Dear reader,
Last night a dear, old friend sent me a Facebook Message. In there was a picture of an old newspaper article from the summer of 2003. The memories came flooding back.
It was May 2003, and I remember standing outside our apartment building in Stockholm when the phone rang (yes, we had mobile phones by then 😉 ). It was my friend asking me how I was doing. I broke down in tears, sobbing that I was exhausted and didn’t know what to do about my situation.
I was working as a reservations manager in one of the biggest, busiest hotels at the time; still grief struck after the loss of my dad 2 years prior and on the highway to Burnout City (so cliché, but that’s the truth).
My friend then said: “Karin, just quit and come down to Stjernsund and bake muffins. I need someone to run the castle café this summer.”
My first thought was “You simply CAN’T quit a manager position just like that, in the middle of your career!I You can’t even bake!”.
I spoke to my boyfriend (now husband) about it, and he just said “Karin, go down and bake muffins. I just want you to feel better.”
I handed in my notice the very next day.
Me, a super ambitious Swiss hotel school graduate with a potentailly high flying hotel management career path ahead of me, just walked off the job to run a café with zero experience!
Since then I’ve adopted a very “laissez-faire” attitude about what work & career “should” look like. Instead of letting the career determine how I live my life and how I define success, I’ve let life decide where I’m needed the most.
No, it hasn’t always been easy and I’ve had huge battles with the “identity crisis beast” when leaving a certain career behind. I’ve probably cried a whole lake full with “regret & fear of failure” tears by now; but I have also come to realise that trusting the process is the most important thing of all! I can now truly say that I trust the process, and that I will be safe regardless of what happens.
No job experience has been a waste of time. I’ve always learned something new and found truly awesome friends on the way. Even if it might have been super challenging at the time, those experiences have become the stories and life lessons I now share with others in my role as a coach.
Trust is the core of every decision we make in life, wether it’s well trained and in shape or not. Building that trust muscle is an ongoing process, but it will reward you greatly for your work!
I still don’t know what I will become when I grow up, but I deeply trust that life will take me to where I’m needed next, regardless of title, industry or job description.
So take it from me, an old sailing instructor; hotel receptionist/conference coordinator/reservations manager; café owner; banking team assistant; and current life crisis coach; don’t worry, you are always on the right track to becoming what you are supposed to be <3
Trust the process and dare to say “yes” even if you feel the fear, and don’t believe in the myth that you can only become ONE thing when you grow up!
Warm regards,
Karin
