I’ve learned a lot in sobriety. One of the things I’ve learned is that it’s one thing to know, think and say stuff, but it’s something else entirely to take action. The first thing I learned – and I didn’t know it at the time I took this action – is that you can’t fix yourself. I had to ask for help. I had to take an action and say to someone, I can’t drink like this anymore, the pain outweighs any perceived benefit. So I asked my mate who’d quit drinking 10 years ago and he gave me the advice I needed to make a change.
I’ve made that change. I’ve quit drinking. Not long ago – coming up to one year – but it’s enough to know that it was the correct change for me to make and that if I maintain that mindset and focus on the literally countless benefits of not drinking, I can continue to not drink – which is itself an action given that I’d spent the previous 25+ years drinking almost every day.
So to make changes to my career – even though I do not know what I want to do next – I need to take a number of smaller actions. Here’s my initial list so that I can continue to make progress:
Action 1. Write about the journey. I haven’t found that much online that resonates – probably because what we do with our lives is so personal to us. Only we know what we are supposed to do. Only we can make changes. But I will write about it – perhaps it will help me, perhaps it will help someone else.
Action 2. Speak to others who have made changes (I have a list of these people but won’t publish them here).
Action 3. List out carbon neutral useful jobs. Ref ‘No is not enough’ by Naomi Klein
Action 4. List out all the things I would like to do, regardless of experience, money or whether practical. Include rock star. What would I love.
Action 5. Look at something like the desire map and write what I actually want to feel while working. Include the things outside of my comfort zone.
Action 6. If there are skills that I don’t have, list them. If there are practicalities that look impossible to overcome, list them. How might I overcome these. Do I need formal degrees and training? How else can I approach knowledge gaps?
Action 6. List what I hate about corporate life.
Action 7. What are the psychological blockers. What stories do I tell myself that prevent me making change. That I’m worthless. That my only value is my income. That I’m my dad. That I will fail and everything will fall away. Feel the fear and go with it. Listen to the voice you will fail like every other time and counter it with measured and practical wisdom.
Flows Free 