I’m not very open on social media. I pretty much only share the good stuff – which most people do. And though this is ultimately a “good” story, I decided to share what I’ve been up to these past few months and some of the tough things I’ve taken on.
When I’m completely honest with myself, I knew 3 weeks after my start date at UPS on August 26, 2013 that I’d made a mistake leaving my old job. Layers of bureaucracy and a very conservative culture made for a pretty miserable work environment for my open-minded and liberal self. I could go into more detail but I won’t. It’s not really necessary for this story for me to go on about all the ways UPS and the jobs I had there weren’t right for me.
While I probably stayed too long, I had major life events happening outside of work that took most of my focus – our engagement and wedding, honeymoon, selling a house, buying a house and moving. Once the dust settled from our move last summer, though, the unhappiness that had always been there about work came rushing to the surface. By the beginning of this year, it was obvious that it was negatively impacting me physically, emotionally and mentally – and affecting my relationship with my husband. Being unhappy and unfulfilled at a place where I was spending most of my waking hours was not working for me. I’d been interviewing for other jobs and while I was well-connected and qualified for those jobs, I wasn’t getting them. I wasn’t confident or happy and I believe it came across in my interviews no matter how positive I tried to be. I knew I needed to make a big change.
I began running numbers, going through our finances and tracking our spending more closely. I came up with a plan and I talked to Sean. This was at the beginning of February. We agreed that if I didn’t have a new job by the middle of April, after our big trip to Europe, I would put in my two weeks notice. I didn’t find another job and so at the end of April, I quit my job at UPS.
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