Don’t grab the closest rock just because it’s there

A couple of weeks ago, on the day of my 36th birthday, I was in a pretty freaky accident, probably the worst one I’ve had in my entire (hitherto accident-free) life. Without going into specifics, it involved a rough sea, a capsized kayak, a breakwater, and the gift of my life plus a dozen stitches for my birthday.

Since I miraculously survived the ordeal with little more than superficial damage, I chose to treat my injuries as tuition and was compelled to look for the lessons they paid for. I mean, you don’t get to fight Poseidon and walk away with a few cuts and bruises and not have a good hard look at your life, right?

Some more context before we dive in - about a week prior, the company I worked at for the past 2 years was caught up in the layoff tsunami that’s sweeping the tech world right now, which resulted in more than 80 extremely talented individuals - and me - to be washed up on the shores of unemployment (yeah, this is going to be full of nautical analogies, sorry…)

The sheer proximity of these two life-altering events was enough to send me, a raging non-believer, down a somewhat spiritual path and see if I can connect them by some karmic thread. 

More accurately - what can I learn from how I dealt in real time with an actual life and death situation, the outcomes of that behavior, and what I know now in retrospect that I should’ve done. This is what I came up with, and I’m amazed with how closely it ties to my own current work-related challenges and dilemmas. 

This is all extremely personal (not to mention privileged), but if there’s anything here you find yourself relating to, than I’ve done my bit:

1. Don’t grab the closest rock just because it’s there - as I was in the water, trying to catch my breath, clear my head and make a plan, swimming to the breakwater seemed like the obvious choice. It was much closer than the beach, it was solid ground, and I could signal for help. That choice is what actually got me injured, and it could’ve been a lot worse. If we take this back to dry land, the lesson is that while it’s pretty scary finding yourself without a job in an industry that’s undergoing some size-alterations, jumping on the first vaguely relevant offer might prove to be something you’ll regret once your heart slows down and you find yourself, well, doing the job.
2. You’re a better swimmer than you give yourself credit for - the waves that capsized my kayak made it difficult to make actual headway in between swells. I felt like heading to shore was too much of a risk, and genuinely feared I might drown in the process. I’m a solid swimmer, but never actually swam in open waters before. The fact of the matter is that swimming back was the safer option had I been more experienced in such matters. The lesson here is that in times of panic and uncertainty, you should tune in to your innate abilities and strengths, and trust that you can invoke them at greater strengths than you might expect.
3. The shore is closer than you think - you might imagine me being marooned miles from land, when in fact I was roughly 200-300 meters from shore. Granted, that’s a tougher swim than in your average olympic swimming pool, but still painfully close. The lesson - if you’re setting yourself a goal that might seem unrealistic,the path to it not thoroughly paved and you can’t fully gauge its length, it’s probably a shorter road than you think once you actually lift your feet and start walking (or pedaling, going back to #2)

So I guess that is an extremely elaborate way of announcing that after 7 years of being a full time PMM, from off-the-street junior to director and people manager, I’m headed down the self-employment route, as consultant and PMM-as-a-service for startups and product companies. Yes, in this economy. Yes, I’m actually turning down concrete job offers at a time where everybody’s laying off. Because while there are inherent risks in being your own boss - namely the fact that you and you alone are responsible for your income - I chose to swim to shore rather than grabbing onto the nearest rock. I love product marketing with all my heart, and it has become such an inseparable part of my identity, that I want to embody it to the fullest. Experience it in various shades and flavors, and take back what I’ve learned to my dearest professional community.

If any of this resonates with you, if you want to talk it out, or if you’re a fellow PMM who’s also standing at a fork in your professional road - I want to talk to as many people as possible, and now I finally have the time for it.