I was at the bank today taking care of some things and in the course of the conversation with my personal banker he asked me about my future plans. When I told him that I had left my job and why he looked at me and said “aren’t you afraid?” I told him “I am. But the idea of continuing to live the way I am is more frightening to me. The idea of not trying to do what I need to do to be at peace and be happy is more terrifying.”
Starting April 1, for the first time in my life I will be voluntarily unemployed. I have chosen to be unemployed because I am now at the place in my life where I am Unemployable As I explained in a prior post on being “Unemployable”, I can no longer be less than my authentic and unapologetic self. As a result, I am striking out on my own as a consultant and small business owner.
Striking out on my own is scary, but not doing it is scarier. So, Do it Scared but Do It.
What I want for women, specifically black women, is to provide you with the roadmap, a real roadmap to do exactly what I’m doing successfully. Nobody gave me one, but I want you to have one. I want you to know It doesn’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to have thousands and thousands of dollars saved. You don’t have to have paid off every single bill. You don’t have to have planned for every single possibility but you must have a plan.
So what am I doing? For right now absolutely nothing.
I’m going to sit with myself for a bit. I haven’t done absolutely nothing in a long time either. Even in Mexico I was working.
Not working and not thinking about work is strange and scary but I am here for all of it.
I say all of this to say: Even if you have to do it scared, do it.
Don’t be afraid ~~ to be afraid. Use the fear as fuel to push yourself forward.
So many of us are trapped in toxic and hostile environments that are making us sick and tired. We feel like we’re stuck and there’s no way out.
I want you to know that you can unstick yourself. You can create your own roadmap and exit in a way that sets you up to successfully pursue the life you want.
In the coming weeks and months, I will share practical advice about removing yourself from environments that do not serve you; and how to turn situations that seem like lemons into lemonade.
Stay tuned.
