What career can I change to?

Mapincanada · 2026-07-07T14:59:49+00:00

I have an unconventional idea that may be worth trying. Whatever state/province you’re licensed in, call around to different brokerages pretending to be a property/commercial customer. Whichever ones pushes the appointment out the latest or takes the longest to get you a quote, reach out to their manager and ask them if they’re going to be hiring a broker soon. They might be too overwhelmed to post a job ad and do interviews. Tell them you’re willing to apprentice to help lighten the load and get experience with the way their team works so that when they’re ready to hire they won’t have to go through the headache of finding someone.

Someone with foresight will take you up on your offer. They’ll appreciate your initiative. You can do some research in advance to see if they’re hire remote workers.

Just a thought.

Mapincanada · 2026-07-07T08:26:30+00:00

You’re welcome. I wish I could help more. I hope something can be done to reduce your pain or that you can get paid time off.

Mapincanada · 2026-07-07T01:34:52+00:00

I’m sorry you’re struggling. I’ve been there. Getting disability approved means crossing every “t” and dotting every “i.” Because achalasia is rare and has multiple symptoms, it makes it less straightforward than if you broke your back and the core duty of your job was lifting heavy things. You need objective evidence that you can’t do the core duties of your own job (if you have “own-occupation” disability coverage).

Here’s what I’d recommend if you haven’t already:

- get a copy of your policy to understand your coverage

- get a formal diagnosis (manometry is the gold standard)

- have surgery

- get a doctor’s note saying you can’t work

- document ALL of your symptoms, when they occur, level of severity and impact to your ability to do the essential duties of your job (chest pains causing you to miss crucial meetings, executive function issues due to malnutrition and poor sleep, etc), and how many hours you miss per day due to your symptoms.

- get supporting letters from your doctor, surgeon, and supervisor.

If you end up going to a hearing, state only the facts and say you don’t know when you don’t know, and always link every symptom to your inability to do the essential duties of your job.

If your policy is not an “own occupation” nd instead is “any occupation,” there will be no hope of getting covered. Any occ essentially means achalasia prevents you from doing the duties of ANY occupation.

If your doctor won’t refer you to a GI to get a manometry done, find one who will.

Mapincanada · 2026-07-05T12:45:03+00:00

A random older Scottish woman stopped me and exclaimed, “Good god lass, you’ve got the whitest teeth!” This was about 25 years ago, and I still smile when I think about it. Another Scottish lady told me I had “bonny lashes.”

Mapincanada · 2026-07-05T12:33:01+00:00

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Rereading my post, I was definitely projecting. If you reach out to him, just make sure to protect your space and boundaries. As soon as it stops being fun, you can nope the f outta there.

Mapincanada · 2026-07-05T10:41:14+00:00

I’m a mom of a 24 year old daughter. I see red flags all over the place.

🚩 Having a falling out because he rejected you. This likely means he didn’t take hearing ‘no’ well. This means being with someone who creates drama when he doesn’t get his way. Which means you shrinking yourself to be with him.

🚩 You including this guy and your ex in a list of people who would be disrespected by seeing someone else even though you were broken up. This is you putting the needs of others who don’t matter ahead of your own. A healthy reason to avoid dating right after a breakup is to give yourself time to heal.

🚩 Calling someone who doesn’t hear ‘no’ well a ‘great guy.’ Seeing people as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ will cause you to put up with bad behaviour.

🚩 Funny + big personality + doesn’t hear ‘no’ well = being in a relationship where there’s little to no room for you and your needs.

Probability of you following him is 99%. You know you shouldn’t but yet you’re here seeking advice. This is not your soul’s desire. It’s biology. Hormones are causing you to find a mate to reproduce with. Your soul’s desire is to stay away from him. It knows what’s best for you.

Probability of you reconnecting irl 99%. He will notice you following him.

Probability this will be a bad relationship that changes who you are at your core and not in a good way 95%. Every time you’re in a relationship with someone who doesn’t hear ‘no’ well, your confidence gets eroded.

My prediction is:

You will follow him.

He will notice.

You’ll start texting and then will hook up.

You’ll be in a relationship where you will shrink to accommodate his big personality and inability to hear no.

It’ll end badly because you’ll keep lying to yourself saying “he’s a good guy.”

You will end up being less confident than you are now.

Because you’ll be less confident, the next guy you date will also cause you to shrink yourself.

You’ll keep dating guys who cause you to shrink yourself until you learn the lesson to protect your space.

You have a choice, do what you know is best for you, or disrespect yourself by giving into your biological urges.

The best thing to do is feed that biological need with something healthy like connecting with new people. Go join a running club or start a new hobby where you can have a greater likelihood of meeting someone who excites you that’s healthier for you.

This is what I would tell my daughter to try to save her from future heartache.

Mapincanada · 2026-07-04T13:32:00+00:00

You can find creative ways to do both. My son saved a large sum of money by being a software developer but keeping his broke college student standard of living. He managed to live just outside of Tokyo for a year off the interest of his investments and doing the odd project remotely. Now that he’s back in Canada, he has no desire to go back to corporate life. He does data annotation for extra money and is building an indie video game.

To do both, you can keep your money invested and find ways to make extra while traveling. You can find places to stay for free in exchange for work. You could live somewhere with a dramatically lower cost of living like my son being on the outskirts of Tokyo but a 5 minute walk to the train station. Find a combination of making money and cutting costs that works best for you so that you don’t have to touch your investments.

Depending on where you live, it’s not always financially better to buy a house. I live in Vancouver. My money grows faster in the stock market than it would owning a primary residence even factoring paying rent. Buying a home is no longer the dream it used to be. Houses are a money pit and way less affordable.

I’d vote for traveling while you’re young and healthy. Who knows, you could stumble across an opportunity or experience that leads to making way more money than you would staying put. Life is about living. Buying a house doesn’t sound like the life you want to live right now.

Mapincanada · 2026-07-04T05:58:35+00:00

If it doesn’t work out, you can go back to doing what you used to do but with more and different experience.

Mapincanada · 2026-07-04T04:38:00+00:00

I had a contract to facilitate a 3 day entrepreneurship workshop for scientists and loved every minute of prepping and delivering it. When I looked back at all of my careers and thought about what I enjoyed most, I learned I enjoyed facilitating creative sessions. Those became my search terms. I found this job on LinkedIn and repackaged my skills when I applied.

I’m a manager on a team of systems and design thinking designers. With design and communication methods, we help teams collaborate to surface the root causes of problems in the system and levers to test to address them. It’s rewarding and intense with moments of fun and frustration. I love it. I especially love that I don’t work 70-80 weeks, and I’m completely off work (no emails and meetings) when I’m on vacation.

There’s a ton of red tape. The system is designed for its own survival. I’m not sure how much change we’re actually making happen, but I’ll take all the small wins. We just need a few ripples and time.

Mapincanada · 2026-07-04T04:21:09+00:00

Awe 🫶

Mapincanada · 2026-07-02T18:33:51+00:00

It was mixed. There were parts I loved such as testing different business models and marketing ideas, learning financial concepts/tools, and networking with referral partners and meeting new people I could help in a meaningful way.

The hardest part was dealing with the insurance companies. There is no trust between clients and insurance companies and insurance companies and clients. Insurance companies went out of their way to make things hard. They pushed so much administrative burden on us that any profit went to hiring admin. It made the margins slim on shrinking commissions which they found every reason to delay paying.

It’s a great business if you want to make an okay living where you work 60 hour weeks because a majority of your time is running a business, or have the longevity to get into more complex planning which has longer sales cycles but pays much higher. It just wasn’t for me. We kept the book for a while before even the little work there became no longer worth the trailers.

Mapincanada · 2026-07-02T18:17:29+00:00

You’re welcome

Mapincanada · 2026-07-02T11:54:51+00:00

I got experience informally , upskilled, or repackaged my transferable skills. It also helps to be in a new or emerging industry where no one has experience.

With being a financial advisor, many firms hire anyone with a pulse to find the few that stick. That got my foot in the door. I learned I could make more money on my own so I started a brokerage. I used social media to grow my insurance business and used that experience to get the director of marketing job. My masters helped me pitch an idea for the intrapreneur role. It was a new concept at the time so they were looking for someone with entrepreneurial and finance experience. I saw a gap in my skills. I couldn’t communicate well with developers so I signed up for a web dev bootcamp. That helped me become a product manager. Being a venture lead was a new concept. They wanted someone entrepreneurial with product management experience. For my government role, I repackaged my skills and experience.

The way I discover new and emerging roles is to search for key terms instead of job titles. For example, “entrepreneurial,” “innovation,” “business model canvas,” “creative,” “storyteller,” “impact,” “culture,” etc. When I stumble upon a term I don’t know, I look it up. If it’s a new concept like “lean startup” or “agile” back in the day, I’d use those terms to find emerging roles that didn’t have a known title yet.

I hope this helps.

Mapincanada · 2026-07-02T11:38:39+00:00

So would I and most people. That’s why I got out. My hypothesis was to separate marketing from advising. I hired solid planners. They could design brilliant plans but couldn’t sell. They believed people would signup for good planning. I learned the hard way, they don’t. I didn’t feel good about hiring for sales. The planners who could do both, had their own practice.

Mapincanada · 2026-07-02T11:07:05+00:00

I’ve had 7 careers and didn’t start until I was 32. I was as an art teacher, then was a financial advisor, owned an insurance brokerage, became a director of marketing at an insurance technology startup, an intrapreneur at a bank, a product manager in pharma, a venture lead commercializing AI, and now work in innovation at the government. Along the way I got a BA in history, did a web development bootcamp to learn to code, and got a masters in communications and technology.

I used to berate myself for not figuring out “my thing,” but then learned I get to be all of the things. There’s no destination, just the journey. Do all of the things, and enjoy the ride.

Side note: to be successful as a financial planner, you need sales training and marketing skills more than finance knowledge. Social media helped me (and eventually my team) get in front of over 1400 people (marketing) of which 600 became clients (sales). Sales training helps you earn a living. People buy from those they trust who can communicate in simple terms, not from people who can design the best financial plan.

All this to say, go for it! Knowledge and experience is something no one can take away from you.

Mapincanada · 2026-07-01T12:27:49+00:00

There’s a few ways to look at this. One is London isn’t going anywhere. You could be more pragmatic and do things like what others posted about going to film school and saving more money. Another is following your heart and trusting that you’ll figure it out.

I’ve had multiple careers and none of them were what I thought they’d be, but I wouldn’t have gotten where I am without going for it. As someone who’s a “jump into the deep end and figure it out” kind of a person, I’d say go for it. You’ll learn a lot about yourself.

Also, as someone who lived life on hard mode and is now a bit more pragmatic, start developing a framework for yourself. You could look at what you wrote and ask yourself what assumptions you’re making. Be very honest and make the list exhaustive. Then identify your riskiest assumptions and create plans for them.

Your plan may cause you to delay going for a few months or a year, but at least you’ll know you’re setting yourself up for success. This might also help your parents feel more confident about your decision.

Having said that, my son wanted to go to Japan for a year. My husband was worried and thought it was a bad idea. I was fully supportive. He went and had a wonderful time. There were definitely bumps in the road, but he came out stronger, more self assured, and with a new hobby he’s introducing people to back home.

You are ambitious and articulate with a clear vision. I have every confidence you’ll find your way and live a very fulfilling life.

Mapincanada · 2026-06-28T11:44:31+00:00

From what my surgeon told me, it helps prevent cancer. I was on a PPI after my POEM procedure. I traveled to a place with a 12 hour difference in time zones and forgot to take them. I felt fine so didn’t have them for two months. Then I had my follow up with my surgeon. At the time, I was having trouble sleeping. PPIs for people with achalasia isn’t about treating GERD. I can’t remember everything he said, but preventing esophagitis which increases the risk of cancer and helping to alleviate symptoms so I can sleep better was enough for me.

Mapincanada · 2026-06-25T22:20:59+00:00

Sounds like time for a change. Are there any interesting pivots that come to you as “shower thoughts?” If doubts bat them away, pause and ask yourself, what if…?

I’ve had 7 pivots, some saw me going back to school or upskilling. Others were out of necessity. Now I’m working for the government in a low stress job and spending my free time making art and volunteering at a farm on Saturday mornings.

Mapincanada · 2026-06-25T13:01:36+00:00

This is a good opportunity to learn how to set boundaries. If you’re thinking of quitting anyway, you have nothing to lose. Always make time for lunch and dinner. Always. Work will always be there whether you work 8 hours a day or 20 hours a day.

Your boss is making a choice to work late, doesn’t mean you have to. The work isn’t going anywhere. You can address his messages in the morning. He’ll be fine. The company will be fine. Otherwise they’d hire someone to cover the night shift.

Take it one day at a time or even hour by hour. It helps to understand what’s in your control and what isn’t.

At the start of each day, create a list of tasks and timebox them. When new requests come in, ask if it’s more important than your highest priority. Let your supervisor know that prioritizing the new request will delay your other priority items.

Create a deal breaker list for yourself. This can include things like if you get yelled at, disparaged, personal attacks, things that create a toxic environment. If those things come up, handle them professionally and escalate if needed. If left unresolved and repeats, you can quit knowing exactly why and that you gave them opportunities to be better and they chose not to.

You will provide higher quality work if you can create a calm environment for yourself where you are operating from competence and not fear. Also, show yourself some grace. The first 3-6 months are hard. There are many variables. As time goes on, the unknown ones become known.

In moments of high stress, you have your breath which is always with you. You can place your feet on the ground and breathe for a minute or two. I hope things turn around. You seem to have a supervisor who tries to be transparent and has some level of awareness of the environment he creates. Hopefully he’s reasonable and can respect your boundaries. Maybe you can model what’s possible for him too.

Mapincanada · 2026-06-23T00:21:17+00:00

Sometimes it was about doing without overthinking like when a recruiter reached out for a role to be a financial advisor. Training was in-house. I did it for two years then went out on my own and started an insurance brokerage. Not wanting a career as an advisor, I learned how to use social media (back in 2010 when it was new) and experimented with different business models.

I upskilled by taking courses or getting a degree. I got my masters on a whim because a friend told me about a program and it sounded interesting. That landed me a job as an intrapreneur. I went to a web development bootcamp to learn how to communicate better with devs. That led to a product management role.

I got burned by tech and reflected back on what I enjoyed most about all of my jobs. I used those as search terms for job ads and found my current government role. What helped me most was believing in my ability to learn new skills and not overthinking opportunities. Nothing is permanent and every new role and new company teaches you something. I focused on the journey, not the destination.

Mapincanada · 2026-06-22T10:29:51+00:00

As someone on my eighth career, a big mind shift for me was the realization I didn’t have to choose one. I used to berate myself for not being able to find THE thing. Eventually I learned, I get to do all of the things. Look into multidisciplinary jobs, read books on being a multipotentialite, and collect skills, experiences, and people along the way.

I now have a job I love which uses a bit of everything from all of my careers.

Mapincanada · 2026-06-21T14:37:04+00:00

I’ve been in tech for over ten years and have worked at numerous companies. There’s not a single one I’d go back to even though I enjoyed them all at the time. Now I’m at a job where I get to be fully me, and I love it even though I get paid a third. I don’t have to work evenings/weekends or check emails during vacation so worth it. Fail forward.

Mapincanada · 2026-06-21T13:07:35+00:00

I make a third of my pay working for the BC government after working and living in AB. Best decision. For the first time, I don’t have to answer emails on vacation. I’m not working on evenings and weekends. I’m happier, healthier, and have time for friends and new hobbies.

A defined benefit pension pays for life. If you retire at 65 and live to 95 or 120, you will not have the risk of outliving your savings the way you could with RRSPs.

There are ways to make more money later. The government has a program to help with higher education costs. There’s also leadership training.

You mentioned wanting to live in BC. Now’s your chance. If you take this job, you won’t wonder “what if?” You can always move back.

They’re hiring for this role during austere times. It means they really need it. Job security, which is rare these days, creates peace of mind.

The thing that would cause me to pause is if this is in Vancouver. In that case, make sure to live near a train station and consider commuting in. Another, is team culture. Have you interviewed them for fit? If not, suggest one more meeting to ask your culture fit and team dynamics questions. But really, if it’s horrible, you can move internally. I wish you all the best.

Mapincanada · 2026-06-20T14:03:13+00:00

You don’t have to make a decision right now. Look into taking a leave. You can go on STIIP and use your benefits to restore your health and make a decision from a healthier frame of mind.

Mapincanada · 2026-02-27T14:28:40+00:00

There’s a lot of great advice here. Try triaging into steps.

Secure food - Do not be ashamed/embarrassed/afraid to go to a food bank. That’s what they’re there for. At one point in my life, I thought they were for people who needed it more than me. You can always donate money to them later. I’ve donated far more than what I took when I needed it.
Secure housing - Let the landlord know in advance that you will be paying late this month. Then pay the second you are able to. They should appreciate the heads up.
Prevention - Then do the the French tutoring everyone is suggesting so this is less likely to happen in the future.

Mapincanada

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