Just Like Starting Over: Considering Career Shifts and New Locations

Haven’t we all fantasized about starting over? Moving to a new city or taking a job in a completely new field? The lure of the unknown is romantic in a way.

A friend recently wrote on Facebook, “I’ve been asked to apply for a position outside of the NYC-metro area. And it’s a dream position. Cue, anxiety. #WhatToDo” What followed were over 40 comments which I felt the need to scan. Most with the message of “Go for it! It never hurts to try” and all the old adages we’ve heard before.

Was that the right sort of advice? In a day and age where people can work form almost anywhere, are any of us really tethered to home? Or will we be a generation of gypsies following one job to the next, one location to another?

There was a song I remember hearing as a teenager, it was advice on life: “Live in New York City once but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft”- taken from “Wear Sunscreen: A Primer for Real Life” by Mary Schmich. (Her whole piece is worth reading again, especially now that you’re older).

But the truth is, I never left New York (unless you count a shift to the burbs) and my plan to one day live in San Francisco never materialized (Silicon Valley made it all so expensive to live there)…