Stuck in the Wrong Career? How to Make up for Lost Time

Disillusionment is a signal that change is required. The difficulty comes when the change required is something big like a career change.

This kind of change can be really difficult to make due to having already invested a lot of time and energy into the path which lead you here.

Where is here?

• You hate your job
• You dread the thought of going to work
• You would quit the second you didn’t need the money and do something else.

When you realise the path you’ve been following hasn’t worked out there’s a sudden sinking feeling. It feels like the years of time invested evaporate into nothing.

This alone can be a strong motivation to try and convince yourself to just stick it out.

Not because you think there’s the potential for future change and improvement on the path but because you don’t want to face the pain of turning back and losing all the time you’ve invested.

What I’ve learned recently will help you to immediately let go of this feeling and I’m going to share it with you today.

The Trap of Chronos Time

We need to think about the nature of time more deeply.

In ancient Greek there are 2 distinct concepts of time referred to as Chronos and Kairos.

Chronos refers to sequential, linear time. It's the kind of time we measure with clocks and calendars—minutes, hours, days, and years.

Chronos is quantitative time i.e the amount of time that we’re constantly measuring our lives and work by as it passes continuously.

Chronos time is a resource that can be spent or saved.

This is the mainstream concept of time that is deeply ingrained in the fabric of society for functional purposes.

When it comes to work, the 9-5 lifestyle of school and then corporate life run on it.

Unfortunately  we can’t arrange classes or meetings on just feeling a vibe or other occurrences like cock-a-doodle-doos or where the crawdads sing… you get the idea.

Chronos time is a universal concept that effects everyone the same.

So what’s the result of this?

Work time becomes this 9-5 measured period to fill with meaningless, effortful tasks to demonstrate that you’re busy and working. Its late 19th century factory style work in a 21st century non-factory environment.

Its dictated by bureaucracy and destroys peoples souls. Work is normalised as a negative time consuming experience to just ‘get through’ so that you can go and enjoy your life with the little time you have left between it.

The Power of Kairos Time

Fortunately there’s a second way to think about time, referred to by the Ancient Greeks as Kairos. And this concept can completely change your approach to work and life.

Unlike Chronos, Kairos isn’t about minutes or hours. Its about the right moment, the opportune time when everything just clicks.

Kairos time is about quality not quantity.

It’s when you’re so engaged in what you’re doing that time seems to stand still. You’re in the zone, completely absorbed by the task at hand.

When you work in Kairos time, you’re not just ticking boxes or meeting deadlines—you’re creating, innovating, and experiencing real joy and fulfilment.

This is the time that truly matters. Its like being on a different plane of existence in which you’re able to achieve exponential gains. Work is effortless, it wouldn’t even be considered work by Chronos standards.

When you’re in Kairos, you’re not just going through the motions and running down the clock—you’re leaping ahead, achieving more in less time because you’re working with passion and purpose.

When people say things like,

‘Beyonce has the same 24 hours as everyone else’,

they are trying to motivate, but it can cause abit of a stir in peoples minds.

The reason is that– Yes, she has the same chronos quantity of time as everyone else. But actually the 24 hours that Beyonce has are on a whole different level of quality compared to everyone else.

This is because she is able access Kairos time to boost her performance due to having created the conditions to experience work that is meaningful to her.

Turning Lost Time into Exponential Gains

The thing you need to appreciate is that the career path that created your disillusionment is measured on Chronos time.

Its long, arduous and essentially meaningless, else you wouldn’t feel the need for change.

The fear of change is because you think you’ll have to spend long amounts of Chronos time to get there.

However by changing your work to align with your passion and purpose you shift from Chronos to Kairos.

You’re no longer bound by the Chronos time you think you’ve lost. Time will pass differently when you start doing something that you love. This will set you up for the quality of time that leads to exponential gains.

Getting more Kairos time in your Life and work

1. Identify Your Passion: What activities make you lose track of time? These are likely connected to your passion and purpose.

2. Set aside dedicated time for activities that bring you joy.

3. Prioritize Meaningful Work: Focus on tasks that align with your values and long-term goals, rather than just what’s urgent or easy.

Once you've started to experience more Kairos time in your life or even just start appreciating the Kairos moments you already have, career change becomes a much smaller mountain to climb.

It will be easy to let go of the time spent in a career you hate and––

Start a new journey filled with perfect moments of concentrated: focus, joy, passion, creativity and productivity.

What you were previously able to achieve in 8 hours at the job you hate you’ll be able to achieve in 1 hour.

Overall when you make a career change to align with your passion the Chronos time that you lose is more than made up for by the Kairos time that you will gain.

And if you’re ready to make a big change but don’t know where to start, I’d love to help you through my Disillusionment Coaching. Together, we’ll uncover your true passions and create a plan to escape the trap of disillusionment.

Don’t let the fear of lost time hold you back. The best time to start living the life you truly want is now.

That’s all for now

Lewis