I resigned from my job on February 28, 2022. I gave three months notice and my last full day there was May 26, 2022. It was hard to leave. Really hard. I cried several times—the day I gave my supervisor my letter of resignation, many times thinking about what I was leaving, the last week, and especially the last day. Why was I doing this? Why was I leaving something that was so comfortable, secure, predictable, and safe? Why was I doing this if the very thought of it made me cry?
The answer is simple—I left because it was time. It was time for me to move on and do the things that I really thought could help people. I no longer felt effective in my job and was constantly frustrated by my lack of creativity, ambition, and motivation. I left for exactly the reasons many people would have stayed and the same reasons I think many people questioned my leaving (including my husband). My job was comfortable, secure, predictable, and safe. It was time for me to challenge myself and get uncomfortable, take chances, do something different every day, and see how far I could go. I needed to use the ideas and creativity I had for something that I felt could help people more than I thought I could where I was.
I didn’t just jump blindly into this. I had thought about it for probably 2.5 years. I had a foundation laid—a website, plans, knowledge, skills. I enrolled in a couple of online classes—some free, some I paid for—to help me learn about blogging and social media. I started taking steps to try to do both my “side job” and my main job at the hospital at the same time. That became difficult because my time outside of work was packed to the brim—dinner, driving my daughter to dance and work, laundry, a geriatric sick dog, dishes, all the things. I realized that unless I decided to forego sleep (unlikely), I was never going to have the time to work on my “side job.” I had to leave the hospital to have the time to devote to building this coaching business.
As I was thinking about how I was going to make this all work, I was watching a live video class and was completely immersed in what the speaker was saying when God/the Universe dropped an idea into my head—summer camps. I wanted kids to be active and learning about healthy choices and more than anything, I wanted them outside. I would host summer camps for kids where they could be hiking and running in the woods, making obstacle courses, trying new veggies, and just loving being a kid outside! That was the idea that sealed the deal. I was quitting my job.
Fast forward to July 12, 2022. I have been gone from my job at the hospital for a little over 6 weeks. I’ve only had enough kids enrolled in camp to do 2 days of it. Two amazing and fun days, though! I am trying to figure out what my next steps are. I have plenty of ideas and I am willing to try each of them until I am able to find what works. So far things have been so busy this summer that I don’t know how I would have done more camps. I seriously have not had a day that wasn’t busy doing something. I do not regret my decision to go out on my own. I am still trying to figure out my new routine and working from home. I still believe that I am here to help families figure out how to end the chaos and overwhelm of trying to eat healthy and get active while working, being parents, and doing all of the things. I am still here to help others find the joy that is running and being out on the trails. I have never felt more like I am on the right path for me.
Peace from The Edge,
Julia
