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Why I do this Career Coaching thing

career happiness Mar 16, 2023
Image of Diana Alt on green background. Caption says

I became a career coach because I was tired of seeing people waste their lives on things that suck

Like many life changes, there’s a story behind my own career change.

Here's mine.


 

I was married before. 

His name was Andy.

He was pretty great.


Andy was a frustrated software engineer. He spent a lot of time feeling

  • Bored, but not sure what would be better.
  • Overworked and underappreciated.
  • Worried about rocking the boat.
  • Disrespected by "leadership."

Can you relate?

I sure can. I’m sure a lot of you can, too

At the tender age of 38, Andy decided it was time to change fields. We started researching options for the long term. We were building our story together and seriously thinking about how to build more long-term happiness into our lives. 

His preferred field of psychology required a bunch of schooling, so he started taking a couple of classes to scratch that itch.

It wasn't financially doable for him to go back to school full-time. 

The culture and work hours at his job were horrible.

So he decided to look for another, better software job.

He found one! 

He found a job at a company with a MUCH better working environment.

It was one where a couple of his good friends from a prior job worked.

One that would allow him to be happy every day. 

He could also take psychology classes part-time. 

Sadly, he never got to start that new job.

A few days after he accepted the offer, he landed in the hospital.

It was a very aggressive brain tumor.

He died 5 weeks later.

Andy was only 40. He hadn't truly enjoyed work in years.

He enjoyed his friends, his family, and being married to me. 

But the thing he spent the absolute most time on? He did not enjoy that.

And even worse than just "eh, my job isn't great."

It was extremely demanding and stressful AF requiring too much extra time.

This meant he couldn't be as present as he wanted for the important stuff.

He’d be 53.

It sounds kind of old, but that’s mostly because he’s frozen in time for me at age 40.

People. It's not okay for the last job you have before

Cancer

A disability

A heart attack 

Or a great big fat truck

ends your career - or your life - to suck the joy out of your world.


Andy Rupf

3/16/1969 - 10/25/2009


 

If you're feeling stuck in your career, let's talk. 

You can contact me right here.