Fuck It Right Off.

After a year of wandering around in a work desert, with a brief respite in only one or two oases, I’m checking out.

And by checking out, I mean checking in.

For the last three months, I’ve been back in a marketing communications role. Finally, after close to nine months, I thought I’d found my home. That I could relax.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

After working my butt off for the last three months, putting my hand up to help out my immediate team (who by the way, are wonderful and I respect them all immensely), going above and beyond my pay grade, I had a conversation that made me take stock.

If you’re a regular reader you know that I can’t seem to get out of my work rut. I’m being paid, yes, but I don’t have a role. I’m moving around a lot, but I’m treading water. I’m in a holding pattern. I apply for jobs, and if I am interviewed don’t win the position. I think it’s my age. Who wants a bolshie, lippy, experienced person on the books? Not a lot of people.

I learned that when god throws pebbles, it’s best to listen. Mostly due to the fact that if you don’t, god starts throwing rocks, then bricks…you get the story from there. ~ Oprah Winfrey

Back to last week. And that conversation.

While I was hurt and disappointed and frustrated initially, it got me thinking. It got me thinking: Fuck This Shit. Fuck It Right Off.

I do have options.

More than most people.

I have a small mortgage. I have savings. I have a daughter who is grown, and (apart from her appalling skills in dishwasher loading and turning on; and the crippling blindness to a dirty floor and a full bin in the kitchen) can look after herself. I have skills. Lots of them. And experience. Lots of it. I don’t have a partner who I have to consult with about the decisions I make. I can damn well please myself. And apart from my cat (who will be looked after by my daughter), I have nothing stopping me from just… going.

So I am.

In November, come what may, I am taking off to Asia for at least three months.

First, I’m going to my favourite place in Bali (Sharing Bali) and doing the Write a Bestseller retreat again. And then, I’ll spend a few months in Vietnam.

I’ve always wanted to go back to Vietnam since I first travelled there in 2010. I don’t want to be aimless, though, so I’m applying to volunteer at KOTO, which requires a commitment of at least three months from its volunteers.

I can definitely make that commitment.

James Altucher says: If something is not a “Hell, yes”, then you should say “No”. 

I’m saying: Hell, yes! to the next chapter in my life.

I remember writing two years ago that I needed an adventure. I have no idea why I didn’t end up going. Fear? Maybe. Apathy? Probably. We all get comfortable and settled.

So the time has come to say: Fuck This Shit. 

Fuck It Right Off.

Photo credit: kohlmann.sascha via Visualhunt / CC BY-SA.

Did this post resonate with you?

If you liked this post, then you’ll love my collection of essays about work.

Part memoir, part analysis of workplace culture, I consider the world of work and the definition of career success. And anyone who has found themselves disillusioned about the progress of their career—and that’s a lot of us!—will relate to this book.

Grab your copy of Collection 4: Working is Out  from the Amazon Kindle Store for .99c.

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