I can remember it so clearly. It was about a month before I was planning to tell the Board of my decision to retire. Getting ready for work one morning, I froze with fear. It was gripping and it stopped me in my tracks.
The mental cacophony was relentless: “This is a life impacting decision. You’re throwing away more than three decades of work. Are you crazy?!”
Then a funny thing happened. A complete sense of calm permeated my body. The shift from anxiety to serenity was jolting. The mental chatter gave way to a series of matter-of-fact statements: “It’s time to embark on a new journey. You’ve been preparing your whole life for this. You’re fully capable of whatever lies ahead.”
In the wake of this brief moment, my energy felt peaceful, quiet and still. As I replayed the reassuring words in my head, they felt supportive and encouraging, and the tone resonated as truth. That moment happened in 2018. The fear never returned and the calmness has remained.
Do you feel overwhelmed with fear whenever you allow yourself to daydream about leaving corporate life behind? The good news is that we now live in a time when it’s completely acceptable to reassess our careers and what work means for us. But what’s the right decision for you?
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