What do you do when things are good but not great? When things are comfortable, it takes courage to change paths—career, relationship, or otherwise—in order to pursue something better.
Jenny shares her experience of having a quarter-life crisis, walking the tightrope of career uncertainty without a safety net in order to pursue the unknown. Sometimes good isn’t good enough; you have to pivot.
Topics We Explored:
- How Jenny found the courage to leave her job at Google to pursue the unknown
- What strategy Jenny used to break free of her discontentment in her career
- Why her 20- to 30-minute meditation sessions are the most important part of her day
- How to deal with the confusion, discontentment, and other feelings that mid- and quarter-life crises can evoke
- What your fear and insecurity really mean
- What steps you can take right away in a situation that is going to take a while to get out of
- Which two questions Jenny asked herself that led to her pivotal career change
“When things seem really terrible, I seek the blessing in disguise. But we don’t always see the gift in the garbage.” -Jenny Blake (tweet this)
Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
- The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization by Peter M. Senge
- “Opt Out: Say No to Good So You Can Say Yes to Great”
- Sacred Contracts: Awakening Your Divine Potential by Caroline Myss
- “How to Avoid Creative Burnout with Jennifer Louden”
- “How to Build Your Mentor Group with Jeff Hopeck”
- Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Donald Rumsfeld quote
About Jenny Blake:
Jenny Blake is an author, career and business strategist, and international speaker who helps smart people organize their brains, move beyond burnout, and build sustainable, dynamic careers they love. Jenny is the author of the forthcoming book Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One (Portfolio/Penguin, September 2016) and of Life After College: The Complete Guide to Getting What You Want (Running Press, 2011), which is based on her blog of the same name.
With two years at a technology start-up as the first employee, five years at Google on the Training and Career Development teams, and over three years of running her own business, Jenny combines her love of technology with her superpower of simplifying complexity to help clients through big transitions — often to pivot their careers or businesses.
Today you can find her at JennyBlake.me, where she explores systems at the intersection of mind, body, and business. Jenny is based in New York City, where she imagines she’s starring in a movie whenever she walks through its crowded streets. Follow her on Twitter @jenny_blake.
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