Post-Google Adventures: The First Four Months

Just like that, four months have passed since I left my corporate job at Google, and if you follow my blog, you might know I’m a fan of self-reflection and retrospectives. I started journaling about where I was at the three-month milestone, but due to travel and general busyness, I’m just getting around to writing this post! In a nutshell, I’m loving it and have learned so much. I’ve also survived many failures, gone in a few very unexpected directions, and ridden my share of emotional rollercoasters. I also learned a new framework that puts all of these experiences into context.

When I started this new phase of my life, I gave myself a year to figure things out and at least three months to just chill and not worry about how to make money. I wanted to lean into coaching and teach yoga again, have flexibility with my time, and take a true break after decades of working in the corporate world. 

I’ll start with my key insights – aka the executive summary – and then for those who are interested, go into some of the nitty-gritty details of what this time has been like for me.

Lessons & Insights

• This was the right decision for me. While I’ve had some lapses in confidence, I don’t regret my decision to leave my job at Google. Sure, sometimes I miss the people, experiences, and benefits, but the world outside my old bubble is pretty great. I feel connected to my local community and a surprising lack of FOMO. 

• I’m not alone. There are so many others in the same boat as me. Maybe I’m just more aware of it and able to find my people right now, or the LinkedIn algorithm is putting them in my feed, but I haven’t felt lonely or isolated like I thought I might. Any time and effort that I put into expanding and maintaining contacts has paid off in spades in the form of perspectives, connection, advice, and leads.

• I’m an overachiever. I am ambitious and driven, even without the outside pressure of a job. I used to wonder if I would have worked as hard in school if my parents didn’t have such high expectations. I may never know the answer, but self-drive is deeply ingrained in me now, as evidenced by the ridiculous number of activities and projects I’ve gotten myself into.

• I’m playing a long game, and things take time. As such, I need to be intentional about slowing the heck down and pacing myself. My tendency is to want it all, right now, and that’s neither practical nor good for my health. I have had to learn over and over that things will unfold in their own time, and that learning and growth don’t happen overnight, but with persistence and practice. Trying to force things only leaves me depleted and frustrated.

• I need laser focus and structure to ground me during this period of transition. I have a tendency to get sidetracked by shiny new things. I spent too much time in the last few months on real estate investments, franchise exploration, and other unplanned things, and this detracted from coaching and yoga. Maybe the insecure part of me didn’t believe I could succeed as a coach and tried to create a safety net. This, in turn, became a self-fulfilling prophecy. It caused me to dip back into scarcity mode and fear for my financial security instead of embracing an abundance mindset.

Just this past week I met a fellow coach who told me about the cycle of renewal, a framework for looking at change and transition with four phases:

1. Go for It (Heroic Self): You’re performing in a flow state with a high purpose and engagement.

2. The Doldrums (Disenchanted Self): You feel uncertain, restless, stuck, or disillusioned, but don’t know what’s next.

3. Cocooning (Inner Self): You’re undergoing an internal reset, letting go of the old and discovering the new.

4. Getting Ready (Passionate Self): You’re experimenting, curious, and forming your new vision.

I love this model because it acknowledges that we go through seasons in life where we feel dissatisfied, lost, or off, and that is just part of life

I’ve been in the Cocooning stage for a while, and in the early part of that stage, I was the Very Hungry Caterpillar, eagerly gobbling up everything before my eyes and still feeling hungry until I finally overdid it and felt the pain (depletion). Then I ate my green leaf, setting new boundaries and spinning my cocoon, and now I’m moving into the Getting Ready stage.

So what have I been doing that led me to these conclusions? 

Coaching 

The main reason I left my job was to pursue coaching as a potential career. I started networking with solo business owners (aka solopreneurs) right away and immediately got cold feet, feeling certain that I did not want to run my own business because it just seemed like it required too much extra work doing things I wasn’t interested in, like sales, marketing, finance, and accounting. 

Still, I kept up my coaching practice by offering free sessions to my former clients from Google for a limited time, and nearly hit the 50-hour maximum of pro bono hours that I can count towards the 500 required for the International Coaching Federation Professional Certified Coach (ICF PCC) credential. Just in the last month, I’ve signed on paid clients through my private practice while also onboarding with a couple of digital coaching platforms. 

Through networking, I met a coach who shared my passion for burnout prevention and recovery. We joined forces to pilot a group coaching program, meeting twice weekly to develop our curriculum. We delivered a free lightning lesson to attract clients. Unfortunately we didn’t get any signups for the paid course, but it was a good learning experience and we now have some high quality content that we hope to roll out in the future.

Yoga

I’ve been teaching yoga for over 10 years – mostly corporate classes at Google. Earlier this year, my favorite studio opened up their intern program for the first time to certified teachers who trained elsewhere. It was a dream of mine to teach at this studio, and the timing couldn’t have been better. I started the internship in May, which includes mentoring with a senior teacher. I recently started assisting and demonstrating in classes. It was a little stressful at first, but it proved to be the best way to build and hone my skills. I just taught my first community class at the studio and look forward to eventually teaching my own weekly classes!

A side benefit: I’m taking yoga classes at the studio more consistently now, instead of the 10-20 minute short practices I’d been following on YouTube before my morning workouts. More yoga = happy me.

Experiments and Exploration

Before resigning, I made a list of all the things I could do with the extra time, which motivated and inspired me to make the big leap, and I got started on these right away. Over the last few months, the list continued to grow, feeding my Very Hungry Caterpillar stage.

Creativity

First were the creative pursuits like singing; I started voice lessons at a local conservatory, reviving an activity from my youth that I missed. It was helpful to get instruction and feedback, particularly about breathing technique (very different from yogic breathing). It helped to build my confidence, but I was not motivated to practice, perhaps reminded of being forced to practice piano daily as a kid for ten years. I also gained clarity about why I wanted singing lessons – I wasn’t interested in performing, and realized what I really wanted was to sing for the sheer enjoyment.

New Activities

Then, I said yes to a lot of activities that I wouldn't have considered before because I was too busy or didn’t see the value before. I took a workshop for making leather tote bags on a weeknight, and by myself. I joined the Board of Directors of a non-profit, the Asian Women Coaching Collective (AWCC), as Treasurer/CFO and spent a few weeks learning new processes and accounting software. I became an ICF member and started participating in virtual and in-person events with the SF Bay Area chapter.  I moderated a keynote fireside chat and group discussion at two leadership conferences.

Learning

I tried to quench my thirst for learning. I enrolled in an online Harmonium course so I could learn to play the Kirtan chants that I loved singing in yoga class. I started a free Coursera class on Well-Being for Parents (highly recommend!)  I then looked into an Enneagram Coach Training program and ended up signing up for a four-day Trainer’s Training on Course Creation in Vancouver. Some of my less successful endeavors include starting a Python crash course. For a brief moment, I got into my head that I could learn Python so that I could volunteer to teach Stanford’s free introductory Computer Science course, Code in Place. However, I quickly realized that it would be a bigger commitment than I was willing to make – both in terms of time and cognitive capacity. I signed up for a virtual writing retreat.

Discovery

I also wanted to use this time to discover what else was out there that never made it on my radar before. I met with as many coaches, former Googlers (aka Xooglers), and solopreneurs as possible to hear their stories and gain new perspectives. I made new contacts through LinkedIn, my local ICF chapter, a women’s networking group for small business owners, Moms in Tech, and AWCC. In addition to meeting lots of interesting people, I started on a couple of journeys of exploration that came a bit spur-of-the-moment but ended up turning into longer-term projects: real estate investments and buying a franchise.

Leisure

Since this was the topic of my last blog post, I'm happy to report that I have had more time for recreational activities. While the kids were still in school, my husband and I indulged in weekly dates during the day. We got outside, taking hikes, long walks, and bike rides. We got our culture fix, checking out new restaurants and museums.

But you might notice this list is fairly short compared to all the activities, projects, and classes I took on. That awareness led me to reflect deeply about what I could do to rebalance my time.

Looking Forward

Now that I no longer feel the need to figure everything out all at once, I’m finally warming up to the idea of having my own business. For the next few months, I’m focusing on coaching, yoga, and writing. To make sure I spend my time wisely and intentionally, I did a calendar reset, creating a weekly schedule with blocks of time allotted to my top priorities. Everything else is on pause; I postponed meetings and decisions about franchising and real estate investments for at least a month. 

My reset was made easier by a two-week vacation to Japan last month. Luckily, we booked the trip before I quit my job, because I wouldn’t have spent the money had I known. We had an amazing time – stay tuned for an upcoming article with lots of photos – and a much-needed break from the craziness that I created for myself in the last four months. I’m already enjoying the slower pace and having enough time for what really matters to me right now.