Read, Review, Reflect | We Wish We Had Known

Chapter 5: Starting Over From the Middle - Nancy Depcik

Encountering obstacles in our professional journeys can be daunting and demoralizing. In her chapter, Nancy Depcik encourages readers to take stock of the career experiences that have led to this time of challenge. It is common to feel that all is lost and the need to start again means starting from scratch. Nancy directs us to pause and look back, reflecting on and learning from past experiences and the skills and understanding they provide. Taking this time allows us to realize that the road forward starts from the middle, a crossroad, rather than taking us entirely back to the beginning

On occasion, I will dream of a "do over". I would love to go back to my college years and experience them again. As reinforced by Nancy's insights, I do NOT want to go back unless I can take my experiences and expanded understandings with me. My appreciation for opportunities and experiences lost is informed by events sprinkled throughout the decades of a career I love. The value of various work experiences and volunteer efforts inform my direction and the pathways I take moving forward.

The wisdom of Nancy's support as we find the resilience to continue forward when faced with

obstacles is universally valuable. Our professional challenges vary in severity over time but taking

stock of the experiences we build on to move forward is always time well spent.

If you would like to learn more from Nancy and other author/consultants, copies of We Wish We Had Known a publication of Madison Area Business Consultants (MABC) are available for purchase on Amazon.