What I Learned About Money and Career in One Month

Hi, I'm Raounak, a journalist and author of the book "Even Goede Vrienden" (Even Good Friends ). In this newsletter, I write about everything I feel like writing about. This time: money and career tips.

It's been a strange year for me. In January, I started my "dream job," less than a month later I decided to leave, and a month later I was back at my old employer ( https://lnkd.in/eBPPiE_X )

Now, almost a year later, the peace in my mind and body has almost completely returned. Partly because everyone still keeps asking about it (which is sometimes very annoying, but which I would do anyway), I'm more able and confident to express what I felt at the beginning of the year.

I've also been thinking a lot about what the first month of this year has taught me:

👉 Money gives freedom (not happiness)
It wasn't until a few weeks after I quit that I realized how fortunate I was to be able to leave so quickly. If you can manage it, make sure you have enough money to take a few months off work. That gives you peace of mind and space to avoid things you don't want to do, and you won't have to make hasty decisions. I've been following Vincent Kouters ' newsletters ever since.

👉Our feeling is not career driven
I'm incredibly ambitious, and I have limits. Limits I might have crossed if I hadn't acted according to my intuition. So, be mindful.

👉 Call people who no longer work there
After one coffee, I said yes to the job. In retrospect, that was incredibly stupid. What I should have done, and would do again now, in a new job: call former employees. Do that. Former employees can give you an honest picture of the culture and what's really going on.

👉Your work environment is more important than your salary
I'll never earn as much as I did in January (at the newspaper where I'm thankfully back). And that's okay. Your salary doesn't buy you a safe work environment, great colleagues, and opportunities for advancement.

💡 Do you have any additional tips?