A few weeks ago, I made the decision to leave a comfortable job in a great atmosphere—at a place I love—in order to embrace a great opportunity at a fast-paced, thriving company. It was the hardest professional decision I’ve ever made, and I wrestled with it for a good long while before finally deciding to make the jump.
There were pluses. There were minuses. I talked my options over with my wife and with my friends. I may have shaken a Magic 8 Ball a couple of times. At the end of the day, though, 90 percent of the minuses came down to one thing: Fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of change and fear of failure.
Basing your decisions on fear is never a good choice. That’s how you end up in unpleasant never-ending situations. So, I jumped at the chance to come work for TVP Communications, and many changes have come, one on top of the other.
I went from knowing essentially everything about what I was doing on a daily basis to knowing almost nothing. I’ve spent the majority of the last two weeks finding my way around in this new paradigm and absorbing knowledge. Occasionally I’ll spot something that looks familiar—like a landmark I’ve only seen from one angle. However, with a new perspective everything looks slightly different.
And that’s not a bad thing. In fact, my new job has already proven to have a huge upside.
I get to work from home(!), communicating with smart, talented, snarky co-workers through Slack. I have the opportunity to travel more, and I’m getting to engage my full professional skill set, as opposed to specializing in one area. My work is similar enough to my old job that my primary morning routine has stayed mostly intact: Grab coffee; inhale coffee. Then, on the second cup (which lasts marginally longer than the first), I browse headlines, hoping to find appropriate news stories, trends and places where I can pitch clients. And from there, I’m off and running.
Okay, maybe it’s more of a shambling trot at this point. As the days go on and I get more acquainted with our clientele and our mission, I become more at ease with this enormous change. I’m the new guy, but I’m not totally clueless. Most days.
But I wouldn’t have had this incredible opportunity—to work from home, to travel, to engage all of my skills—if I’d let my fears dictate my behavior. I don’t know if there’s a broader lesson for everyone there, but it’s something I plan to keep in mind for my own future.