Just when you think you’ve settled in to the job and the lifestyle of your dreams, along comes an opportunity to pack it all in and start all over again. Why on earth would you want to do that, when you’re so happy and comfortable where you are? Because comfort and complacency are the enemies of change, and change is what makes the world go round.
So, just like that, I’m packing up and moving to Dubai for a dream job. With just days to go before I leave, it feels like this is all far too sudden and a life-changing decision made on a whim. Some of my mates have even said as much. So has my inner critic, loudly.
Adding to this, just a few months ago I took some time out to check in and review my life. I was super happy in my job, I had a five year development plan and a career path that was on track. I was completing my online studies to level up in preparation for my long-term growth.
So what’s with this sudden change? Am I ripping out all the solid foundations to chase a dream, quixotically? Have I completely lost the plot?
Well, no. Not at all. This change has been two years in the making. The seed was planted on a visit to Dubai. A clear opportunity to jump in and use my skills. There seem to be so many businesses that could be so much more successful if they just got their hands dirty in digital. It seemed like Dubai was reaching out to me, calling me to come play.
This set my mind on fire, and I plotted out a little presentation of what I could do, and sent that off. Sadly, real life is not Hollywood, so that first contact went nowhere, and neither did the second one. But someone did take note, and that seed slowly germinated until a couple of months ago, when I got The Call: Would I like to head up a marketing team launching two international brands in Dubai?
Hmm. Give up my cushy job with brilliant benefits and the best team I have ever worked with (with apologies to all the previous best teams I have ever worked with!) Give up the stability of working in a globally established corporate to change countries, and start from scratch with a team I’ve never met in person? Give up all my friends and the good life I’ve built in Cape Town over the past five years? The road trips, the beach runs, the network of amazing people who make this such a great place to live and work?
Yes. Absolutely. In a heartbeat.
Why? Because I learned long ago that my own worst enemy is a comfort zone and complacency. And even though change makes me weak at the knees in ways that Channing Tatum doesn’t, every time life has thrown a major change my way, it has always, always been a change up into something better, despite what sometimes looked like chaos and the end of the road.
So I’m giving it all up. Everything. My massive four screen display at my office. My weekend road trips. My free gym membership and the great mentor and colleagues who are like family to me. I’m even shedding all my material possessions, down to one suitcase and a rucksack, and I’m leaving.
There have been some dark moments in the past few weeks, as the fear of the unknown has kept me awake in the small hours, questioning if this was the right decision. There have been tears and there has been stress eating. But there have also been spectacular moments of deep appreciation for everything that I have learned and gained in the last five years that has opened doors along the way and finally delivered my Dubai dream.
So I’m rolling with it. Because at age 43, I’m young enough to know I still have so much more to learn, and I’m ready to get uncomfortable and start something new.
Watch out, Dubai! Here I come!
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