This is such a raw, honest read. Thank you. It makes me evaluate more deeply why I may have done certain things. So interesting. And I still have no clue where I am going! Thanks for being such a great role model for unicorns. 🦄 Cheer- P.S. I love that you still use terms like “To be sure.” Once a lawyer, always a lawyer. 🙂
I'm a 31-year-old lawyer from Vietnam, and I just wanted to reach out after reading your story.
I'm about to leave what everyone around me considers a good, stable job. And unlike the other times I've switched jobs, this time I have nothing lined up. No new offer, no grad school plan. Just a decision that, honestly, I think only I believe in right now: to go after work that actually feels meaningful to me, even though I haven't quite figured out what that is yet.
There are still moments where I catch myself wondering if I'm making a huge mistake. If what I'm giving up is really worth it. But at the same time, something in me just knows I can't keep going the way things are.
The part of your story that stayed with me the most was when you decided that your next job had to be something you'd actually enjoy. No more working for the money or the exit options. That one line felt like someone finally putting words to something I'd been feeling for a long time but couldn't quite say out loud.
I don't know how my story ends yet. But I'm grateful yours exists. And I hope that someday I'll be sitting somewhere, looking back at all of this with the same kind of clarity you have now, maybe even paying it forward to someone else who needs it the way I needed your words today.
Thank you for letting me know, stories like yours motivate me to speak openly about my own experiences. Hope your next role was a better fit and best wishes to you on your journey.
Honestly, if I stuck to all my big plans, I would have ended up far less happy. Careers are too complex to map out when you don’t know all the options and don’t know yourself. Gotta follow that bliss. (This is self-talk as I’m making a new pivot soon. Hyping myself up.)
Thanks for sharing Alex. This resonated a lot with me as someone going thru something similar in my legal career right now. I'm confident I'll figure this out soon!
Was the billable hour (and culture around it) at all responsible for your choices? If yes, what percentage would you say it was responsible? If not, why not?
As the former spouse of an S&C associate, am well acquainted with the crazy hours worked at that firm. I basically lived with a zombie who when he wasn’t working just wanted to sleep and watch Bart Simpson.🤣 what is so amazing about your story though is your self-awareness that you were unhappy and you were consciously making choices that (whether you realized it at time or not) were leading you to where you wanted to be, a father, a husband with a reasonable job. Also I think your experiences and ‘glass half full’ approach to life resulted in a hilarious comedic lense on law that so many of us followers enjoy, letting us know we are not alone and that poking fun and laughing is a great salve.
Don’t underestimate yourself. You are unique and deserve all your successes even if some of them arose from what I think you are characterizing as ‘failure’. No such thing as failure….just opportunities 😊😊 And you are brave…for creating and following those opportunities!
This is such a raw, honest read. Thank you. It makes me evaluate more deeply why I may have done certain things. So interesting. And I still have no clue where I am going! Thanks for being such a great role model for unicorns. 🦄 Cheer- P.S. I love that you still use terms like “To be sure.” Once a lawyer, always a lawyer. 🙂
Thank you Amanda! Old habits die hard I guess haha
Hi Alex,
I'm a 31-year-old lawyer from Vietnam, and I just wanted to reach out after reading your story.
I'm about to leave what everyone around me considers a good, stable job. And unlike the other times I've switched jobs, this time I have nothing lined up. No new offer, no grad school plan. Just a decision that, honestly, I think only I believe in right now: to go after work that actually feels meaningful to me, even though I haven't quite figured out what that is yet.
There are still moments where I catch myself wondering if I'm making a huge mistake. If what I'm giving up is really worth it. But at the same time, something in me just knows I can't keep going the way things are.
The part of your story that stayed with me the most was when you decided that your next job had to be something you'd actually enjoy. No more working for the money or the exit options. That one line felt like someone finally putting words to something I'd been feeling for a long time but couldn't quite say out loud.
I don't know how my story ends yet. But I'm grateful yours exists. And I hope that someday I'll be sitting somewhere, looking back at all of this with the same kind of clarity you have now, maybe even paying it forward to someone else who needs it the way I needed your words today.
Thank you, truly.
Hey Alex, your Substack is a huge reason I was able to quit a corporate job I wasn’t aligned with, thanks and keep posting stuff like this
Thank you for letting me know, stories like yours motivate me to speak openly about my own experiences. Hope your next role was a better fit and best wishes to you on your journey.
Honestly, if I stuck to all my big plans, I would have ended up far less happy. Careers are too complex to map out when you don’t know all the options and don’t know yourself. Gotta follow that bliss. (This is self-talk as I’m making a new pivot soon. Hyping myself up.)
Keep pivoting until you find your thing. You really only have to be right once. Best of luck to you Mike.
Thanks for sharing Alex. This resonated a lot with me as someone going thru something similar in my legal career right now. I'm confident I'll figure this out soon!
Was the billable hour (and culture around it) at all responsible for your choices? If yes, what percentage would you say it was responsible? If not, why not?
As the former spouse of an S&C associate, am well acquainted with the crazy hours worked at that firm. I basically lived with a zombie who when he wasn’t working just wanted to sleep and watch Bart Simpson.🤣 what is so amazing about your story though is your self-awareness that you were unhappy and you were consciously making choices that (whether you realized it at time or not) were leading you to where you wanted to be, a father, a husband with a reasonable job. Also I think your experiences and ‘glass half full’ approach to life resulted in a hilarious comedic lense on law that so many of us followers enjoy, letting us know we are not alone and that poking fun and laughing is a great salve.
Don’t underestimate yourself. You are unique and deserve all your successes even if some of them arose from what I think you are characterizing as ‘failure’. No such thing as failure….just opportunities 😊😊 And you are brave…for creating and following those opportunities!