The Nonlinear Library EA - I went on a (very) long walk, and it was a great career decision by Emily Grundy
Nov 7, 2023
10:49
Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: I went on a (very) long walk, and it was a great career decision, published by Emily Grundy on November 7, 2023 on The Effective Altruism Forum.
This year, I walked from Mexico to Canada. I walked over 4,265 kilometres - through snow, blizzards, heatwaves, mosquito swarms, wildfire smoke, and extreme exhaustion. It was the hardest thing I've ever done, and it was the best thing I've ever done. And I almost didn't do it. Why?
Not because I doubted I could do it (though I did).
Not because I was worried about river crossings and hypothermia and falling trees (though I was).
Not because I thought it would break me into pieces (though, believe me, it did).
I was hesitant to embark on this epic journey, because I was concerned about what it would do to my career. How it might stall my professional journey. How it might even make it regress.
I could not have been more wrong.
This post is about why taking a break from your career, to do something that
doesn't seem at all related to your career,
could be great for it.
The current rhetoric, and what's wrong with it
Implicit in all the career advice I've consumed is the rhetoric that in order to grow your career, you have to focus on it. 'Focusing on it' involves doing things that directly advance your skills, knowledge, networks, or understanding of what you're a good fit for. According to this advice, your energy should be committed to 'making it happen', and to doing things that are very obviously career-relevant.
Want to gain experience? Apply for internships.
Want to grow your skills? Commit to self-study.
Want to find a job that's a good fit for you? Spend a year exploring different roles.
Want to take a break from your job? Wonderful, use that time to consider what you want out of the next one.
This advice is pervasive, and it's convincing
[1]
. It can make people feel anxious that they need to always be 'career-ing', and guilty if they're not. It sends the message that the only way to improve your career trajectory is by very explicitly focusing on it and prioritising it.
This rhetoric can become deeply ingrained, especially in young people, and this was the case for me. When I first considered doing the
Pacific Crest Trail
, I went through quite the internal battle. Was it worth taking six months off work to go for a walk? Would my career stagnate or regress? Was it selfish to prioritise travel over impact, and should I just try to overcome that desire? What damage would this do to the position I'd worked hard to get to?
Then, when I decided to actually do the hike, the battle continued. I tried to negotiate with myself, reasoning that if I weaved in some career-focused element then maybe I could justify it. Maybe this would be a good opportunity to think more about my career. Maybe I could use the time to consume relevant podcasts. Maybe I could firm up my stance on issues I care about. In the end, however, I told myself that I didn't want to take six months off work, to then spend the six months thinking about work.
So I didn't. I didn't journal about what I wanted out of my career. I didn't listen to any podcasts with the intent of professional development. I hardly even thought about what I was going to do when I got home. I spent maybe a total of six hours thinking about work, and that was just when I sporadically felt like it. I'd come to accept that for six months, I would stop focusing on my career. And that meant, according to what I'd been taught, that I'd be temporarily abandoning it.
However, that's not quite what happened.
The career-related benefits of a non career-related break
Although I'd stopped intentionally working on my career, I would now classify what I did as a career-building activity. I'd go so far as to say that walking the length of the United States was better for my career than the counte...
This year, I walked from Mexico to Canada. I walked over 4,265 kilometres - through snow, blizzards, heatwaves, mosquito swarms, wildfire smoke, and extreme exhaustion. It was the hardest thing I've ever done, and it was the best thing I've ever done. And I almost didn't do it. Why?
Not because I doubted I could do it (though I did).
Not because I was worried about river crossings and hypothermia and falling trees (though I was).
Not because I thought it would break me into pieces (though, believe me, it did).
I was hesitant to embark on this epic journey, because I was concerned about what it would do to my career. How it might stall my professional journey. How it might even make it regress.
I could not have been more wrong.
This post is about why taking a break from your career, to do something that
doesn't seem at all related to your career,
could be great for it.
The current rhetoric, and what's wrong with it
Implicit in all the career advice I've consumed is the rhetoric that in order to grow your career, you have to focus on it. 'Focusing on it' involves doing things that directly advance your skills, knowledge, networks, or understanding of what you're a good fit for. According to this advice, your energy should be committed to 'making it happen', and to doing things that are very obviously career-relevant.
Want to gain experience? Apply for internships.
Want to grow your skills? Commit to self-study.
Want to find a job that's a good fit for you? Spend a year exploring different roles.
Want to take a break from your job? Wonderful, use that time to consider what you want out of the next one.
This advice is pervasive, and it's convincing
[1]
. It can make people feel anxious that they need to always be 'career-ing', and guilty if they're not. It sends the message that the only way to improve your career trajectory is by very explicitly focusing on it and prioritising it.
This rhetoric can become deeply ingrained, especially in young people, and this was the case for me. When I first considered doing the
Pacific Crest Trail
, I went through quite the internal battle. Was it worth taking six months off work to go for a walk? Would my career stagnate or regress? Was it selfish to prioritise travel over impact, and should I just try to overcome that desire? What damage would this do to the position I'd worked hard to get to?
Then, when I decided to actually do the hike, the battle continued. I tried to negotiate with myself, reasoning that if I weaved in some career-focused element then maybe I could justify it. Maybe this would be a good opportunity to think more about my career. Maybe I could use the time to consume relevant podcasts. Maybe I could firm up my stance on issues I care about. In the end, however, I told myself that I didn't want to take six months off work, to then spend the six months thinking about work.
So I didn't. I didn't journal about what I wanted out of my career. I didn't listen to any podcasts with the intent of professional development. I hardly even thought about what I was going to do when I got home. I spent maybe a total of six hours thinking about work, and that was just when I sporadically felt like it. I'd come to accept that for six months, I would stop focusing on my career. And that meant, according to what I'd been taught, that I'd be temporarily abandoning it.
However, that's not quite what happened.
The career-related benefits of a non career-related break
Although I'd stopped intentionally working on my career, I would now classify what I did as a career-building activity. I'd go so far as to say that walking the length of the United States was better for my career than the counte...