BIO: Marc Miller is the founder of Career Pivot, which helps those in the second half of life design careers that they can grow into for the next 30 years. He is also an author and podcast host.
STORY: Marc was a relentless risk-taker until a bike accident, and the risk of contracting SARS-CoV-1 stopped him hot on his heels.
LEARNING: Learn how to evaluate risk and ask for help if need be. Step back and think about what you really want to do with life. Andrew’s advice is to be grateful, like what you do, keep life simple, find clarity and let go.
“For new things to begin, we often have to end old things.”
Marc Miller
Guest profile
Marc Miller is the founder of Career Pivot, which helps those in the second half of ife design careers that they can grow into for the next 30 years. Marc authored the book Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, published in September 2019.
Marc is a recovering engineer, a multipotentialite, and a professional career-changer as he has made six career pivots over the last 35 years.
Marc is also the podcast host of the award-winning Repurpose Your Career Podcast.
Worst investment ever
Marc has had a series of events in his life that forced him to take a step back, take a look at his life and make a couple of adjustments.
The risky ride
In July of 2002, Marc was riding with his bicycle club and was on what he thought was a pretty nonrisky ride. He came down a hill, turned into a blind turn; going about 30 miles an hour, he slammed into a car head-on.
Marc spent five days in the trauma center. He had a torn knee, a broken hip, a dislocated shoulder, a bunch of broken ribs, and a couple of other minor injuries. Fortunately, he had no internal injuries.
Putting himself in harm’s way again
Marc was back on a bike in 10 weeks, and in four months, he was flying to China, heading to Guangdong province, which was the epicenter of the SARS-CoV-1 outbreak. He stayed there for three days, oblivious to the severe disease.
During his flight, Marc sat next to a woman who was heading to Hong Kong. He emailed her afterward and asked her about her trip. She informed him that she had got seriously ill. The world did not know till three months later that it was SARS-CoV-1.
Questioning his decisions
Marc was fortunate not to get SARS-CoV-1; however, this and the bike accident got him questioning why he was making such risky decisions.
Marc decided to start doing less risky stuff. He went to teach high school math. He left teaching after two years, highly successful but exhausted and depressed. Then he did a year of nonprofit work. Then he got sucked into another startup but later decided he had had enough.
Stepping back from it all
After quitting his last job, Marc decided that he had enough money to reshape his life and do something more meaningful and refreshing. He started making some very conscious decisions, and one of those decisions was to move to Mexico in 2018.
Lessons learned
Step back and think about what you really want to do with life
Marc had a lot of preconceived ideas of what he should do. After the events in his life, he decided to step back and ask himself what he truly wanted to do with his life. While doing so, he decided to stop buying stuff and simplify his life.
Cut out things you do not need in your life
In these challenging times, step back and spring clean your life. Let go of all the crap you do not need. Also, leave relationships that no longer serve you.
Andrew’s takeaways
Be grateful
When you are feeling down, go somewhere where people are literally losing their lives. This will give you some appreciation for your life.
Like what you do
Having a skill does not necessarily mean that you are going to love using it. Try to do what you like.
Keep it simple
Life is simple. If you find that it is not, stop, take a step back, take a moment, and work to simplify it.
Find clarity
Search for your moment of clarity and use that moment to transform yourself. That moment does not have to be an extreme event; you could have your moment of clarity right now.
Let go
Once you have found your moment of clarity, let go of all those things that were burdening you before.
Actionable advice
Learn how to evaluate risk. Always ask yourself, if you are going to do this, if you are going to make a change, what’s the real risk? Then get outside of your head and go ask for help to evaluate your risks.
No. 1 goal for the next 12 months
Marc’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to get the next Repurpose Your Career book out. He has done three editions and now wants to do an edition based on his experience and the current pandemic. Marc is also growing an online community of more people helping everybody else out.
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