Time is not a renewable resource.

Image by AVAKA photo from Pixabay

When I was 24, I was working at a small newspaper company getting paid $20,000 a year and living with my parents. When the chance to work at a youth hostel on Nantucket for the summer popped up, I immediately called my boss to give my two weeks notice and off I went. I knew I didn’t want to be a journalist anymore, and I had my WHOLE career in front of me.

When I was 27 I had been working at a real estate firm for three years making good money, but I felt like I had hit a ceiling, so I quit my job and eventually decided to start a pet sitting company. Even if it didn’t work out, I had PLENTY of time left to find a new path.

When I was 32, I had burnt out running my own business and moved to New York to begin a new chapter. I was confident I had enough professional experience, savings, and energy to get established in a new city. Three years later, it all fell apart, and I suddenly realized I had SUFFICIENT time to start over, but time was a non-renewable resource.

When I was 40, I had a great job, but extenuating life circumstances forced my husband and I to reassess our situation. We decided to pick up sticks and move to a new place and start fresh. It was frustrating to leave a job and co-workers I loved behind, but I recognized that I had reached a point in my career where I had ENOUGH time in my career to make a big change, but time wouldn’t always be in my favor.

I’m very grateful for all the working experiences I have had (even the terrible ones), and I’m even more grateful to have ended up where I did. The optimist in me believes it is never too late to begin again, but the practical side of me appreciates that where one is on the timeline of their career is a crucial consideration when contemplating a new career move.

There are two elements that are part of many successful and meaningful careers that inherently take time: Relationship and mastery.

We all have colleagues with whom we feel an immediate connection, but the most impactful professional relationships can take years to develop. Shared experiences, surviving workplace conflicts, overcoming economic challenges, and moving through structural changes all contribute to building strong resilient relationships (professional and personal). This are not something that fits neatly into a five-year career plan.

Maybe professional relationships are not that important to you, but what about a feeling of mastery in your trade or skill? In my experience at new jobs, it has taken about a year just to feel like I know what I’m doing on a day-to-day basis. Only then can I start to work on mastering the work. For better or worse, I’m not someone who has spent a long time at any one job, but it’s something I think a lot about now. If I want to feel a sense of mastery in my career, how much longer will I have the luxury of starting over?

If you are planning a career change, how much time do you need to create what you want for yourself?