Welcome to Purposeful me

There are five weeks to the end of 2017 and what a year this has been. My expectations at the start of the year are completely opposite to what it’s looking like now.

In January, I had a secure job with a great income but come the end of the year, I am ripping off the comfort blanket of a regular income. I’ve opted to leave my banking career after 16 plus years.

It wasn’t an easy decision to make but once I made it, I felt a mixture of emotions ranging from relief, joy and fear to surprisingly shame. I could understand all the other emotions but why would I feel shame? That’s the million-dollar question.

I was ashamed of walking away from a well-paying corporate job that I am great at, partly because it didn’t make sense to explain it to family, friends, and colleagues.

I didn’t realise how much of my identity was tied to my job until I chose to let it go. Surprisingly I feel like it’s a crime not to have a ‘great’ job with a steady income and this is eye-opening for me.I did what most rationale minded people would do, I immediately started to apply for jobs looking to quickly replace the one I was leaving with another one. It didn’t help that everyone wanted to know what was next for me.

After applying for a few jobs, it suddenly dawned on me that I didn’t want another job, at least not right away. This was even harder to explain. Why would I, with great skills set, reputation and experience, not want to put that to immediate use? I had no answer to give – at least not one that made sense.

After some soul-searching, I decided that I wanted to do something I was truly passionate at even if it meant starting over again in a whole new field. So here I am, well qualified for any number of roles, but only wanting to write and share my experiences, learning, my life and my journey with you.

My big questions have been, ‘what am I passionate about and what is my purpose in life?’

To answer these questions, I am on a journey of self-discovery and it’s one that I want to share with you. I hope to inspire you to go after your own dreams too.

I invite, you to join me and I promise I will be original, true to myself and open and honest with you.

Welcome to ‘Purposeful me’. See you next week.