Sometimes back in September 2023 I was working on rewiring myself.

After a lifetime spent self-regulating using old good tricks (comfort in food, validation in sex, happiness in booze, and control in busyness – just to name a few), I got tired of those and eager to find an alternative method.

They say third time's a charm. Or in my case, the third time's when I chose courage over fear.

I tried to break free twice before. Both times, I came back—too scared of walking the unbeaten path, too scared of standing in the dark.

Miss Planning died last summer.

No one really died, of course. Just the part of me convinced that everything in my life needed a plan. And with Miss Planning gone, I discovered something key about career transitions: the difference between having no direction and leaving room for direction to emerge.

It's 3pm on a sunny Friday, and Karen pinged you on Slack. "Hey!" Not you again, Karen! You already know what's about to happen: Karen will ask you for a "quick favor," which turns into spending 3 hours reviewing a PowerPoint presentation that no one will look at. In the meantime, the sun goes down and with it the good mood you hoped to carry into the weekend.