How I Found My True Calling

I explored and discovered the profession that I am passionate about.

The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams. — Oprah Winfrey

I was desperate to find a new job at a workplace about 11 months ago because I have been away from a formal workplace for about a decade now. It marks 7 years this September since I first went self-employed after major changes in my life: marriage and relocation.

Fresh Start

I was excited initially, applied to the jobs, and got one interview call after a few applications. In the meantime, I also started a virtual internship program for women returners. It was to equip women with the right mindset, skills, and knowledge so they could go into the field and get jobs. It was a great learning experience. And I got help to prepare for the interview too.

Key discoveries

Through my journey, I unearthed several vital lessons:

1. Start a Journey: In order to find the right answers, you need to embark on the journey and commit to it. When I was new here in the UK, I started a couple of things, including writing and finding a job, but I got overwhelmed quicker and left them in the middle. When I now look back, I regret it.
2. Embrace the bumpy roads and paths: The journey will have phases and stages; it might be a rollercoaster of experiences rather than a bus that you conveniently find at the bus stop 2 minutes away from your house that smoothly takes you from one stop to the next.
3. Some essential ingredients: You need a skillset, certain personality traits, knowledge, and, most importantly, a hobby to be on a professional path. And in order to stay put on the journey, you need to be resilient, confident, not afraid of failure, and a rational person.
4. Know Your Purpose: A vision is a purpose—what you want to achieve and why. It is very critical to sort out your priorities. During this process, I figured out that my kids and family come first. So I had to take a U-turn from the path I was trying to move along.

Turning Point

The moment I realised my current path wasn’t right for me was during a job interview. Anxiety overwhelmed me as I entered the facility, and the uneasiness escalated when I met the interviewers.

I was missing my toddlers; the thought of losing freedom for a few hours a day just crippled me. When I realised that I would not be available for my loved ones when they needed me the most, it just got me emotional. My concerns made me ask them about flexibility of working hours and remote working several times during the interview, which visibly annoyed them too, and I knew that our goals didn’t align.

I immediately knew it wasn’t for me. At this stage of my life, when my kids are very young, childcare is expensive, and it is not worth it to put myself through this trauma.

New Perspective

This realisation prompted me to reflect on what I truly loved and was passionate about. While I cherished my role as a freelance business consultant that I was doing until 2021, it demanded a level of focus, specific time and schedule, and commitment that, given my existing circumstances, proved challenging to sustain.

So that brought me down to thinking about what I love to do and what is manageable with my current priorities. That does not give me panic attacks and comes naturally to me.

Something that is sustainable in the long run and does not make me hate my struggles.

I figured the profession I love the most and that comes naturally to me was teaching or lecturing, which I could not do at the moment.

That brought me down to the things I do as a hobby, which are crafting and writing.

Another journey begins.

It took me about 8 months, which started in July 2021 after my little one turned 1, to figure out what I was going to do at this age and stage in my life.

So then began another journey to put the passion into practice. This journey is not easy either, but I am enjoying it.

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. — Steve Jobs

Throughout this quest, I needed a lot of support, and my support system is my family. When I needed constructive feedback, I turned to my husband, whose (brutally) honest critiques helped me make choices.

Moreover, my mother and sister were my invaluable extra set of ears and brains. I could freely pour out my thoughts and ideas to them, and their insights and suggestions consistently led to wonderful outcomes.