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Squinch

(50,773 posts)
1. I did it. If you are thinking of it, I hope you have as good an experience with it as I did.
Thu Feb 13, 2014, 11:21 PM
Feb 2014

I went from corporate America to a healthcare field where I specialize in pediatrics. I had enjoyed the corporate job, but a day came when it just seemed clear that it was not feeding me any more.

I had to go back to school, so I had a very scary year of prerequisites where I was not sure I was going to get into a program. I had saved some money, but I still needed to take out some loans which was also frightening. I was without a job for three years, which was terrifying.

I had a lot of authority in my old job, and suddenly I was back to the position of being a rank amateur. I had to let go of a lot of the ego that attached to my old achievements, which was the most difficult part. Then I found a Chinese phrase that said, "before you can do something great, you have to look ridiculous to the crowds." I carried that around with me for a few years. You just have to accept that you will be bad at the new thing till you are good at it.

I am grateful every day that I made the change. It was one of the most radical, and most rewarding things I have ever done.

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