Feeling like a loser - workwise!

[MummyBear405]

Really just a bit of a rant!

Last year I decided to leave my well paid managerial role in Central London that I'd worked really hard for because I was miserable!

I decided that instead I wanted to start my own business and things have been going great! The only downside is that I've taken a poorly paid desk job within my industry in order to keep us a float whilst I built the business ... it was only meant to be temporary!

Now I actually need to keep the job because I need the mat pay and my business is quite physically demanding so that's going to have to go on hold.

I ran into someone I used to work with this morning and they're doing really well, I was too embarrassed to tell them where I work now and it's not like a can brag about my business or my baby yet (only 9 weeks)!

I'm super happy about being pregnant and I know this will all seem very trivial when I'm holding my baby in my arms but right now I just feel a little lost

Thanks for reading xx

Hi OP.

I too left a managerial role 8 months ago because I was miserable, I was being signed off with stress and having regular anxiety attacks. my health was suffering for a job that would replace me in a heartbeat!

I took a step down into another role with a different (larger) organisation and although this job is not very fulfilling (feel like I could do it with my eyes closed!) I am working less hours for more money than I was earning at my previous, higher ranked job. There is opportunity to progress eventually and the benefits such as mat leave are much better in my new job.

so I would just say don't worry about where you are at RIGHT NOW. What you are doing now is paving the way for your future. Everyone has to make sacrifices sometimes.

imagine that feeling you will have once LO is here and you eventually begin to focus on your own business again... keep that at the forefront of your mind :)

I worked with someone who ran a huge department with 400 staff and she was great at it. She gave it up to go several steps down after her dream career, from a 70k salary to 25k. I had nothing but admiration for her. She returned in the end to the same company running a department in that new sector after 2 to 3 years. Get your 5 and 10 year career plan down on paper so you can remain focused on the long term, and if you feel awkward telling people perhaps rehearse a little speech for people who ask about it. If you are able to do current job while sleeping, perhaps some online training courses via coursera can fill the brain gap in the mean time and keep your cv fresh.

@Marty93 thanks so much for your reply! It sounds like we're in quite a similar situation, this job does not take a lot of brain power but I guess I should be grateful for that right now! I'm so focused on getting up and out in the morning without being sick that I probably couldn't handle much more. You're so right, doing this for now will mean being able to provide for my baby in their first few months and then who knows what could happen! I know it's the beginning of something awesome rather than the end ... just got to focus on that

@Beeseeinya that's a lovely story and it's so nice to hear that you felt admiration for her rather than pity (which a lot of people seem to look at me with when I talk about my dream job) I just have to keep going and I never thought of e-courses! I'll definitely look into that to keep me sharp!