2 questions that helped me escape a career I hated

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So, there I was, sitting on smugly my couch in another nacho-fueled, misery-inducing Real Housewives marathon.

I was miserable in my job, I was feeling ungrateful for being miserable in a prestigious six-figure role, and I wasn’t really sleeping (or making good eating choices — hence the nachos).

I was also smug.

Why?

Because I knew I was right.

I was right that quitting my job and starting a new business like a career coaching practice was completely not practical and doomed to failure (not to mention, how would I pay for my shoe addiction?).

I was right that the only thing I knew how to do well was consulting, so obviously I should do that, you know, until I died.

And being right meant that I got to sit on my high horse (or in this case, my purple couch), and do nothing.

I didn’t have to make scary choices about my career. I didn’t have to get off the beaten path and have people judge me. And I didn’t have to change my routine in any way.

Nope, instead I got to eat nachos and watch women scream at each other. And you know what? It sucked and I was miserable.

Then, two things saved me.

The first thing was asking myself, just for a minute, this question: "What if you stopped being right, and started being curious — just for a second?"

Which lead me to wonder this: "What if you could start a coaching business and be successful? How would you do that?"

Asking those questions was kind of relaxing (being right is stressful!) and they made me feel just a little bit better.

And that led me to the second second thing that saved me — I asked myself this question: "Who do you know that you could ask?"

And I started asking friends and family (and Google): "Do you know anyone who is a successful coach that I can talk to? I’d love to learn more about how they did it."

I also knew a couple of people at work who were coaches in addition to being consultants, and I spoke with them.

Those conversations were good: "Coaching’s great — you should totally get certified!" And bad: "The DC market is saturated with coaches, you’ll never be able to set up your own business."

Even with the bad news, I found myself inspired — if other people were doing it, maybe I could do it too? I was surprised that my family and friends knew some people too — and those conversations were really really inspiring "Of course you can be a successful coach in this market — I’m doing it and I’ve been doing it for years. You’ll do fine."

Yep, my network started to show me a new way forward, and as I kept asking questions, I got more and more excited.

Those initial conversations and questions led to more information, a coaching program, a certification, a new business, a Forbes award as a Top 100 website for careers, and many other amazing honors and fun, but mostly, I get to help people — and that feels great.

And it all started with two things:

1. Being curious instead of being right
2. A great and supportive network

So this is me, on the other side, telling you that you can absolutely do this. Take a moment and worry less about what you can’t do (that you know is absolutely right) and instead embrace what you might do.

You’ve got this. The world is your oyster.

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