a career gap on my CV now which will probably take some serious selling. But we'll see how it goes.