Hi All,

I’m not sure if it’s a result of the COVID atmosphere, or whether it’s my own mental state taking a turn for the worst, but I’ve suddenly been dealing with pangs of anxiety lately mostly related to what I want to do career-wise.

I was very hell-bent on making a career out of sales when I graduated college. After doing that for a few years I’ve come to realize that while I love the extra $$$ from closing deals, the constant nagging of building up pipeline and hitting an imaginary number is just not for me. I constantly think about missing my target and being fired, having to explain that in future interviews, repeating the same cycle in a new role, etc. Not sure what I would transition into since I did not learn any new hard skills, but I’m making an effort now to learn more data analysis in my spare time and seeing where that goes.

I started a new sales role recently, but my fear of underperforming is just causing me not to be at my best. I constantly think about work, and waking up every single day dreading it just seems like a wake up call for me. I’ve been thinking about transitioning to an entirely new career, but I have no idea what or how - everything seems fascinating to me and I don’t know what careers there are out there for me.

I am growing to loathe the corporate/white-collar-rat-race every single day and want to give the trades a shot just to see if I like it; truly want to say fuck all and work as a laborer, but the pay cut and ramp up time before I would see real money is preventing me from making moves. I worry about paying bills, my loans, saving up money, my health problems that I will need to address soon, not having insurance, etc. I was able to rely on myself to stay headstrong, but the only thing keeping my head above water is some family and close friends.

This uncertainty is causing me to lose my ambition and the confidence I’ve had in my future. I have never felt like this before, so I’m not really well equipped to handle this sort of mental state of constant anxiety and fear of impending doom. It seems like my 10 year plan of where I wanted to be has shifted after I’ve experienced firsthand how nonchalant a company will drop you if you aren’t to par.

1. If you deal with these kinds of thoughts I’ve outlined, how do you manage them?

2. What do you do for a living? Have you ever had a career crisis and made a switch, or gone from white collar to blue collar? Do you recommend a career coach?