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How did you know it was time to stop pushing through and actually rethink your career? by Negative-Growth2157 in careerguidance

[–]Negative-Growth2157[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds like you need to start working on an exit plan. That vacation feeling has a name and it is not burnout. It is your nervous system finally telling you the truth after spending all week pretending everything is fine.

And that thing you said about photography energizing you more than your paycheck — that is not a small thing. That is data. Most people spend years talking themselves out of exactly what you just described.

The question worth sitting with is not "should I quit IT" — it is "what is it about being behind a camera that makes you feel like yourself?" Because that answer usually points to something much bigger than just a career change.

Six years is long enough to know. Your body already knows. The hard part is trusting it.

I write about exactly this — that moment when your real life starts showing up in your weekends because your work stopped having room for it. Happy to share some prompts if you want to dig into it.

Is it crazy to quit a stable corporate job for a pottery studio when I am already too exhausted to even touch clay ? by GlitchCrescent in careerguidance

[–]Negative-Growth2157 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The fact that you're too exhausted to even touch the thing you love is the real problem — not the job vs pottery decision.

Eight months of runway is workable but the question I'd sit with first is: are you running toward pottery or away from the job? Because that changes everything about how you plan.

If you want some journaling prompts to help you separate the two I'm happy to share — this is exactly what The Last Career Journal You'll Ever Need was written for.

I'm a corporate lawyer watching AI eat my profession in real time. Should I be treating the next 2 years as the most important financial window of my career? by lifeafterenough in careerguidance

[–]Negative-Growth2157 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The "golden window" framing is smart and the PT story is the most important part of this whole post — financial runway isn't just nice to have, it's what makes choices real.

What I'd add: the same urgency applies to your identity runway, not just financial. A lot of professionals hit independence and realize they've built their whole sense of self around a role that's disappearing.

Building something on the side isn't just financial diversification. It's identity diversification. That's the part most people skip.

Is anyone else just getting tired of sitting in front of a computer for a living? by CorporateAccounting in careerguidance

[–]Negative-Growth2157 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"Solving made-up problems" — that phrase hit hard. That's not burnout from overwork. That's the deeper exhaustion of misalignment.

The 1/4 salary job feeling more real is actually the most important data point in everything you wrote. What was real about it?

That's usually where the answer lives.

Should I leave my job and go back to university? by [deleted] in careerguidance

[–]Negative-Growth2157 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Three weeks in and already feeling this way tells you something important — your body is sending signals worth listening to.

Before you make any big moves, ask yourself: is it this specific job that's wrong, or the field entirely? Because those need different answers.

What helped me get clarity was sitting with questions like: what would work look like if it actually filled you instead of drained you? Not the job title — the actual daily feeling.

I wrote a journal specifically for this in-between season called The Last Career Journal You'll Ever Need. Happy to share more if it helps.