I QUIT MY CORPORATE LAW JOB WITHOUT A PLAN (Why, what helped, what didn't) 

I am so sorry! :’(

So so sorry about your loss! I hope you’re ok and having a better start to this year than last. Sending lots of love your way 💛

Thank you 💕💕💕

Yes I did

"And I realised how I was merely existing and not living my life." - This is very much like me, so I need to change my life to re-focus and assess what is still my mission in life other than working a full 8-5 job.

Congratulations! Completely agree, it's so easy to be scared off by uncertainty x

Same !!! eventhough i only made $200 for the first month of doing my business, i still believe I can make it bigger (but i still haven't quit my job because $200 a month is not a good money to me) but i'm still in the process of considering quitting 😁

Congrats! What is your business if you don't mind me asking

wow..this is very motivating, I was all set to quit but coz of the pandemic I have little hope of a business doing well..what is it that you started pls do share!

Thanks so much for watching and I'm very glad it resonated! This is why I love hearing other people's stories :)

Wishing you all the best. This rings so close to home for me too.

nafula masika Thank you 🙏🏼. I put in my resignation last week after posting this comment. I wish you the best in your journey as well!

Congratulations on moving on! I’m sure you’ll work something out too 😊

evah wanjiru we’re on the same boat boat. I feel like home decor is my thing. It flows naturally to me. I paint as well, since childhood.

Maybe there's a happy medium there somewhere where you get to be involved with the parts of the law you enjoy and leave behind the parts that you don't like. This is why I considered going into legal tech first (as it's more focused on creative problem solving but still involved with the law), but ended up deciding to go for the full creative option because I'd regret if I never tried. It's still a backup alternative for me though! Best of luck :)

Update?

that's great! I'm working on getting my blogs larger as the main income source.

Follow your heart!!! 😌💭💖☘️🌸☀️

It's the kind of insanity that seemed "normal" to me at the time, eek

@@WeFilmThings More common than one would think in the legal world

I had a job where I commuted 40 miles to work and 40 miles back home. I thought that was normal. I left that job as soon as I found something better. The something better was a job that was 20 miles away. lol

Being a lawyer myself I can relate to it.. Been 6 months since I had a good night's sleep

Good luck, same as me. It's gonna be hard but keep going bro.

@@minhkhuong6132 I sat and considered what I enjoy doing in my spare time, and physics is something I've been researching for years. I even did my own 'double slit experiment' in my house not long ago. So, I've just sent an application off for university at the ripe age of 27 to study physics/astrophysics! Can't wait, good luck to you brother 👊

It takes courage to go to university at 27.

@@minhkhuong6132 I'd rather take the shot and miss than not take it at all. 27 is still young, almost 😜

Yes.. Keep it up.. You never know what a life could bring. There's no right or false decision. Just choose and do the best as u can.

Devin Trent thanks so much! It’s very encouraging to hear that you pursuing your dreams was still a great decision in hindsight 😊 and yes, that totally makes sense and I love watching videos where I get to know people as well - but they are a lot harder to make! It’s putting a lot of yourself out there, so I’m very glad that you enjoyed it!

It's a super tough career if your heart isn't 100% in it! But once you make the decision that it's time to leave, then you just need to make a plan and take the brave first step - whether that means going into a different legal job while you figure things out, or stepping away completely. I wish you the best of luck!

Mariem, I understand you, I was there and I changed my path, now I help lawyers to gain more success without losing themself. I wrote the book "More than a Lawyer" and created a system that helps lawyers. If you resonate, here you can find more informations elawvation.com/

Life is too short. Do what you love - whatever that may be. It may take some time to figure it out.. but you’ll never regret it

Leif Moore ah thank you, it definitely didn’t feel like it came naturally - not sure why it’s more stressful talking at a camera in a room by yourself than to an actual human! 😂 thanks so much for your kind feedback 😊

Thank you Fede! A lot of thinking had to go into the move, as you know from our chats before :)

Francisco Ramirez thanks so much 🙏

Thank you for watching and you're very welcome. I've just uploaded a one year update on this video where I talk about some of the things I would have done differently, and some of the structures I put in place to help me. Just in case you find any of those helpful!

Thanks so much for watching! It's tough because we're trained in confidentiality to the point where lawyers find it hard to share anything personal (this video was very hard to film for me!). But I think it's so important to share, especially as I only felt like I could make the move by speaking to other people about their own experiences.

Thank you for watching and your lovely comment 💛

Leif Moore thank you Leif 😊🙏

Did you leave law practice yet?

Thank you for watching! 😊

You're very welcome, very glad to hear it resonated with you! Best of luck on your own journey x

Thank you Katie! It's definitely a difficult balance, even now when I've given myself more freedom to explore I find that I have to keep reminding myself the reason I quit when making decisions on my next moves. I'm also very impressed at all the travel content you put out seeing as you work full time! You make it look like a breeze :)

I resonate with what you were writing here and I think you might find some support here www.elawvation.com looking for your feedback, Good luck!

The security is definitely the hardest thing to leave behind! Thank you for your kind words and I'm sure you will find something you love in your next phase :)

Thank you for watching, so glad you enjoyed it! Ah I feel for you, though knowing your next direction is half the struggle! Wishing you the best of luck with it :)

@@WeFilmThings Thanks for the warm wishes, the plunge is fast approaching!

Very glad to be of help, thank you for watching!

Completely agree - I've just done a video on exactly this and the process I undertook to make a decision. Unfortunately lots of people in corporate just don't have the time to dedicate to solving their problem, and it does take time and energy!

Hi Louisa, thank you for watching! I'll definitely do an update seeing as it's almost been a year since I left my life in law! I know that feeling well, you'll definitely work it out though. In the meantime if you fancy chatting about career change or Escape then feel free to DM me on instagram, I found it really helpful talking through everything with lots of different people and I'm more than happy to pass that on 😊 Best of luck to you as well!

We Film Things will definitely reach out via DM in the near future for a chat on the topic, it’s a tricky one isn’t it 🧐 (& thanks for offering, very kind of you!). Look forward to the follow up video ☺️

sorry to hear that! 2 part ques Can u expound on why it's miserable being a lawyer?? Is it the hours, paperwork, treatment?

so you done a job suffering you for 3.5 years oof

I went through something similar! I practiced law for a couple of years before I completely burned out and faced serious health issues. It was a really tough place to be in - it lead me to becoming a life coach for lawyers! I now help lawyers and high-achievers beat burnout in their legal careers and actually find fulfillment in their lives (in or out of law)

Lavish Venture id say the culture and the hours. I don’t hate the law per say, but I think it’s definitely a career that you need to put your interest over the expectation that people impose on you.

Navneet Mann good stuff ! I think there are a lot of people in the same boat as me !

Thank you for watching :) I did a one year update video here which has loads of detail about my process and where I ended up: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tUVVfmNwAMw.html And I did a goal setting video (bit less structured, you can skip to the goal setting bit at 7:12) here which sets out what I'm hoping to do this year: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-M7Foo4iwH1g.html Hope those are helpful but let me know if you have any more questions!

@@WeFilmThings Ooh great, thanks so much!!!!

Best of luck with finding that path!

Hi Kammie! Of course I remember, I hope you're well? Thanks so much for your kind words, love that this channel popped up for you 😂 Would love to know what you're up to, will connect on IG xx

I quit my law job three months ago and I am already making a living of my own business! 😃 So much is possible! It is crazy how we stay in situations out of fear when something so much better is waiting for us on the other side :) I wish you the best!

@@ArianeSartor Bless you both! We need more of this kind of self-awareness and boldness

Thanks so much for watching and your kind words! I'm glad it resonated with you and yeah, it's definitely good to have a plan B and to make "brave" decisions in an informed and balanced way... It's definitely not a decision I made lightly! Good luck in finding what you love, I'm sure there's a balance there somewhere between your degree skills and your creative ones. I will be doing a one year update soon if you're interested, stay tuned :)

@@WeFilmThings thanks a million💛 and i will most definitely stay tuned😇

How exciting, best of luck with your plans!!!

We Film Things thank you!! 🥰

I also quit law and I'm training to become a pt

Congratulations on making the big decision! What an exciting time for you, and I'm so glad to hear this video helped a little bit :) Best of luck!

So glad that you resonate with the video. I definitely encourage you to explore those feelings / thoughts - it might be that the changes you need to help you feel fulfilled are not even that major! Best of luck with it xx

John G good for you friend, and best of luck with what’s ahead!

Hello, thanks so much for watching, and thank you for the video idea! I'm definitely planning on making some new videos in this series and I'd love to make ones that will actually be useful to you! Are you thinking about changing careers at the moment? Is it mainly the fear of the unknown that's stopping you? xx

@@WeFilmThings I would like content about having a general sense of openness especially when it comes to careers. Not feeling like because you did x education you have work in that field. You can change at anytime.

I know how you feel, but it's both scary and also liberating - realising that you have complete control over your reality and that you can take steps to change it if it's not what you ultimately want. Wishing you the best of luck and strength with it all xx

What did you wind up doing instead? Do you still practice law?

@@aalegalfocus maybe he's practicing fishing, and why not? Do what makes you happy, remember that you have only one life, not seven.

@@aalegalfocus Take the plunge and see if you can swim; if not, then fly 🕊️🕊️🕊️

Ok first of all, don't let it stress you out, you will figure it out! I find it helps to make yourself a plan and set deadlines by which you need to have applied for jobs / tried something out / read about something / reached out to people who might be able to tell you about certain career paths. If you find it hard to stick to your deadlines, get someone to be your accountability buddy. I have a weekly call with one of my friends and I know I need to get that week's tasks done by then, otherwise I feel crap going on that call. Best of luck with it! xxx

How is it going now?

Wow congrats! It’s weird how change is like a muscle you occasionally need to flex. Best of luck in your new job!

Hey, I feel your pain! It's so hard to know what you want to do / what you will be passionate about until you try things out. If you want to get a better idea of what law is like, I would recommend getting as many internships as you can with law firms / courts / legal departments of companies as you can. And I'd recommend doing that with any other areas that you're interested in too - that way you can compare what each job is like. If you can't get internships, then at least talk to people in those professions - you'd be surprised at how willing people are to share their experiences! But most of all, don't let it stress you out. It sounds like you still have a lot of your career ahead of you and there is no reason that you can't change after a few years in one career - more and more people are doing it! Best of luck with it all x

Teng Vang very true and living by that now! Thank you 🙏

How are things going? The good thing is at least you have a real attorney job. After a year or two, hopefully more doors will open and you can find another job that suits you better. If you save and invest well, you could very well retire early by age 50. I am a solo attorney who had a lot of doubts about sticking with the profession too.

Thanks for watching! Good luck with your future choices :)

Ah, well give it some time, I think things become quite clear once you're in the job for a while. Also there are lots of paths within law outside of private practice that are much more creative as well (I still find legal tech really interesting for example, also some in house roles could be great). Trust me when I say your qualifications + experience won't be wasted even if you do eventually choose to leave the law!

There's definitely a big ego problem in the legal industry! And I think the client / customer centric conversation is super interesting - especially as the tech world has brought ideas of human-centred design into the norm, the older industries like law, insurance and traditional banks are really flailing behind. Thanks very much for watching and your kind comment!

Are you enjoying your new career more than your legal one? Thanks so much for watching!

Hey victor , hope you are good ,i wonder if you was able to get the diffrent job with law degree, is it possible when u adapt your resume ! Thank u in advance and hope u enjoy your new job

@@WeFilmThings enjoying? I am loving it ! I've always been creative! Thank you for sharing your story, I am sure you inspired many people!

@@victortarroni Very glad to hear it :) :) :)

but society does not work like that

😂 honestly, I’ve been there

Hey, so sorry I didn't reply earlier, but feel free to DM me on instagram @eliskahsk xx

Not everyone is unhappy in corporate law! Even though I decided to leave, I'm grateful for my experience in corporate. But it's a very intensive, all-consuming practice so it's worth knowing what you're getting into if your path ever takes you that way.

Alan B'Stard M P true! And I learnt a lot during my time in corporate as well, so no regrets 😊

she's Australian

It may have been an adrenaline rush at the prospect of sleep being on the horizon 🤤

it only feels good the first time😂😂😂😂

Yep I studied law at university - it's a bachelors degree here rather than a JD postgrad like in the US.

Awesome

Congrats and best of luck on your next steps!!

Good move. Those masters degree programs are just a way for law schools to make more money.

In the UK we have the NHS. So thankful for the safety net in case illness and need for treatment does come up while taking a career sabbatical or deciding what to do next.

I have a supportive partner who agreed that we would cut our household income by a significant amount for a certain period of time and yes, he wouldn't let me die of starvation (nor would my mom I don't think) - and I am extremely lucky to have that support system! However I am very risk averse so I took some precautions, namely (1) I'd paid off my student debt before leaving my job (we didn't have a mortgage, so that wasn't an issue, just needed to make sure we could make our rent. We moved to a cheaper city to do this) (2) I had put money aside to fund myself for the "experimental" period (3) we set a deadline by which point I needed to be earning money again so that we could still afford food / rent / a lifestyle that we were happy with. The support system gives you a little safety net - if you don't have a similar support system then I think you need to build that safety net by other means. This means being tighter on the financial planning, saving up a little more and starting your business as a side hustle until you have some evidence that it will be successful. If it's not possible to quit straight off and you don't have time to do it as a side hustle then look to reduce your hours first or look for a stop-gap part-time job to allow you to fund yourself whilst still having time to work on your business. I know I'm giving advice from a very privileged position, don't get me wrong, but I hope some of this helps. I'm doing a one year update video in the next few days xxx

Thanks for the detailed reply- you've earned my subscription 👍🏻 I have decided to quit next Summer to pursue my dream of being a stock trader, whilst exploring interests like RU-vid and other entrepreneurial ventures. I already have a part time freelance job (private tuition) that will pay some bills (hopefully). I will quit with a £1000 mortgage in London and 10k of debt to pay off. However, I will have 15k in my trading account and 4-5k liquid cash to keep me going until my part time work takes off. In reality I just need the time off to fully submerge myself in the financial markets and study them on a full time basis. My full time job is robbing me of the time I need at the moment. It's a big risk but I can't continue living like this- the regret is poisoning my soul. It's time to take that leap of faith. Hopefully things have worked out for you too. I once tutored a lawyer desperate to get out of the city and start again in medicine. She referred to herself as a 'document donkey' whilst working in law. Maybe you can relate to that.

@@hudson701 You're very welcome and thank you for the subscription! Congratulations on making the decision, and the plan! I found that once I decided to do it, it was a case of planning for the risk, which made it seem a lot less scary. It sounds like you have a few months of runway before you need to be at full earnings, which is definitely the way to go. Thank you, things are working out so far, though I of course still have a lot of work to do as I'm still a relative newby in my industry. But I love working on it, I get to do something that genuinely excites me every day and I also get to sleep for a normal number of hours each night!!! Crazy :D

In big firms, the associates are interchangeable. The cases most likely got passed to another cog in the wheel and the clients were just told that so-and-so is now handling your case.

I timed quitting my job so that the last month of my loan repayment was the same as the last month of my notice period. So that at the point of not having a regular income, I was entirely debt free. I don't know where you're based, but I would add that here in the UK, you don't have to make student loan repayments unless you earn over a certain threshold of income. This means that for any time you are unemployed, you don't need to make repayments. I paid my student loan off prior to quitting my job as a precaution and because I didn't like the idea of being in debt without a secure income, but I know I was lucky to be able to do that!

The point of the exercise I'm talking about is to risk assess the worst case scenario of what you're afraid of. My analysis is obviously specific to me, at my age and given my responsibilities (i.e. young, healthy, debt-free). Everyone's risk analysis will be different and the point is that you need to map out the risks in order to be able to prepare for them. And yes, I advise people to keep their jobs and experiment on the side if they can. That was sadly not possible for me given the hours that my job required, so this is the approach I decided to take. Equally, we all have a different appetite for risk and you have to make decisions in line with your own capacity for it.

@@WeFilmThings thanks for replying and speaking to this. Yes there are practical things in life that prevents most from going this route. I will submit it is admirable that you are taking ownership of your life and dictating your own path. I think you are really brave. Genuine Kudos. You explained the downsides of your job that made it difficult to live with, (the stress and hours), and acknowledge the risk. I am rooting for you and want you to succeed, (wildly), at this exchange. Do great things, and come back and report. I will follow. Thanks for sharing your story.

No, but there are subjects preferred by universities, which it would be foolish not to do, and subjects that it's not worth doing as they will not be taken into consideration on application. You're more than welcome to check individual college requirements for Cambridge.

And where are you from?!

That’s a bit judgemental and who are you to judge?

Stupid comment, you are not in her situation .

@Noor551 12 👍👍👍

Her life, her choice

This is a fairly stupid comment!

@@jcbanbury I totally agree!

Fairly stupid comment indeed🤣🤣🤣