It’s been a year, well 13 months but let’s not split hairs. 13 months since I walked away from 6 figures, a company car, great health insurance, 401k, a pretty flexible schedule and a lot of stress. I had crunched the numbers on leaving many times to the dismay of a few pencils. My boss and I went out for a beer and I broke the news to her. Now here I am, 13 months later, and a lot has changed.
The first things that changed was developing a new morning schedule. No more up at 5:12 & out the door at 5:29 to run. No more rigid morning schedule of tea, email, dog walking, more tea, shower, eat then out the door to work. No more alarms. Then I noticed IT. One of the biggest changes, an unexpected change. I started sleeping. Without drugs. Sleeping through the night, almost every night. Week after week. Almost a decade of sleeping med use left behind. I blame stress and my wallet is happier as well. It didn’t happen overnight but slowly over a few months I realized I was less stressed, not awake at all hours of the night and actually waking up feeling rested. Now I was doing something I love to do for work and it was no longer a J O B. It was something I look forward to doing, no more Monday blues getting me down, no more hump day happiness, no more TGIF because everyday is now Saturday minus the college football.
Sure I miss some things about my previous life. The salary and bonus checks, the company car. After my bike crash and skin cancer diagnosis I really miss the health insurance. I do miss calling on all the cool docs, the fun to talk with docs, the one’s that challenged me. My friends in the industry, those I miss and that daily interaction with a large number of people. I don’t miss calling on the asshole doctors. Although I suspect I should thank the few who all happened to fall on that one day.
It was the fourth one that pushed me over the edge. While talking with him I realized that this was it. I’m out. Done with the industry. I’d been pondering coaching full time and those 4 assholes were all the catalyst I needed. A shove over the ledge which turned into a leap to happiness. 13 months later and I have no regrets. I got out on my own terms instead of being shown the door like many others. I controlled and still control my direction in life.
I’ve been asked would I do it again? Absolutely. Helping others achieve more than they thought they could has been awesome. Seeing the girls and guys I coach surpass their goals and dreams is fabulous. Being happy with your job is good but having your passion as your job is wonderful. I think I’d trade 6 figure pay for 6 figure happiness every time.