Civil Engineer to Writer: How the Pandemic Forced Me to Quit My Job
The story of what it takes to pursue your passion full-time.
The story of what it takes to pursue your passion full-time.
In September 2021, I quit my Central Govt job at NIT Silchar and my Ph.D. at IIT Guwahati to become a full-time writer.
I’ve often talked about how life has been after this transition, but I rarely talked about the reasons that pushed me to take such a drastic step.
This post is about that.
I have tasted significant success in my research career. If you take a look at my Google Scholar profile, I’ve published papers in some reputed journals and conferences.
If the pandemic hadn’t hit, I’d probably still be a researcher.
So, what changed during the pandemic?
Because we were all working from home, I got a lot of time for myself.
The pre-pandemic life of an academician
Earlier, I used to work in my office from 9 AM to 7 PM, then come back home, go for a run, have dinner, and only manage to find 30 minutes to write at night.
You can imagine how exhausted I was.
I could barely write a few words per day.
But after I started working from home, I could devote 2–3 hours daily to writing.
This was the time my writing flourished.
I published one article every day, and within a few months, I started seeing results — my writing improved, my followers grew, and I started making money.
The turning point
September 2020 was the first time I made more money from my writing than my job’s salary.
I was so happy that I called my best friend and danced around the room.
I had reached the level where I knew I could get to incredible heights if I devoted 5–6 hours a day to writing.
But if I did that, my research career would suffer.
On the other hand, if I postponed writing to concentrate on research, I knew I would probably never be able to reach this level of traction again in my writing.
I knew I had to pick one.
The two sides of the coin
I had given ten years of my life to studying engineering.
But I had loved writing since I was in school.
I spent 6+ months thinking, overthinking, and weighing the pros and cons. A quote by Lewis Caroll was the tipping point that helped me decide:
“IN THE END… We only regret the chances we didn’t take, the relationships we were afraid to have, and the decisions we waited too long to make.”
I knew sticking to research and my job was the safest option.
But I also knew I would regret it later if I didn’t give my writing career a chance. I didn’t want to live with the regret all my life that I never gave my dreams a chance to flourish.
And so, on 5th September 2021, I submitted my resignation letter. It was the hardest decision of my life.
But it’s also the bravest, most audacious step I’ve taken.
One year since I have zero regrets. All I have is gratitude.
How the journey has been so far
On September 5th 2022, I completed one year of being self-employed.
The journey hasn’t at all been what I expected.
It’s been so much more.
- More fulfillment.
- More lives impacted around the world.
- More amazing clients.
- More time to explore what I truly want.
- More freedom to learn new skills.
- More adventure.
- More fun.
- More contentment in my heart as I go to bed each day.
Sure, every day is not an uphill ride. There are challenges, as you might well expect, but I’m dealing with them one day at a time.
Thank you, dear Medium family, for being a part of this journey. The good things are just getting started. Stay tuned for more awesome updates to come.
Have you made a career switch that took 100% of your courage? Are you considering making one? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
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