Don’t build a career you need to escape from

Published 2 months ago • 1 min read

“I’m just waiting for my state pension,” a senior GP said to me last week.

Then, almost as an afterthought:

“You’ve got 30 years left.”

It was meant to be lighthearted but it echoed like a countdown.

Three decades is a long time to spend in a career you haven’t shaped.

Recently, I had coffee with a retired GP trainer.

She smiled in a way that felt unhurried.

“I’m really enjoying it,” she said.
“Long walks. No rota. No inbox. Just… freedom.”

She looked lighter.

Some doctors flourish after leaving the NHS, finally allowed to be, not just endlessly do.

Not long after, I met a retired consultant. He paused, then said:

“I don’t miss the patients.
But I do miss the buzz of standing in front of a room full of students.”

That line made me ponder.

For years, I thought early retirement was the goal to achieve freedom.

Then I started teaching.

The purpose.
The students.
The satisfaction of helping someone see more clearly.

I realised something unexpected:

Even if I never had to work again, I’d still teach.

As Naval Ravikant puts it:

“Retirement is when you stop sacrificing today for an imaginary tomorrow.”

This single question flipped my thinking:
If I retired tomorrow, what would I miss?

Since then, I’ve started designing a career I don’t want to run from.
One I genuinely look forward to.

🟡 Micro-Challenge for This Week:

Take 90 seconds.

Picture your ideal working life before retirement.

What does freedom look like within your current career, not after it?

Now ask:

What’s one small lever I could pull this month to move closer?

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