It’s Time to Jump: Why I’m Quitting My Day Job

I have decided to leave my day job. My last day will be Feb. 25.  It was not an easy decision to make and it is very bittersweet for me.

I’ve been at the Hockey Academy for about four and a half years and overall it has served
me really well. For those who aren’t familiar with my role, it is largely communications related for the company but also operations related for adult hockey leagues. I’ve made amazing friendships out of it and for so long got to say, “even when it’s my worst day at work, I still work in hockey.” And it was true.

But about three or four months ago, things stopped adding up for me. I don’t want to get too deep into details but my anxiety level was through the roof…to the point where I could barely function.  I broke down and felt like something was tearing away at my soul. I found myself questioning a lot of things.

I was conflicted because I still felt like I had something to offer people. I’m obviously still very passionate about hockey. I’m also passionate about living a healthy lifestyle, fitness, and helping others live happier lives. I thought I was accomplishing that at work through my day job but really, all I was doing was driving myself deeper in a dark hole. In order to do what I really want to do – help other people – I had to help myself first. You know how when you’re on an airplane and they talk about how when the oxygen mask comes down in the event of an outage, you’re supposed to secure your own before helping other people? That’s what I needed to do.

Then I saw this video. It changed a lot of things for me. And listen – I’m not religious at all. I’m not even a fan of Steve Harvey. But in this video, he speaks my soul, and I get emotional every time I watch it.

I looked at Meg Hewings, GM for the Montreal Candiennes. She’d always been a role model for me since I started in my GM job. Meg is a full time GM, and has what she calls “not jobs” to supplement her income (because let’s be honest, GM life doesn’t pay the bills, as much as I would like it to and hope it someday does). These “not jobs” include some real estate and some writing gigs (we both have a journalism background). But what clicked for me was that Meg lives a life by design. She built her life so that she could get income by doing things she loved and enjoyed, and could also dedicate enough of her time to her other love, her team, and be a full time GM.

Imagine all the things I could do if I were a full time GM, I thought. My eyes and heart would light up just thinking about it. And, I could still help people by exploring my passion for health & fitness as a career too. It would truly be the best of both worlds if I could do both. I took a lot of time to think about this possibility. I went away for about a week, my first real vacation in over a year. And I just thought long and hard.

 My conclusion: I needed to let go of what no longer served me and design my own life. Financially, I had a safety net for myself. I would be okay. I cried tears of joy. Tears of release. I knew what the answer was. It was time.

I’m not going to lie, there are aspects of my day job that I will miss. It is a little scary because all the “what if’s?” run through my head on a regular basis. The voice inside that doubts yourself can be the loudest one. But I know that in letting go of something that no longer serves me, I am creating something amazing: my happiness.

Sometimes you have to jump off a cliff and build your wings on the way down. So that’s what I’m doing. Jumping. It’s going to make me a better GM, and a happier and more fulfilled person. I’m ready to start the next chapter of my life.