I Thought I Was Restless. Turns Out I Was Built to GSD.
Before you read this, a heads up.
This is written in the same style as my book Time to GSD.
Short.
Direct.
No fluff.
A little blunt.
A little uncomfortable.
A little “kick in the pants.”
If you’re looking for polished corporate storytelling… this isn’t that.
If you’re looking for movement… keep reading.
I Don’t Have a Linear Career.
And for a long time, I wasn’t sure if that was a strength… or a flaw.
I applied to university planning to be a teacher.
Got accepted.
Changed my mind.
Sat out a year.
Drove a Coke truck while I waited to hear if I got into engineering.
Not glamorous.
Not strategic.
Not impressive.
Just motion.
Then I got into Engineering.
Somewhere in second year, a buddy and I decided, “Why not add Computer Science too?”
So we built a curriculum that allowed us to do both degrees at the same time.
No one handed us that path.
We built it.
I didn’t know it then – but that was GSD.
I Left IBM. On Purpose. Seriously!
Let’s get this straight. I chose to leave IBM (of all places!)
I didn’t have something lined up.
I didn’t have a master plan.
I wanted to travel the world. So I did.
Australia.
Southeast Asia.
China.
Russia.
Middle East.
India.
Nepal.
A year.
No résumé padding.
No five-year strategy.
Just curiosity and courage.
That year did more for my perspective and learning than any corporate training ever could.
Sometimes growth doesn’t come from climbing.
It comes from stepping away.
But… Three Times, It Wasn’t My Call.
Now here’s something most people avoid talking about.
Three times in my career, leaving wasn’t my decision.
Restructures.
Shifts.
Corporate realities.
Or… just a bad fit.
You sit across a table.
You hear the words.
You feel the punch.
That moment where you realize:
This chapter is closing.
You have two choices:
Sit in it.
Or move.
Every time, I moved (Okay, I may have sat in it for a little while). But then I…
Started something.
Built something.
Took a bigger swing.
Learned a new skill.
Entered a new arena.
GSD isn’t about controlling what happens.
It’s about refusing to stall when it does.
From the Outside, It Might Look Like Jumping.
Sales & Marketing.
Technology.
Utilities.
Consulting.
Channel leadership.
Startups.
Fortune 500.
Entrepreneurship.
Travel.
Teaching.
It might look scattered. It wasn’t. It was stacking.
Every role added range.
Every pivot added perspective.
Every setback added resilience.
Every build added belief.
You don’t see it in the moment.
But capability compounds.
I Never Stopped Teaching.
Here’s the twist.
I had always wanted to be a teacher.
Eventually, I taught high school math and physics in Florida.
Then I taught sales teams.
Channel partners.
Executives.
Founders.
Startups.
Myself.
Different rooms.
Same wiring.
Sometimes your original dream doesn’t disappear.
It evolves.
Was I Restless?
Maybe.
But restless people complain.
Builders move.
When I got bored, I built.
When I got pushed, I pivoted.
When I got curious, I explored.
When I got knocked down, I rebuilt.
That’s not instability.
That’s applied momentum.
The Lie We’re Told
We’re told success should look clean.
Linear.
Predictable.
Climb-the-ladder neat.
But most real growth looks like:
Sideways.
Diagonal.
Messy.
Unexpected.
Sometimes you choose the move.
Sometimes the move chooses you.
Either way: You get to decide what happens next.
(and someday soon my next book “The Ideal vs Real You” will talk about some of that!)
The Real Question
What if the “detours” in your life… weren’t detours?
What if that job that ended… forced you to expand?
What if that year that felt lost… actually built depth?
What if you’re not scattered… What if you’re stacking?
Mantra
“I don’t wait for perfect conditions. I move.”
Challenge
Look at your career.
Your life.
Your pivots.
What looks chaotic… but actually built capability?
What hurt… but hardened you?
What closed… but forced you forward?
You might not be off track.
You might just be in motion.
And motion is the essence of GSD.
Now Here’s the Part Where You Decide.
You can keep analyzing your path.
You can keep explaining your detours.
You can keep waiting for your résumé to look cleaner.
Or…
You can move.
Time to GSD isn’t a strategy book.
It’s not a 12-step blueprint.
It’s a nudge.
A shove.
A reminder.
You already have everything you need. You just need to use it.
If you’ve been waiting for permission to pivot…
start…
restart…
or finally take the swing – well, this is it.
No more polishing.
No more explaining.
No more waiting for the “right” time.
LFG!
Let’s GSD.
👉 Grab the book.
👉 Read one chapter.
👉 Take one action.
👉 Then take another tomorrow.
Nothing changes if nothing changes.
And you? You were never stuck… You were stacking.