I’ll never forget the last meal I had at Linkedin.

Take a moment and visualize (hungrily) with me…

Blue Cornbread Waffles + Maple Whipped Butter + Fried Chicken with Rosemary, smoldered in sweet Maple Syrup. It was the best Chicken Waffles I ever had.

But wait! I still had to drain down this masterpiece. I grabbed my cup of strawberry mint, from-the-tap Kombucha and slowly sipped down the bubbly, sweet tasting liquid.

Perfection.

This may have been my last meal, but it painted a vivid picture of the shielded, and admittedly, confused life I’ve been living the past 14 months between my employment at Linkedin and Google.

But today, along with all future chicken & waffle consumption, it ended. I’m leaving the world of Big Tech, Big Brand companies for a smaller recruiting agency. I’ll be Employee #14. And I couldn’t be happier.

STOP – I know. Linkedin, ranked #23 in Glassdoor’s list of Best Places To Work?

STOP – I know. Linkedin, one of the fastest growing companies set to explode in the next coming years?

STOP – I know. Linkedin, a tool that’s helped build economic opportunity for myself as well as millions around the world?

I know, I know.

The decision to leave wasn’t an easy one but in a strange and ambivalent way, I’ve never made a more clear and peaceful career decision.

See, on the surface layer, I painted a story of success and true joy. I had it all! But as I stripped off one layer at a time, I saw only frustration, complacency, and fear.

It’s taken a lot of self reflection and self modification to put aside my pride and come face-to-face with the truth of how things were going…and the truth? Boy it can be ugly sometimes. But when that crummy baseline is created, there’s only one way to go, and that’s up.

Here’s what I learned from this whole experience:

1. What you do for >40 hours a week, every week, is more important than anything else that may come attached to it. 

I was lured by the Google and Linkedin brand, culture and the multitude of perks that came along with it. I was in paradise. The only problem was that I spent 40+ hours a week doing something I knew I wasn’t enjoying and underutilizing the gifts and strengths I was given.

This life is short. Don’t waste it.

2. Have a clear understanding of what’s expected from you and what you expect from the company. 

Do your due diligence in understanding what you’ll be devoting most of your week in to. Get some perspectives from people in the industry, interview at other companies to how it differs. Do Not Rush.

3. Before anything else, know WHY you are doing what you are doing. 

Start with the WHY. What’s the deep, intrinsic motivation that will be driving you day by day in what you do? At Google and Linkedin, I had a WHY, but I wasn’t confident in it. It was squeezing a lemon that was already used the day before, and the day before that, etc. I was not tapping into my true potential as a business leader and go-getter because my WHY was filled with so many holes of confusion.

But as I transition on to this next role, things are different. I know my WHY, I have an end goal, and I know what to expect. There’s a newfound hunger to excel and to focus  because I know it fits my strengths and I know what will motivate me each and every morning.

And though I have learned a myriad of new skills at these companies, and my network has never been more influential, the time to take a risk and to listen to my gut is now. My Twenties will not last forever and I certainly don’t plan on having a lackluster career in whatever I end up doing.

So Linkedin, Google, other Big Tech Companies this is not a Goodbye…

but a See You Later.

Happy Holidays.

-Albert