In February 2019, I left my dream job at an amazing organization. My wife and I had both been promoted about a year prior, and were working in very demanding and stressful (while rewarding) jobs. For that year, we survived, but that’s about it. “Life stuff,” as I call it, wasn’t getting done. We knew where our life priorities were, but we weren’t aligning our energy expenditures on those priorities.
So I made the decision to take a break from full-time work.
My friend Dana Holt later told me she calls this a “life rebalance.” Much like an investment portfolio, she says, it’s wise to take a look at your life portfolio now and then and make sure your life investments are balanced into the categories you originally intended.
Now I have my new dream job. I’m slowly taking control of the “life stuff.” I’ve created a consulting business and am lucky enough to have contracted with a terrific first client. I even have a couple of others waiting in the wings. I choose when and how much I want to work. The “life portfolio” is looking a bit more diversified these days, and it’s paying dividends in happiness.