The question I dread most: ‘What’s next?’
When you leave a C-level job at a billion-dollar company in the midst of a growth spurt, people inevitably ask you, ‘What’s next?’
I left my role as CTO of Red Ventures, a portfolio of digital businesses based in Fort Mill, S.C., more than a year ago, and I didn’t have another job. I wasn’t launching a startup. I wasn’t going to work full-time. And I didn’t have a plan.
That’s a disruptive concept in the aggressive, fast-paced world of startups. People leave jobs and companies all the time, but typically with an eye toward the next big thing. I was willingly pushing pause on my career as I’d known it. That’s when a simple “What’s next?” became the question I dread most.
It didn’t start that way, though. At first, I didn’t mind answering “What’s next?”. I even enjoyed it. When I left Red Ventures, my immediate plan was to spend the next nine months traveling the world with my wife and 2-year-old son. So when someone asked me “What’s next?”, I was eager to talk about the countries we’d see, the memories we’d make and the time we’d have to just enjoy each other.
It took me a long time to realize that wasn’t what people wanted to know.
As our trip neared, the question started to shift. When people asked me “What’s next?” it seemed heavy with expectation. They wanted to know what I was going to do when I came back to reality. Few of us take nine months off without at least some work infiltrating the break. Surely part of my motivation was to hatch my next big idea, right?
But here’s the thing: My goal with the trip had always been that simple — to embrace an opportunity for adventure and life-altering experience. It had never occurred to me that wouldn’t be enough.
Insecurity and uncertainty began to cloud my excitement. I started to think of the trip not as a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but as an opportunity to cultivate the seeds of my next big idea. I had time; I had to use it productively.
I had made a list over my years at Red Ventures of 40 or 50 business ideas, so I dug it out and narrowed in on my top four or five. And I committed to use the time away to brainstorm and prepare. The people around me were expecting more from my return than a mountain of vacation photos — or so I thought — and I was going to give it to them.
The irony was, I didn’t really know what they expected. I read deeper meaning in their reactions, their facial expressions, their responses to my plans, but I never asked. I just let it weigh on me — the pressure consuming the first entire month of my trip. I was seeing parts of the world many of us only dream of visiting, and yet my mind was thousands of miles away, hashing out possible business plans and billion-dollar ideas.
Fortunately it only took that month to realize what I was missing out on: I had worked hard for years to have the opportunity to travel the world, and it was supposed to be an adventure of a lifetime — an opportunity to see the world while forging a deeper connection with my family. But in reality, “What’s next?” was taking over what was happening right then.
When I snapped out of my anxiety, everything changed.
It’s amazing how powerful even the perception of peer pressure can be. I’m 37 years old, and yet here I was trying to give everyone around me what I thought they wanted. I assumed they had certain expectations, and I wanted to make sure I lived up to those rather than my own.
That’s not to say I don’t expect big things from myself. I do, and one of them is to live a life free of regret. If I had spent my entire vacation thinking about work, that would be a pretty serious regret.
Now that I’m back, the question is once again a steady presence in my life. I didn’t come back with a plan to create Charlotte’s next unicorn, but I did come back with ideas — and a renewed focus on the things that drive me outside of work. I’ve launched a blog with my wife focused on sharing everything we learned about traveling the world with kids — one of few passion projects that are consuming much of my waking hours these days. I’m advising a few companies, but with a very limited commitment — maybe a day or two a month. And I’m embracing my flexibility. The other day, my son’s daycare was closed and I took him to the aquarium. The week before that, we went to the zoo.
When someone asks me, “What’s next?” I have a lot to say.
I’m focused on the things that excite me right now. And that includes time for family, volunteer work and mentorship.
I know I can do something bigger. Some day, I probably will. But right now, this is enough.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Abhishek (AJ) Ratani is an Entreprenuer, World Traveler and the former CTO and President of RV Technology at Charlotte-based Red Ventures. AJ recently traveled the world with his wife and then 2-year old covering 6 continents and 31 countries in 8.5 months. Follow their travels via their family travel blog. AJ’s other passions range from playing with the latest technology including blockchain, to being an investor in great ideas, finding ways to help other entrepreneurs succeed and being a voice for inclusion and diversity in the workplace.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only.
