When embarking on my journey to change careers, I needed a plan of action. I couldn’t just quit and expect to find a brilliant new job right away. As my mentor always says, “Don’t quit the old job before you have a new one.”
I knew this advice was wise and practical—and because I wanted out of the job like a snowman wants to get out of hell, I resented the wisdom and practicality of the idea. I didn’t want to wait to fall into my dream career. I was Veruca Salt. I wanted it NOW.
Then I calmed down and thought of the Underpants Gnomes, who appeared in an episode from the second season of South Park. The boys are in the middle of researching a local business for a class project. Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny have to work with Tweek, the twitchy, hyperactive son of a local businessman who owns a coffee shop. Tweek is scared of gnomes, which he says are stealing his underpants.
The boys soon discover that Tweek isn’t paranoid: gnomes really are stealing his underpants, and in fact, the creatures have an entire business built on stealing underwear.
The boys ask the gnomes to explain their business plan, which is this:
- Phase 1: Collect Underpants
- Phase 2: ?
- Phase 3: Profit!
The gnomes know their plan, they have their end goal, but they have no idea how to connect Phase 1 to Phase 3.
When I first had the urge to quit my job, I wanted to skip directly from Phase 1 to Phase 3. If I quit my job, eventually I would find a new one, because I had to find a new one, and things would just fall into place for me exactly when I needed to. If I thought it and needed it, it would be done.
If only life were that easy.
Now I realize that I need two things in order to achieve my end goal: patience and resilience. That’s why I have mapped out my plan like this:
Waiting for happiness in a career is not easy. We all want to rush to the finish line to find a job that is challenging, satisfying, and pays a decent salary. But if we push too fast, we might end up with a half-baked plan like the underpants gnomes’—and that’s no way to live.
