Adriana,

When I was 19 I chose a computer science major in college. I also studied computer science in grad school, and after that I taught college for 5 years. I couldn’t go beyond 5 because I didn’t have a Ph.D. and therefore couldn’t get tenure.

That left jobs in an office, which I discovered I hated — the lack of privacy, the 8-to-5 schedule, the concept that you only get 2 days a week and 2 entire weeks out of the year when your time is your own, dress codes, Agile software development practices, project management practices, all of it. As you can see in my profile, I’m a teacher, a writer, a connector, an inspirer — IT/web development jobs use almost none of those qualities. It wasn’t until a layoff well into my 40s that I became convinced that I couldn’t go back to that line of work anymore.

I had a limiting belief all those years — that I could be happy, I could be free, I could live my passion OR I could be financially successful, but not both. I ended up working part-time for a law firm across the street from my apartment. COVID gave me an 11-week furlough and I did some belief work during that time. Now I have discovered writing on Medium and other opportunities and see a career where I can live my passion and use my best qualities.