I have been at my new job for exactly 8 days and I have learnt so much that my brain is happily full every day. For the first time in my career, I have stepped outside of the mining industry, which was very much my comfort zone. Let me make a hypothetical example to show how far I am out of my comfort zone:
If my comfort zone is Cape Town, then my current state of operating is somewhere near Nelspruit.
Growth is something that happens outside of our comfort zones and it feels uncomfortable BUT it's so worth it. A few people have asked me how I managed to get a job outside of mining and I give the following reasons:
I built up my skills and experience so that some of them are transferrable.
While I was in mining I certified as a Blackbelt (many people start but not many certify)
I network, network, network ALL the time, because it's important to me
I deliberately look for a valuable lesson in every interaction and situation
Over the last week I have thought "Yassss I can do this, I'm a Blackbelt Queen!" but I have also thought "Am I the only one in this meeting that understands nothing?!" and it's all part of change.
I will continue to update you all on this journey but the take away here is that you are not defined by what you studied. You can change careers and change back, then change again. It's normal to feel scared and I am here to help you navigate the scariness.
Please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-gamba-48840578/
Or
You can book a free Career Clarification Session with me and we can talk about getting promoted , changing careers, or just general career things you need help with: https://calendly.com/laurengamba/clarification-session
Until next time, stay safe!
