Reflecting on a year since I quit my job = good decision!

I'm trying to beat the laziness monster and at least write something every now and then. It's a little bit of catharsis.

One year ago, I had just quit an internship at a big media outlet after just two months employed with them. It was a big decision but one that now sits comfortably with me.

Since then I've met a whole bunch of young people in similar boats to me. Those who found themselves annoyed and frustrated in their new jobs and quit. 

I guess my heart wasn't really in the job from the start. Once I got into the role and found a whole mountain of negativity and burnt out workers I felt like quitting was a sensible option. I already had some savings in the bank and I started to think: "why am I here?" It wasn't as if the pay was fantastic. I made considerably more in a temporary job in Australia in a job that required no qualifications and two weeks training.

My main desire after finishing my degree was to travel. In my journal when I was 18 I wrote that my main ambition was to be traveling when I finished and four years later, that's what I was doing.

The amount of things that I've done in this last year that I wouldn't' have otherwise done is incredible.. This is not meant to be a braggathon but here's a quick summary:

I travelled around New Zealand, spent a few months back in my home town catching up with my family. Went to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Malaysia and revisited Jakarta. I worked three months in Perth and saved money for my European trip.

In January I lived in Italy for a month, got to see Rome and Venice and live with my girlfriend and some cool flatmates. Then I went to Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Germany, Czech Republic, Britain, Italy again, Spain, Ireland and have just returned to Jakarta for language studies. I encountered many languages, cultures, museums, bars, people(I will write about the most interesting of them very soon), landmarks, climates, political situations and foods. I tanked up an enormous travel bill and have a much bigger carbon footprint than I'm comfortable with.

You can't really capture everything that happens in a year in just a few paragraphs..
It wasn't all sunshine and lollipops. Some days it was a grind and I certainly could have done with more sleep on the trip.

There were times when I was worried that I had made a mistake quitting so quickly, right at the start of my career. Did I throw away a great opportunity?

When I was in Europe I met heaps of people in their mid twenties still studying and still not sure what they were doing with their lives.. That, at least made me feel like I've still got time to make the most of my youth and see a bit of the world.

I've been very fortunate to be in a position where I can afford to travel..

I still wonder whether I would return to a journalism job.. I haven't applied for a single journalism job in the time since I quit and you start to worry. "Will I be able to get something this long out of the game?" My journalism lecturer did warn me that the longer I left it, the more graduates I would be competing with for jobs. He also said I had to prove my "hunger" for the job and I don't know if I've done that.

I would hope that someone can appreciate a bit of worldliness but that will remain to be seen. If I'm unlucky in that venture then it's back to Uni for a masters and I wan to do that anyway..

I've learned that it's best to make the most of your youth cause I remember and older journalist telling me that once the ball got rolling on her career, ten years passed by and she never travelled and had children.. Having a family isn't a prison and neither is a job but four weeks annual holiday on average makes long travels quite difficult.

 My path wouldn't be right for everyone. There's a lot to be said for building contacts, getting a rep and getting experience. It would certainly make some people more employable. We're all dying someday though right? So - for me at least, it was liberating to just be free from Uni, from a job for 10 of the last 13 months.

There's no point in reflecting on other roads I might have taken cause this is it. I'm happier than I was this time last year and my eyes are that little bit more open than they were before.

If you hate your job, and you have some other options on the table, quit.. Life passes by too fast to be dissatisfied and as idealistic and cliched as it sounds, there is so much out there in the world to explore, new perspectives to be gained and different insights to be garnered.

I'm still not sure what job I'll pursue but I just hope it's something I like. Perhaps I'll start my own business? Still plenty of time, right?

Navel gazing and career path

The exploding head sums it up -

I am at a massive transitional stage of my life in terms of career, purpose and so on.

In the last three weeks, I have resigned from my journalism job after just two months when it was meant to last two years. Leaving a secure job in a tight employment market? I must be crazy!

In a week I'll leave my nice Auckland flat and my cool flatties to return home to decide which direction to pursue.

In the grand scheme of the universe what's happening to me is completely banal and unimportant but at this particular moment it feels like big stuff.

Should you care? No, probably not - there are far more important things to be concerned about than my life-trajectory angst.

BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am going through the same thoughts and doubts that many of us go through, so my hope is that you can identify, relate and perhaps give suggestions!

In the next few weeks I want to focus my energy on something new, something that I feel passionate about. I want to find a job that I love and that I feel actually matters.

My journey to this particular moment started at the beginning of 2008 when I dropped out of law school and finished my arts degree in politics and film. I applied and was selected as an intern for a major media company and got entry to Canterbury journalism school which started in 2009.

After traveling for two months over summer I returned to Auckland in March and optimistically started my two year contract.

I had a gut feeling during my placement last year that the work environment wasn't for me but I thought I should see the process through.

Parts of the job were good, and I did meet some great folks. I tried my best and wrote some big stories but I was already dragging my feet to work. One of my colleagues made the decision to leave a lot easier with his behaviour (long story).

I think many people have the feeling they are not on the right path in life but they stay at it cause they feel they should or because they have to provide for their families. For some people work is just a way of making money and the boring bit that you have to go through to do fun stuff.

In 2005, during a commencement address to Stanford University, Steve Jobs used a quote that I think is very powerful and I wholeheartedly intend to live by:

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

People who excel in a certain fields usually have a mix of talent and raw passion. I know what my interests are and want to throw myself into something that feels important. Too idealistic? Probably

For the moment though, I'm reading, learning and surveying options.

They range from finding another job, doing further study or taking a big round the world trip. I have to say at this moment, the third option is most appealing.

Thoughts or comments welcome..