Reflecting on the choices we make
Take a moment and think back on what your life looked like in July 2014…
Just for reference:
The #1 song was “Problem” by Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea (still a bop IMO).
Game of Thrones was all we wanted to watch.
Ebola was declared a global health crisis.
And I started my job as a Presidential Innovation Fellow in Washington, DC.
Six weeks earlier, someone from the Obama Administration had called me and said, “You’re in!” Seriously: they gave us one and a half months to move our family to DC and for me to start work. Soon after making the move, I commemorated my first day in government service by taking the photo on the right.
I couldn’t have known back then what a life-changing choice I was making.
All I knew was that I was ready for a new job, I wanted to make more money (which, ironically, was possible given how little I was making in the private sector), and I thought it’d be fun to have a new adventure with my family in a new city.
Fast forward to this week and I found myself back in front of The White House – smiling just as wide, but with a completely different perspective.
When we feel stuck, making change feels so urgent. Seeing results feels so urgent.
But I don’t think we talk enough about the ripple effects of our decisions – about how one single choice creates long-term, life-altering impacts on our careers, on our lives, and on who we are becoming.
I thought my choice to move to DC ten years ago was about changing jobs. Instead, it was a choice to completely alter the trajectory of my life (and I didn’t even realize it).
✅ If I hadn’t moved to DC, I wouldn’t have worked at The White House.
✅ If I hadn’t worked at The White House, I wouldn't have gotten my job at the Spanish design firm (and would have missed out on all those trips to Madrid!).
✅ If I hadn’t worked at the Spanish design firm, I wouldn’t have gotten laid off.
✅ If I hadn’t gotten laid off, I wouldn’t have started my own business.
✅ If I hadn’t started my own business, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to return to DC and facilitate a workshop – this week! – for many of the same amazing colleagues I came to know and love when I was in government all those years ago.
My point is this:
Yes, we want to make changes in our lives. And yes, change can happen quickly. But what’s delighting me this weekend isn’t the fact that I made one change back in 2014.
It’s that the change I bravely chose to make, all those years ago, is still bearing fruit. It’s still serving me and the person I am becoming – a decade later.
Who were you back in 2014? And how did the choices you made then set you on the path you’re on today? I’m curious to hear from you.
Onward,
