Goodbye Corporate America, Hello Me!
Can you believe 2019 is well under way? I hope you have big plans for this new year of life and what it has to offer. As for me, I have some exciting yet scary news to share. I am retiring from Corporate America this year at the age of 48! I know you must be thinking, “How can she ‘retire’ at 48? Did she win the lottery? Receive a huge legacy from a rich relative? Play the ponies?” The truth is, throughout the past year God was preparing me to close the glass door of my office after 20 years of service to one company.'
While I am extremely grateful for the lessons I learned over the past two decades there, now I must take on the challenge of walking through another door into the unknown. I will admit, this new adventure makes me feel a bit frightened and utterly excited at the same time.
While I achieved a level of success that I never thought possible as a young woman, I’ve known for quite some time that my gifts were too big to be confined and limited by the constraints of my corporate career. During the past 20 years, I learned so much about myself and what I was truly capable of achieving. Armed with that knowledge, I am confident that my talent and gifts can help me build businesses and a brand for myself that will further enable me to fulfill my passions in a much bigger way.
I no longer have to endure the annual review process to see how my work compared with my peers or what corporate leaders thought about my performance. Now, no one can define my steps except me. I have no limitations or guidelines for what I can do or accomplish. I will create my own plans, and trust me, it won’t be based on any comparison to others.
I don't know what God has planned for me…but I know it's big! I am now able to create, write, speak, influence and travel on my own terms. That freedom fuels my soul and empowers me to experience the flexibility that I desperately sought over the past few years. I now have freedom of choice. I can prioritize the person I have neglected for so many years…me.
So, what does retirement mean to me? It means the beginning of my next chapter, which will be bold, deliberate and challenging. I have already started a collective of endeavors and new collaborations to create multiple streams of income for myself and my family. One essential lesson I learned during my corporate years is the importance of accumulating wealth, which can only be attained by developing multiple streams of income. My mentors taught me that if you don’t make money in your sleep, you are not on the right track.
Don’t get me wrong, my goals are not entirely driven by monetary reward. The heart of anything I do is led by the following questions I ask myself: “Will this endeavor help others? Will it lead to positive change? Will it disrupt the status quo?” I’ve also learned that when you work from a place of service, God will reward you. I understand that I receive personal fulfillment by leading change and disrupting norms. So, you can bet that those actions will stay at the forefront of my decision making.
As I begin my next chapter, I hope that I have inspired you to kick up your heels and waste no time to take your dreams to the next level. Your shift doesn’t have to be as substantial as mine, but if you have a vision to do something different or new, don’t wait 20 years to do it! In the words of Thomas Jefferson, “If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done!”
If you take a leap, I will be there to cheer you on. Be sure to keep me posted on your journey!
Peace and blessings!
