What is the story you’re telling yourself?

For twenty years, I told myself the corporate story.
And honestly? It was a great one.

I had the very comfortable job. The 5:00 PM finish times. Dinners with friends. Weekends with my wife. I worked for organisations that actually cared — places with compassionate leave, Christmas breaks, and decent pay that allowed me not just to survive, but to thrive.

I learned from world-class leaders. I worked with cutting-edge technology on someone else’s budget. I developed a toolkit of skills — from change management to UX design — that I’ll carry with me forever.

I even had purpose. I worked on medical devices that saved lives. I built friendships that felt like family.

So… why did I leave corporate life?

If you value that stability, that structure, that predictability — that’s okay. This post might not be for you.

Or… maybe it is.

Because despite all the benefits, despite how “right” it looked on paper, I slowly realised I was in a steady, almost invisible decline.

The Weight of the Golden Handcuffs

I felt trapped.

Not by bad work. Not by bad people. But by constantly trying to align myself with someone else’s vision. One CEO’s direction, then another’s. A bold strategy, followed by a reshuffle, followed by a new leader with a “bolder” plan.

I was a passenger in someone else’s vehicle — and my mental state was paying the toll.

Recently, I spoke with a friend who said, “I can’t leave. I have kids. The money is too good. I can’t afford the risk.”

He isn’t wrong.

But he also isn’t happy.

And that’s the part we tend to ignore when we talk about career safety.

The Myth of the “Right Time”

What I’ve learned is that there is no perfect time — only the time that feels right to you.

Thinking about leaving a corporate job is terrifying. But two realisations gave me the courage to move forward.

First: your skills are portable.
Everything I learned in my corporate career — systems thinking, complex conversations, project management — didn’t stay behind at my old desk. I took it with me.

Second: clarity beats certainty.
You don’t need to know exactly how it ends. You just need to know when your current path no longer aligns with where you want to be in one or two years.

A Question for the Dreamer

If you’re sitting in a glass-walled office today, quietly thinking about a career change, let me ask you this:

What is your driver?

Is the comfort of now worth the quiet decline of later?

The corporate world will always exist. If you need to return to stay afloat, you can. Choosing to stay can be just as valid as choosing to leave — as long as it’s a conscious choice.

But you owe it to yourself to see what happens when you stop trying to resonate with someone else’s vision and start building your own.

We all have to start somewhere.

Why not now?