When Work Starts to Feel Like You Again
why a career change is the best thing I’ve done in years.
This year I left a 15-year career in sales to become a writer.
I turned away from a steady salary and stepped into the unknown world of copywriting. I expected to feel terrified but instead, it felt like one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made.
Within a couple of months, I had enough freelance work to match the salary I had left behind.
It made me think about something I had been reading in Angela Duckworth’s Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. She suggests that four things shape meaningful career success:
Interest
Practice
Purpose
Hope
For me, writing brings all four together. It’s not something I “started doing” - it’s something I’ve always returned to. Reading, writing, and storytelling have been part of how I make sense of the world for as long as I can remember.
If you’re thinking about a career change, the most useful questions are often the simplest:
What are you usually doing when you feel most like yourself?
And what values do you keep coming back to, no matter what?
We often grow up with a clear idea of what a “good” life looks like: a good school, a good degree, a good job, a stable path forward. And for many people, that structure can be helpful.
But sometimes it also creates distance between who we are and what we do. At some point, I realised I had followed the path, but drifted away from the part of me that felt most alive.
Now, in my 40s, I’ve come back to it.
I feel more aligned with my work than I ever have before. Writing is not something separate from who I am - it’s how I think, observe, and connect.
Four Tips if you are thinking of a career change
Pay attention to what you’re naturally drawn to (it often points somewhere important)
Write down your transferable skills - they are usually more valuable than you think
Talk to people already doing the work you’re curious about
Remember that nothing is final - you’re allowed to change direction.
One final thing
I often read Dr Zeus’s poem, Oh The Places You’ll Go! with my children. It occurred to me when we read it again recently that this is the first big life choice in years I have made without questioning myself. I found these words empowering.
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.
Have you had a career change, or are you on the brink of one? I would love to hear about your experiences.
