Exploring The Intersection of Professional and Personal Life
Over the past three years, I’ve navigated a whirlwind of change, sharing my experiences with layoffs and professional transitions here on LinkedIn. Through it all, I’ve cycled through many perspectives: seeing myself as a victim, viewing challenges as learning opportunities, feeling apathetic, and eventually embracing the belief that everything happens for a reason. It was only when I consistently adopted a growth-focused mindset that I found the right place for me and began to truly thrive.
Now, as I find some stability in my professional life, I plan to continue this personal journey identifying how the two are inextricably tied but also the point of keeping them to some extent separate. Through this all, I want to share my reflections along with the learnings I garner from all the great people and reasons around me. As such I am excited to introduce my new Substack, The Ever Evolving Individual. This platform will allow me to share more in-depth reflections on my this growth journey, insights that I believe go beyond the scope of LinkedIn.
This Substack is an experiment, but one that I believe some of my audience here will appreciate. Through The Ever Evolving Individual, I hope to explore the lessons I’ve learned, the growth I’ve experienced, and the many insights I’ve gained through great conversations, readings, and personal reflections. I invite you to join me on this journey as we continue to learn and grow together. Below is the beginning of my first post:
How Changing My View Transformed My Life and Nine Addition Lessons from My Journey Through Uncertainty
Recently, I found myself at a concert delayed by a windstorm. As 10,000 people wandered around the beautiful venue called The Gorge, waiting to hear if the show would resume, I observed the crowd. Some looked devastated, others were visibly frustrated, and some were still partying and having a blast. Talking with a friend, we agreed it all came down to perspective. Over the last few years, I’ve learned a lot about the importance of owning our perspective.
Before diving in, I want to acknowledge that my reflections come from a place of privilege, with jobs at well-known companies and a degree from a leading institution. I believe success is about effort and seizing opportunities when they arise. I’ve worked hard, but I’ve also been incredibly lucky, and for that, I am deeply grateful. As I enter my next decade, one of my primary goals is to help create those opportunities for others, which is part of the reason why I chose to write this piece.
Last month, I shared my return to Microsoft after over two years in what I call “the wilderness.” This period was filled with significant highs and intense lows. It began with a risk that I didn’t fully appreciate at the time. I left Microsoft in pursuit of more, and while I initially found it, the illusion of greener grass soon faded. During that time, I was laid off three times, faced the reality that I might have made a grave mistake, and had to reconstruct my identity beyond just being a worker.
After being laid off from Twilio, I wrote about the lessons learned from multiple layoffs. Looking back, I agree with what I wrote, but now I see the greatest lesson only came with a third layoff amidst other life changes. I realized that perception matters more than anything, and we have the power to control how we perceive any event. At times over these past few years, I saw myself as a victim. In others, I saw myself as achieving great success playing the role of a confident founder and author. Through it all though, I let go of many desires, and learned to appreciate what I have. I took the perspective of abundance rather than scarcity and took a growth mindset, seeing all the experiences, good and bad, as lessons that made me stronger. While it doesn’t always feel like it, we have the power to frame any situation, using a growth mindset to keep moving forward.
Lesson 1: We own our perception of any event
