Oh, the places you’ll go…
Barb Richards, one of Radio’s best known and most respected programmers, left radio last year for an entirely new career. She’s been sharing what that’s like each month to offer hope and encouragement to others in our industry who may want, or need, a big change.
Here’s this month’s report:
It’s been nine months since I switched careers, making the jump out of radio, and it’s just like graduating from high school and moving on to college.
You remember high school graduation: You knew you were always going to stay in touch with your fellow classmates. You made pinkie-swears, had college goodbye parties, and wondered how you would ever survive without those special classmates you saw every day from elementary school through high school.
Then you went off to college and the next thing you knew, you were so busy with your new adventure and making new friends that it became difficult to stay in close touch with your high school friends. And you noticed they weren’t really staying in touch with you either. And by the first holiday break, you realized how quickly you and everyone else had scattered into your new lives.
Yep, how quickly everything has moved! That’s what I’m feeling today.
I’m already using the “I’m new” excuse a whole lot less. I have a different set of co-workers who I hang with now after work. I have a new boss who is quickly becoming my best boss ever. I now sprinkle my conversation with the jargon of my new business. I’ve rearranged my office, packed files away, and started new processes. And lately, instead of saying to someone “I’ll have to check and get back to you” later because I don’t know the policy, I now know the policy and can give an educated answer.
The transition was never as difficult in real life as it was in my head.
I lived and breathed my radio job. I really don’t know how my kids turned out so well, considering how much time I spent at my radio job when they were growing up. (They’ve all used my example to their benefit though. All three of them have a very dedicated work ethic.) Could I live and breathe another type of job? Could I be dedicated and passionate about something else? Yep, I can and I am!
You can be a naysayer and stop yourself from making a move that could make you happier, that could help you grow as a person, that could open a new door you never even dreamed existed.
Or, you could remember what it was like when you graduated from high school, that excitement about where you were headed and all the possibilities life might bring your way.
My son reads, “Oh, The Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss to my 5 year-old grandson every night. Need something to motivate you to move forward? Read that book. You might just discover it’s the right time for you to begin a new adventure in life.
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Each month following Barb’s post, I get email from grateful readers contemplating their own life changes. Barb’s openness to doing something totally new, her willingness to risk looking foolish, to failing, really are an inspiration.
Life doesn’t end when radio ends for you. It just signals a new beginning.