“Am I done?”
Not too long ago, I wouldn’t have dreamt of thinking those 3 words. Yet here I was, suddenly unemployed.
My story isn’t riches to rags, but at the time it didn’t feel far off. I went from being a real estate executive in Chicago to having no job at all.
I soon realized there were a handful of executive roles in the market that required my skills, and the people holding them were not retiring any time soon.
The problem was, I had let external factors dictate my success. When my company relocated it’s portfolio overseas, those factors fell through, and my job with it.
I knew something needed to change.
I couldn’t let one job define me.
I was more than that.
From that day on, I vowed to be my own boss. It wasn’t about having my own company, or even the industry I worked in. This was building my legacy, on my own terms.
So to anyone going through a career change today, this is what I wish I had said to myself:
Don’t let other people dictate your circumstance.
Work on your own terms.
And above all, realize that it gets better.
If life gives you thunderstorms, dance in the rain.