First failed attempt & Different approach
I lived in different countries in Europe but never by the sea. So, I was obsessed with one vision in my head – moving to a big sunny city here in Europe with beautiful beaches. The more I researched every year, the more I found out that depending on the local job market in these countries is not a very smart idea. Then I learned about digital nomads who travel all over the world and work remotely, but I came to the conclusion that it is only possible for people who work in tech or marketing.
Firstly, I convinced myself right away that I cannot find remote work without learning new skills because I have nothing to offer since my working experience is in different fields. In March, I was prompting AI to write down a list of the best and most common remote jobs for introverts. Of course, I assumed correctly: the first couple of positions were in tech, then marketing, design, and others I already forgot. So I started to think about what could potentially fit my criteria of “I hope I like it at least a little bit.” I narrowed it down to 3 very different jobs: frontend developer, UI/UX designer, and data analyst. No experience, no idea. I have a very, very good friend who is a frontend developer herself, so we started to discuss this option and I asked her tons of questions. She was super supportive, encouraging me to try it, but also gave me the reality check of this kind of career. She also gave me a contact to her other friends who work in design and data analysis, so I was very grateful that I was able to talk openly with experienced people who described all pros and cons of those jobs. After I gathered all the information I needed, I made a decision to try a data analyst online course. I hoped that this would be my ticket to remote life eventually. My plan was to finish the course, gain some experience within my current company, and afterwards look at the possibilities elsewhere, ideally remotely. I am great at making plans, but pivoting? That’s a different story.
I am an analytical person but in a different kind of way – human/psychology/philosophy way, if it makes sense. And I am not a tech person at all. I almost failed math in high school, I hate Excel and all this stuff. I solve all my technical issues by mentally throwing my laptop out of my balcony. At the end of the day, it was a very logical and practical but inauthentic decision to choose this course, which I understood very soon. The course was great, the instructor was also great, but I just felt very strongly that this isn’t for me. Other people were so proactive, asking many questions, very involved and interested in the topics, and I was just looking at the time when it was going to be over. Totally struggled to pay attention. In summary, I stuck to exactly 2 sessions and then I quit.
I call it a failure, but I was advised to look at it as trying and moving forward instead. It sounds much more optimistic than my concept. I really hoped this was going to be the way, but when I realized that it’s not, I got lost again. Didn’t know where to go from there. My mind stopped focusing on generating new ideas, basically resigned. Meanwhile, for the last couple of months we experienced what we can call an earthquake in the company (= firing people right and left due to restructuring), so the ambiance is very tense and stressful. I managed to change the job position within the company but to a different department, and it is a less pressured workload than it was in my previous job, but since I have started in the new place, I cannot stop thinking about my remote dream again.
So this time I decided to try the opposite approach: to explore if my current skills and experience would be somehow valuable in the remote world (and of course I am open to learning new skills and changing career). At the same time, I started networking and searching for communities where I could potentially talk to people who have experience with the nomad lifestyle. I joined LinkedIn (before, I never needed to use it for job search), updated my CV, and took a look at one website I was recommended. I also contacted a company that helps people find remote work. I have a list of websites with remote job offers that I plan to go through, but I already feel that this whole process will require much more patience and a hopeful mindset than I initially thought:/ It is going to be crazy year.