Career Break not the Gateway to Clarity that I thought it would be
I left a high paying job at a leading unicorn in mid 2024. I dismissed the common advice to figure things out on the side while working a full time job as trope and figured why not go right ahead & free up all of my time and go all in. I travelled, built a routine, worked out, partied, stopped partying, broke up, made new friends, read a bit, watched a bunch of shit, caught up on the latest on emerging trends (read AI), but at the end of it all, I just feel as if I all I did was step off the treadmill for half a year with nothing to show for it. I know I’m exaggerating a bit, but that’s how I feel and am unable to shake it off. I’m feeling fairly dysfunctional. Neither did I actively relax, nor did I actively spend all my energy on building my future. Had I done either, I would not be in this mental state. It’s like that saying goes, the man who tries to catch two rabbits at once ends up with none. My decision was also based on the notion that I’m not going to make bank (considering the number I’m looking at) by doing the same shit for another decade like my bosses did, also because the world is changing in such unprecedented ways; huge influx of talented, young individuals entering the work force who’ll do a fairly comparable job at much less money, coupled with the mammoth that is AI. I figured the time to take a bet is now, but I’m feeling unable to move on any front at all. Any advice or fellow travellers?
Talking product sense with Ridhi
9 min AI interview5 questions
If you took a break, why do you need to show something for it? Most people on the treadmill would be envious that you are off the treadmill. If you're feeling lost you can always get back to a job but remember why you left it in the first place. Check out this guy's blog who quit his job at 37 https://retired.re-ynd.com/
Because I’ve always wanted to save up enough to give myself a chance to go all in on an idea/business (which I did, hence the sabbatical), with the objective of making enough money to not have to go back to corporate.
There's a person - Siddhartha Sharma (SVS) Read his blogs/handbook. Might be helpful.
Will do, thanks!
You haven’t returned back to a job yet so why not try something now? It’s ok to take some time off to figure things out and maybe this period that you spent helped you learn more about what interests you and what doesn’t and now is the time to put that to test?