How a job change can make us more flexible.
When I was looking at changing roles there were certain obvious benefits to look for.
Is the pay better?
Is the company or department a better fit?
Do they offer flexible schedules or the possibility of remote work?
However, one expected benefit of having to switch roles in large way came unexpectedly to me.
An early morning run and new ideas
I was out on a run this morning. It was still dark out and the constellation of Orien was overhead. The sky was turning from dark midnight blue to a lighter almost electric blue at the horizon.
It was truly beautiful.
I was thinking ahead to my day, my new role. Almost unexpectedly, I also started thinking about moving. Maybe we could move to another state? Maybe we could try something new. What other ways could we improve our life.
This would never have been an option with my previous role.
The stress of looking for another job out of state, securing said job, moving, and starting new job was an adventure I had already had and was not too excited to pursue again.
But what if I could take my job with me?
What if, working remote, I now exercised the freedom to live anywhere in the country?
Not only was this a fun, freeing exercise to consider on my run- but I realized what switching jobs had allowed me to do.
It allowed my thinking to become more elastic.
Chang in life allows us to become more flexible
I had been in my previous role for 10 years. It was a good job. I was good at it. I liked my team. By all accounts I was successful. But I had truly become stagnant. I didn’t enjoy going in every day. Many days I actually dreaded it. It was all I could do to push through to the weekend. However, the idea of switching jobs was terrifying. I have had my share of terrible jobs, and the idea of jumping into something worse is real and enough to keep me at bay.
Leading up to my job change, I had the usual jitters as well. Fleeing the comfort and routine of my previous job, I was switching to a lot of unknowns- providing care over the computer, a different department, and the inevitable imposter syndrome that comes with that.
Then I made the switch.
It was challenging.
It was brain stretching (how am I going to do this?), it was also exciting. I had broken out. I was free to try something new. I had done it!
And with that feeling of freedom and chang came this other benefit of flexibility. I could actually try something new. We, as a family could try something new. Not saying we will. But we can if we want. If the doors open. If it’s a good fit.
Perhaps the way to look at this is that change can beget change, and flexibility can beget flexibility.
Lets lean into that.
Change can be scary, unsettling, and difficult.
It can also be freeing, exciting, and beneficial.