I'll never forget securing my first job out of college. I had spent three months desperately searching for a job after graduating. I wasn't even the first option for the role — they extended an offer to a woman who backed out in the eleventh hour. So the phone call to me was, "Hey, remember how we told you we weren't going to hire you? Surprise!"
I had never been happier to be the second option.
So I started my very first role out of school, and my career began.
Within about two weeks of commuting 19.8 miles every morning from Seattle to Kent, Washington, I can still recall the place on the I-5 Highway where I stopped and said to myself, "Is this it?"
I couldn't help but ponder what could be the next forty years of my life. Waking up every morning at the same time, getting dressed in business casual clothes, driving in to an office, and rinse and repeating four more times a week until it was all over.
I was so serious with this question. "How the fuck could this be it? Like, is this what I got a degree for? This is what I was looking forward to having in a career?"
One would imagine my feelings that day revolved around the actual role, but in reality, my emotions had very little to do with the job. The job wasn't bad; it wasn't great, but my expectations were fairly limited at that given point in time. What did I know about a great role or company?
The crazy thing is that at 22 years old, I was already saying these words to myself. The idea that I would dedicate 40+ hours per week for the next however many years felt sort of wild to me. Even if I loved the job, this idea that I would spend all this time in the car, in an office, with people who pretended to be "my family," doing stuff I didn't give a fuck about was a realization like I had never had.
I know that a lot of people continue to ask themselves this question every single day, even deep into their career.
"Is this it?"
If you are asking yourself this question about your career, then consider it a good thing. It's good to gut-check yourself from time to time to ensure you're headed down the path you want. If you don't ask yourself this question, you may be so stagnant and comfortable that you're missing out on what's happening around you.
Whether you're happy or miserable, embrace a question like this. Don't run from it. Maybe it's a sign to do something different. Maybe it's a sign that you are ready for a challenge, or maybe it's a sign that you are generally unfulfilled. But if you're not taking the time to gut-check with yourself, you may be missing the mark.
The truth is, "Is this it?" isn't a question to fear — it's a signal to pay attention. It's a nudge to reevaluate, to dream bigger, or to course-correct. It doesn't always mean you need to quit your job tomorrow or blow up your life, but it does mean you owe yourself the honesty to explore what's behind the question. Maybe you need to rediscover what excites you, take a risk you've been avoiding, or even find joy in the life you've already built. Whatever the answer, the question itself is a gift — it's the spark that can ignite real growth. So, lean into it, trust it, and let it guide you toward something better.