Edith's Endeavors

The world is absolutely wild right now and it takes a lot to keep going with the current state of the world. It can feel hard to keep track of the news cycle never mind keeping up with goals. However I have successfully changed my entire life for the better over the past 18 months, and I wanted to share how I’ve done that! I’ve doubled my income, switched industries, moved house (3 times, ugh), completely turned my financial debt situation around, and all in all almost every part of my life has completely changed for the better.

Its wild when you are turning your life around, its the most chaotic feeling. You have no idea what is happening and no idea what is next and you are just praying that things work out with no real plan. But the thing is, unless you have those moments of actual chaos, the moments of success don’t happen. Those moments of chaos happen because you decided to take a risk, to take a chance. Those moments of chaos lead to better things.

A prime example of this would be my situation last summer. I quit my school job the previous December. I had gotten tired of working in a position where I wasn’t respected, where my physical safety was not a priority so I left. I had no job lined up afterwards, but I knew I couldn’t stay. As a result, I ended up getting a promotion at my part time winter position at a luxury ski area, with the title ‘manager’. When the ski season ended and I went back to my part time summer job of waiting tables, I walked into a situation of absolute chaos. Over the winter, the restaurant had gotten a new full time manager, and he was awful. Quite possibly, he was the worst boss I’ve ever had. He made our jobs a horrible non-collaborative, angry environment that everyone hated. While all the servers did try to work together as best they could, he was constantly pinning us against each other.

Here I am in this summer job I need, I can’t just quit. I hate my boss but I need the income, what do I do? I started applying for full time jobs again, 6 months after I had left the school. While I had been planning to just waitress until the next winter again to return to my manager position, I was so uncomfortable in the position that I was in that I was forced to act for my own sake. There was one job in particular that I really wanted, but I applied to many.

Over the next 4 months I went through and interview process more intensive than any other job I’ve ever had. It was a complete career jump away from anything I had ever been involved in before, and I had to work so hard in the interview process to be taken seriously, but guess what? I got the job!

If I hadn’t been entrenched in so much chaos and discomfort, I never would have even applied to the job I have now. Without the chaos, I never would have gotten to where I am now.

Littlefinger wasn’t lying in GOT when he said “Chaos is a ladder” (Although I didn’t like his character, I will say he had some good one liners). Use chaos to motivate you to make the changes you need in your life. Little changes lead to big changes. Now because of that chaos, I am in an ASTRONIMICALLY better place than I was when I left my job at the school. Heck I’m in a better place than I even was a year ago!

This is just one aspect of how you can change your life it you just embrace the chaos as part of the journey, and use it to get you to a new place. My chaos made me so uncomfortable that I had to act. Maybe your chaos opens a door to a new position at work for you, or shows you an opportunity to step up in a way you haven’t been able to before. Whatever the chaos is it isn’t forever and use it as leverage.