For me, a huge part of enjoying my work is enjoying the people I work with. If I can’t develop strong connections with them, or they’ve all moved on, then I can no longer enjoy my work, and I need to look for something else.
And that was me early this year.
This year has been an interesting one. Early in the year I decided I wanted to move on to a different job. I felt this way because I’d been working for the same client for almost 5 years, and everyone that I’d enjoyed working with had moved on over the previous 12 months. I felt alone in my work, no longer working with anyone whose company I really enjoyed.
But I also decided I didn’t want to move on to just another job doing the same thing I’ve been doing the past 11 years (IT business analysis). I decided I wanted to work more with policy and strategy development, and I wanted to do it while working from home. And without impacting the income that I’d grown used to.
Everyone I spoke to told me that’s a huge ask. Too much. No one can do that. It was unachievable!
But of course I didn’t believe them.
Working from home has always been something I’ve aspired to for many years now. It’s always been on my mind. So this year I decided that it was time for some serious changes.
“If you can believe it, you can achieve it.
That’s something I’ve always told myself for almost 15 years. And it’s something I’ve written about many times over those years.
So I held this desire in my head for something different in my life. I didn’t really know what I wanted, I just knew I wanted to do a different job than standard IT business analysis, and I wanted to do it from home.
And then I got fired. It was a political assassination, and I was the fall guy for someone higher up not wanting to do what they were supposed to do. I was told my contract would not be extended because I didn’t do something I was never supposed to do anyway.
“But I wasn’t supposed to do….”
“Ah! I’m not interested in excuses. It’s been decided. Be thankful you’ve got 10 weeks’ notice.”
Well, ok then.
At first I was angry for a couple of weeks. I mean, how can they treat me this way after the 5 years of dedicated, quality work I’d given them?
And then I realised that this was the universe doing its thing so that I could get what I wanted. So I gave myself up to the process.
I put out my feelers for other work, telling everyone that I wanted to work in policy and strategy development instead of what I’d been doing over the past decade. I was offered the opportunity of applying roles that would have been suitable for me as the standard Business Analyst that I’ve been, and I was at first accepting them and applying for those roles.
But then I made a decision. I decided not to do that. I was after a change, and the only way to get change is to avoid doing the same thing you’ve always been doing. So I rejected those opportunities.
It was a risk, I know. But I put my faith in the universe.
Then someone got in touch with me and said I’d been given a role without an interview. I was perfect for the job, and they wanted to meet with me to see me face to face and find out when I could start. That was pretty amazing, but I thought about it overnight, and I decided reject that too. It didn’t fit in with my new goal.
Shortly after that I got a call from a friend who asked me what I was up to. I told them about how I’d been ‘fired’, and I was looking for something else. He offered me a job working for his small business providing a software solution to large clients. Sort of the same work I’ve been doing, but I’d have to work from home.
What did you say?
Errr…. you’d need to work from home?
I’ll take it.
You don’t know what it is yet.
Doesn’t matter, I’ll be able to do it.
Great! Oh, and we’ll match what you’ve been getting from your old job.
Even better.
So when my old job finished a few weeks ago on 30 June, I started my new job. Working 100% from home, on the same rate I was getting before, doing work that I’m good at and enjoy.
It’s not in policy and strategy development, but it’s a start down the path I want to be on.
So I’m pretty excited about that, as you might imagine. 🙂
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