Each of us, at some point of time, question our true potential and think of changing our occupations but very few are bold enough to make that decision.
Out of those few bold people emerges Sakshi.
Sakshi is a 28 year old dynamic woman, working with all her heart as a writer. She was born and raised in Delhi and loves to read, sleep and dance. Like many of us, she is one of the lazy ones and loves doing nothing. However, she likes to socialise, and is sometimes introverted.
“It was during my first job that I understood that Science and Tech is not my calling in the long term.”
Sakshi has completed her graduation as well as post graduation in Science. Nevertheless, she decided to follow her heart into writing. However her shift into this field was neither financially nor emotionally smooth.
She was completely new to writing and had no educational degree in English. This created a barrier between her competency and placing a job. Nobody was ready to hire her, and along with that she was left alone to improve her writing skills.
Her anxiety began to build up when she got a reality check on her career change.
“I jumped into a salary figure of one-third of what my science job was paying me. And making this decision at this age brought upon a lot of pressure.”
Her endless thoughts skyrocketed as she proceeded with her decision. She knew she couldn’t blame her problems on anyone. She bravely accepted her decision and began preparing for her transition.
“I was someone who has always done well and now is dropped to a lower salary. It was not a good feeling for me or anybody in my family.”
It became slightly more difficult than she anticipated. Sakshi began working with an open mind, but her paycut and her family kept worrying her. Her anxiety was only fueling her spiral of thoughts. Her mind was constantly occupied in thinking about her future.
How will she put up with this salary? Will she be able to send her children to good schools? What will her future look like?
All this topped with her employer’s lack of acknowledgement for her work ultimately started giving her physical problems – sleepless nights, heartburn, raised heart rate and gastrointestinal problems.
“All these things made me worried and cautious, and I was drawn towards counseling.”
She wanted to speak with her family and friends but they could only console her from a distance. Ultimately, she had to find a solution on her own.
She reached out to YourDOST from her company’s partnership. She remembers that her first counseling session unlocked the chest of her worries in an instant. Ishita, her counselor, dived straight into discussing Sakshi’s future goals and coming to terms with her current job profile.
Keeping an open mind to the stigmas attached to mental health therapies, she knew it was not any kind of instant painkillers to her problems. From day one she had been completely transparent with Ishita.
“Ishita has been an excellent listener and quite empathetic towards me.”
From her first session itself, Sakshi was made aware of her anxiety.
She was recommended a few relaxation techniques and various self-assessment tests to help organise her thoughts.
Meditation helped Sakshi keep her stress at bay. Setting personal boundaries aided her in distinguishing her work-related worries and coming up with relevant solutions.
“Self-talk was something I used to do to identify the root cause of my problems.”
Self talk technique makes a difference when it has a positive tone. Sakshi was encouraged to do so and dive to deeper ends of the conversation. This helped her address the bigger worries she had about her future.
“I am really thankful to her for all her techniques, and because she held no prejudice against me, I was able to open up comfortably to her.”
Sakshi is grateful to all her counseling sessions with Ishita. At times when she finds her anxiety escalating, she practices those techniques.
All those counseling sessions have helped Sakshi to react calmly over situations. Her sleep patterns have improved and she feels much more confident about her writing. Her counselors’ words have rewired her thinking patterns.
Sakshi recalls telling her counselor that she would no longer be able to afford therapy as she is shifting jobs to which her counselor responded:
“It’s not that I want you to come back, but to realise what you gained from your sessions.” – Ishita Atri
These words will stay with Sakshi for a really long time. All those sessions have benefitted her into growing into a much stronger person.
One of the biggest realisations that Sakshi hit was that ‘everything has a limit, once things start crossing the limit, it starts taking off the best parts of yourself’. She rated herself 3 out of 5 on her personal-growth journey.
Career change is a risky decision to make, but our brave heart took up the challenge and has emerged victorious.
Sakshi’s Warrior Tips:
1. Identify the negative signs and do NOT procrastinate in seeking help.
2. “We have made suffering normal. It’s NOT!” Seek help as early as possible.
3. Take care of yourself because nobody else will give in their 100%.
