« What the hell am I doing? »
The question kept popping into my mind when boarding the flight. It’s Thursday, September 13th at 4.57pm. While the plane was reaching for the sky, the thick Parisian clouds were miraculously turning into a clear blue sky. And the more blue the sky got, the more this question seemed meaningless.
Having the answer is not always a source of satisfaction. Because — this time — uncertainty stood for adventures.
A few weeks ago, I quit my apartment, my family, my friends and my job at a trendy French event agency to « take the time ».
At this very moment, I am about to spend two months in the US. No plans, no job… No stress. Just a backpack, a place to stay for the first 3 days and a few phone numbers of people I want to meet on the road.
I have been dreaming about this trip for a long time. But, as many young professionals, I was surprised to realize how time seems to speed up as soon as you leave college. And how easy it gets to be trapped in your own — personal and professional — comfort zone. One that doesn’t make a lot of room for uncertainty. One that is actually mostly driven by the fear of not making the “right choices”. One that is focusing on getting your career off to a flying start, because “if not now, when”?
In today’s mad race for success, young graduates often forget their biggest strength: a way of thinking that remains free of their elders’ convictions. How useful, when you are asked to bring a fresh perspective on an organization.
But the perspective does not remain fresh very long. Habits grow quickly. And after one, two or thee years… Many young (and less young) professionals feel the need to push the reset button. This “reset” often translates into a change of professional environment. But it rarely encourages people to pause and understand why they felt like they needed to reset something in the first place.
Before turning your life upside down, starting a new job or launching a new startup: why not taking some time to observe and think without setting any upstream clear goals? Why not trying to learn how to unlearn first?
I always had trouble doing that from home. It just feels so much easier to me when traveling abroad.
But not to worry, there are other ways to embrace uncertainty:
— meeting someone new every week thanks to Shapr
— experiencing a “yes day” (who said it was just for kids?)
— connecting with strangers who enjoy your interests with Meetup
— asking for informal coffee meetings with people you follow on LinkedIn
— talking to strangers on the subway/bus/train/plane
— starting a bucket list
— and my personal favorite: hosting travelers from all over the world through Couchsurfing
After two months at being a Couchsurfer myself, uncertainty literally became the norm and serendipity a state of mind. When you let the unknown surprise you, life just gets more interesting. It opens up a whole new world so far left unexplored. It allows you to meet an impressive number of brilliant people. It gives you (back) some time for learning. It questions everything. It destroys some of your old beliefs and allows you to create new ones. It pushes you to go beyond your own limitations. The ones that you impose to yourself when the “comfort zone” becomes too present. In a nutshell: it makes you feel like a badass. And who does not want to feel that way?
Many people point fingers at the “escape” of educated professionals facing the (sometimes tough) reality of today’s working world. I don’t think this is about escaping but rather about experimenting less linear models. It’s a way to apply the “lean method” to ourselves. We try. We experiment. We fail (or not). And go on with whatever is next. In the meantime, ideas might pop up and new projects might start.
And because of that, we should not let the fear of the unknown, emptiness or hazard hold us back.
Serendipity can be experienced elsewhere than YouTube.
What about real life?
