Today’s newsletter is guest written by Serena Bian, Community Strategist at The Grand and member of The Grand Quest on Making a Career Transition. Serena is staffed on the National Day of Service Team for the Presidential Inaugural Committee after leading a national coalition for the Biden Campaign. She’s the co-founder of The Social Healing Collective.💫
2020 was the year that personal lives, social structures, and political systems unraveled before our eyes. Speaking personally, 2020 was a year of anxiety-provoking career transitions, painful ruptures within my family, and uncomfortable reckonings with our unjust economic and justice system. Yet, it was also a year of tremendous growth and self-discovery. I embarked on a journey away from VC, towards political organizing and launching a fellowship for young social healers. I organized for Black Lives in my predominantly white neighborhood, spoke out against ageism, and made strides towards living a values-based, spiritual life of service.
What got me through it all? My personal anchors. Anchors offer themselves as sources of stability through unsteady times. An anchor could be a wise friend you lean on during an uncertain time, a simple, grounding ritual of daily walks through the neighborhood, delicious Sunday morning pancake breakfasts with family, or quiet meditation. They ground us through uncertainty with their gentle wisdom and the clear light they shine onto our lives.
I’d read before that career changes are notoriously difficult. Yet going through one myself, during a pandemic no less, granted me a new level of empathy for those navigating. I had to juggle intense existential questions, along with the uncertainty and loneliness of life, without all the structures I usually rely on.
How do you uncover new career paths, when you can’t even leave your house? Should I just “sit and wait” this pandemic through, before doing the self-discovery work required to build a meaningful, fulfilling career?
Joining The Grand Quest immediately grounded me. To my immense relief, I wasn't the only one asking these questions. These questions also weren’t only asked by 24-year old tech workers like myself. My comrades-in-questioning - a new father, recent retiree, teacher in Taiwan, and lawyer (to name only half of my group) - became my anchors. Every two weeks, we took a holistic approach to helping each other find professional meaning. We worked from our personal values to sculpt a career we could devote ourselves to. Bearing witness to others in the program through their transitions informed my own sense of purpose.
Our society desperately needs more people pursuing their Ikigai, “their reason for being”. I caught myself wishing that everyone could go on such a quest. If we all felt we were pursuing ikigai in our careers - how much more harmonious, caring, and just could our society be?
Like the best anchors, The Grand Quest, a 14-week group coaching experience, helps to stabilize this uncomfortable, lonely period of change. If you, or anyone you know, is considering a career transition (or wanting to step back and re-evaluate your professional path), I hope you’ll consider joining The Grand Quest community next month.
We are accepting applications for the next cohort until January 19th, and we’ll embark on our Quest on the first week of February. Will you join us, or pass this opportunity to a friend?
As Mary Oliver wisely says in her beloved poem “The Summer Day” - Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
Warmly,
Serena and The Grand Team