Reinvention reflections: 3 months’ in, what it actually feels like to switch gears from corporate to creative

A personal reflection on starting over, the lessons I have learned and the honest truths that almost made me want to run back.

The last three months has been an interesting period of my life, from choosing to walk away from a successful corporate job to taking an intentional break to figure out what comes next. I booked a family holiday and spent a month abroad with my husband, attending a family reunion and wedding as well as exploring one of my favourite cities, Hong Kong.

The initial couple of weeks before I boarded the plane, was quite confronting. I went from back to back meetings and managing a large team and structured work, to nothing. This space was quite confronting for me, given I typically enjoy fast paced environments and the typical intensity of corporate life. I felt like I was in a large black hole. I knew that this transition period was going to be painful and weird. At times, I was filled with immense joy and at other quiet and vulnerable moments, I felt a little bit lost.

Who was I anymore?

Sitting in this space of grey, as painful as it has been, has reminded me of the power of embracing ambiguity and not knowing the path forward. It reminded me of many times in my life before, in that grey period of reinvention, where nothing quite makes sense.

It was a space that sparked my creative writing passion, as I sat with myself and that often excruciating silence, to explore what reinvention could look like.

Granted, I brought this upon myself, I know that there were times when I felt the pull to go back. I found myself scrolling on LinkedIn and fantasizing about relocating overseas and applying for a different commercial role. It took having an honest conversation with myself, to really figure out why I was thinking in that way.

The realisation I had was that maybe it was the comfort that I missed, of working within a structured environment where the rules of engagement were predictable. I missed that outcomes could easily be measured and achieved, giving me that dopamine hit I was used to. I missed the thrill of solving problems and helping others navigate the politics of things or their stakeholders.

I also found myself stuck at times, in writer’s block and in that interesting period where I was trying to reacquaint to my creative self and creative brain. Instead of free writing during some of my writing exercises, I found myself deep in my systematic thinking and working through structure, marketing plans and branding strategy for the book that I haven’t written yet.

I realised that I was using some of my default corporate brain and that I was going to need to find the right balance between building my creative brain and leveraging all my other skills. The process of unlearning and relearning is something that has always fascinated me, and I think it is a crucial part of the reinvention process.

Here are five truths that I have experienced during my initial reinvention phase:

1. Embracing the silence, the grey has been scary yet profoundly liberating

2. Understanding my defaults gives me an opportunity to seek more clarity

3. Navigating conflicting voices and thoughts is an important part of the process

4. Growth is uncomfortable for the ego and challenges key pillars of your sense of self

5. It does not have to be a solo journey, and it is okay to not have everything figured out

As I look toward the future and this next phase of my reinvention, it will involve continually stepping outside of my comfort zone and putting myself out there in a vulnerable way. It does sometimes feel daunting, but at the same time, it just feels right.

I promised myself that I was going to give my inner voice a space to share the words and experiences in real time, to put out there into the ether, in the hopes that it will resonate with someone else who may be going through their own seasons of change.

If you are reading this, and if any of the five truths resonate with you or if you have a different perspective, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.

Thanks for reading.