Leaving a well-paying job should feel like a win. Sometimes it does. But a lot of people hit something unexpected: guilt. For the career you spent years building. For even leaving at all when others would love to have that job. It's a weird thing to carry when you're supposed to be relieved. The guilt usually means something though. It points to what you actually cared about, the people, the work you did, etc. And it fades, but it's worth sitting with rather than just pushing past it.

Between being a Dad of three, husband, electrician and maintenance person for my home and life its really tough to find time for development. Sometimes I wonder if I`m doing enough, I listen to audiobooks, podcasts and watch a lot of youtube videos. At work I have ear buds in all day, I wonder sometimes if this isn`t focus enough. I think action is the best form of development even if there are some failures along the way. What type of actions have you implemented in your lives that have increased your learnings and development?

This is more apparent as I age. I’m just finishing up construction of my shop. This build I really enjoyed because I didn’t have a timeline and I told myself I was not going to let setbacks frustrate me. Just having that mindset going in helped me really enjoy and appreciate that I’m totally blessed to have the opportunity to even build a shop. The finished shop is amazing but the journey and the feeling of accomplishment is pretty sweet too.

Before I made my career change, I was asking the wrong questions. I kept asking "what if it doesn't work out?" instead of "what does staying actually cost me?" Three questions that helped me think more clearly: 1. If money weren't a factor, would I stay in this career? 2. What's the realistic worst case if I leave — and could I recover from it? 3. Five years from now, which decision will I regret more? None of these give you a clean answer. But they move you out of fear-based thinking and into something more honest. Which one hits hardest for you?

I think 30–45 is the most powerful reinvention window. Enough experience. Still enough runway. Do you agree?