Sarah Vermunt - Careergasm: Find Your Way to Feel-Good Work

I had a breakdown in the middle of a crowded Starbucks.

I was working on my dissertation. I hated it. I had hated it for a long time, but on that day something in me just broke. I was miserable, and my capacity for faking interest even mild interest in something I hated was exhausted. I couldnt do it anymore. Not for another second. I dont know why it happened at that particular time on that particular day. I didnt see it coming. Maybe I should have, but I didnt.

I felt myself start to unravel. My stomach twisted, and I felt an icy hot flash of panic pulse through my body. To my horror, I made a scene. I cried. Were not talking a quiet, single-tear cry. Were talking the fast and furious flood kind, with a snotty nose and choppy, heaving breaths. I was shaking so hard I nearly spilled my coffee all over my laptop. I rushed to gather my things so I could leave and save myself the public embarrassment, but it was too late. I watched the whole affair unfold from up above, outside of my own body. I thought, Sothis is what a breakdown looks like. It was awful. And exactly what I needed.

The next day I walked into my Ph.D. supervisors office and told him I was quitting, four years into my Ph.D. and 93 pages into my dissertation. Id keep my teaching job until the end of the year, but I was leaving. A career as a professor was not for me.

I was afraid of what people would think. I was afraid Id look like a failure. I was afraid Id lose everything Id worked for. I was afraid it would kill me.

But I did it anyway. I listened to the little voice.

I am so proud of that decision. Its the hardest decision Ive ever made, and one of the best. Quitting was a gift I finally found the guts to give myself.

That happened four years ago, and since then Ive devoted my life to helping people quit jobs they hate, to helping them get the hell out of Dodge when they just cant take it anymore. I took all of that experience from teaching at a business school and spun it into something new, something that feels way better. That broken-down woman at Starbucks is now a career coach, helping other people to take their power back and choose something better.

If youre lost or struggling or unhappy in your work, know that I know what that feels like. So do a lot of people. Gallup, Forbes, and the New York Times report that more than half of Americans are unhappy and disengaged in their work. What most of us dont realize is that your breaking point is actually freedom calling.

In the following pages, its my hope to help you find the strength to turn away from work you hate and the courage to move toward work you love. Im going to help you ask the right questions, dig deep, and figure out what you actually want. Im also going to help you address your fear and resistance so you can say, Fuck it. Yes, Im terrified, butits worth it. Lets do this.

XO
SARAH

P.S. I changed the names and identifying details of pretty much everyone in this book. Because Im not an asshole. May their stories, and my own, give you the loving kick in the pants you need to find your way to feel-good work.

People say one of the hardest things to do in the pursuit of a happy career is figure out what kind of work you actually want to do. I agree with that.

Kind of.

In fact, Id say its something more like this: One of the hardest things to do in the pursuit of a happy career is admitting to yourself what kind of work you actually want to do. Theres a big difference between not knowing what you want and not admitting what you want.

Most of the people who come to me for career coaching feel lost. They dont know what they want. At least, they think they dont know what they want. But more than half of the time hell, most of the time the problem has nothing to do with knowing; its the fear associated with desire.

Theres nothing more terrifying than admitting what you actually want especially if you think you cant have it.

For most, the problem isnt that you dont know what you want. Its that youre scared shitless to want it. Admitting that you want something means doing something about it. It means youre either going to be on the hook for making it happen, or going to knowingly let yourself down. And I dont even have to tell you which of those two outcomes is tougher on you in the long run.

Theres nothing more terrifying than admitting what you actually want especially if you think you cant have it.

Saying you dont know what you want is easier because it makes you the poor schmuck whos in the dark. ButI would toooootally pursue my passion if only I knew