Do you recall a particular moment in time that caused you to change the entire course of your life? I definitely do.

A long, long time ago, at least three careers ago, I worked for the State of New York. It was my first job out of college and the job was related to my freshly minted bachelor’s degree in Media Communications. It was also a “good” job with the “good” benefits, or so I was told by my entire family who lived in the capital city area of Albany, New York.

I suspect that Albany is similar to most capital cities, in that the entire local economy is largely driven by employees of various state agencies and governmental bodies. My family was very proud of my accomplishment; that of getting the “good” job with the “good” benefits. In fact, in their eyes, there was no greater career achievement. For all intents and purposes, I was “set”.

One beautiful summer day, I was coming back from having my lunch outside in the park. I distinctly remember the warmth of the sun still on my clothes and face when I stepped into an elevator with two other people I did not know, who were heading to a different floor than my mine. It was a man and a woman and they obviously knew each other. The woman exhaled deeply and leaned back against the wall of the elevator and said to her colleague “Thank God it’s Friday”. To which her colleague responded by saying “Yeah, but Monday is right around the corner ready to kick you in the ass!”

To say I was stunned is an understatement. That very day, I decided that I was going to get in action to change my destiny. To become anything other than an unhappy state employee, stuck in a “good” job with the “good” benefits.

This true story is the very foundation for this blog. I intend to explore issues concerning personal development, career search and planning, company politics, networking, strategies for getting ahead and for getting out of your “good” job in order to find a situation that is, in fact, truly GOOD. I want to be clear, I am not writing because I’ve done such a great job with my own career. In fact you will see that my career has meandered through several industries along the way with no apparent direction. I am not setting myself up as an expert. I am just curious about how one achieves career success and I am willing to write about my discoveries. The purpose of this blog is to offer a window into my own journey and to offer advice in areas that I have already uncovered, typically the hard way.

This content was previously published on www.careercourageously.com