Shedding old skin
jasonleow • 30 Mar 2025 •
Even though I’ve stopped taking on design consultancy work for months, i’ve never quite outright exited from opportunities or existing arrangements, always preferring to just say, “I’m busy, so sorry, next time.”
But this week I officially withdrew myself from being in an expert panel of a training institute. Granted, that platform never once offered a gig that came to fruition. So not much loss, practically speaking.
But it took a bit of courage to speak my truth, that I no longer want any work in my old career, something which I felt like saying for a long time but never, because I didn’t want to cut off my retreat. I’m never one to be scared of diving straight into something wholeheartedly. But being responsible to 4 other humans means I can’t be risk blind.
So it gets bottled up. It’s nice to finally turn down one. Inconsequential one. But a nice bit of release nonetheless.
As my product revenue gets better, and my freelance gigs get more stable, I’ll withdraw from even more of my old life.
It’s like shedding old skin.
Except I’m peeling it off, while it’s still raw.
But all the better.
Good riddance.
Comments
It doesn’t seem like there is a comfortable way to shed old skin, is there? I suppose that’s the idea.
@haideralmosawi Oh nice, I like that quote! My fav similar one is “The more I train, the luckier I get.”
@therealbrandonwilson Yeah pain is inevitable
“The more you sweat in training the less you bleed in battle.”
That involvement may have been inconsequential, it’s where you build your courage muscle to handle the consequential opportunities.