There’s a myth that we have to “do” things the right way for us to be successful. Just figure out the rules and play by them.
But if it was that straightforward, we would all be much more successful.
The problem is humans, individually and collectively, aren’t that simple.
I’ve been moving around quite a bit for the past two years and a question I’ve been getting is “why Ireland?”.
I get the sense that people are looking for something romantic, like “we always wanted to live in Ireland”.
Or maybe something definitive, like “my husband got a job offer in Ireland”.
The answer, though, was one of pure pragmatism…and is more than one thing alone.
I submitted my Irish residency application last week. I think maybe it should have been a celebratory moment but it mostly felt like a huge relief that it was done.
For a very long time, I had been making career decisions based on two things: practicality, then desire. I’m now in a strange situation where I have enough to not be in need, and no longer want some of the things I used to.
How have I been able to coach others to reach their career goals, even through my own experiences with corporate?
There’s a beauty in the coach-coachee dynamic that a coach is able to see the coachee’s situation objectively.
I guess that’s the case with most partnerships like it: doctor and patient, mechanic and car owner, home builder and home owner.
When I was traveling for work on a regular basis, I had my “travel go bag” standardized to one carry-on bag and one laptop tote bag—toiletries included. Not only did this make packing easier, but I was proud that I knew exactly what I needed on my 3-4 day trips.
After 4 relocations in 2 years, I’m starting to find the same concept of a “travel go bag” for moving countries.
It was during a chilly walk at the end of 2022 that my husband and I decided to take a path that would eventually move us to Spain.
But it was as early as the beginning of 2021 that I started to question whether I was still on the right career path.
Whether I wanted to be on the path I was on anymore.
If I look back, moving…relocating to a more suitable place is something I’ve done for as long as I was making my own decisions.
The first time was when I changed to a high school that offered the philosophy and film & literature classes I wanted to take. Then there was moving to a city that was more affordable than Toronto so I could move out of my parents home (and not into a grimy studio apartment). Or moving to Vancouver because I was done with the -35 winters and +45 summers of Southern Ontario.
