The Space Between Progress: Why I Quit and Chose to Pause

I’ve always been someone who likes to keep moving forward, learning, building, improving.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve tied a lot of my sense of fulfillment to the idea of progress. Whether it’s through my work in managed care pharmacy, consulting, or real estate, I’ve always found comfort in being productive, in knowing that I’m working toward something.

But recently, I made a decision that felt both unfamiliar and uncomfortable: I quit my main pharmacy job.

I won’t go into the specifics behind that choice here, partly because some things are better kept private, and partly because that’s not really the point. What matters more is what this experience has taught me, and how it’s reshaped the way I think about progress and rest.

For the first time in my career, I chose to step away without another role lined up. No next move, no backup plan. Just space. And honestly, that’s something I’d never given myself before. Every other transition in my life had been about chasing the next opportunity, staying busy, or proving to myself that I could keep growing. But this time, what I really needed wasn’t more progress. It was a pause.

At first, that pause felt unsettling. I’d wake up some mornings with the instinct to check my calendar or emails, only to remember there wasn’t anything waiting for me. There’s a strange quiet that comes with no longer being in constant motion. For a while, I mistook that quiet for emptiness, but slowly I began to see it for what it really was: space to think, to rest, and to reset.

During this time, I’ve noticed how deeply ingrained the idea of constant productivity is in our culture. We celebrate busyness like it’s a badge of honor. We measure our worth by how much we accomplish, how many things we cross off our list. Taking a break can almost feel rebellious, like we’re going against an unspoken rule that every day must be productive to have value.

But I’ve started to realize that progress isn’t always visible. Sometimes it looks like reflection, or taking care of yourself, or simply allowing space for clarity to return.

I’ve had days where I didn’t “do” much at all, but found myself thinking more clearly about what kind of work truly feels meaningful, and what kind of person I want to become in the process.

And when I say “take a break,” I don’t just mean quitting your job or stepping away completely. It can be much smaller than that. It might mean giving yourself permission to not work on anything after hours, to have a weekend that’s entirely unplanned, or to let the dishes sit in the sink for a day. It’s okay to have moments where you do absolutely nothing. To check out, be quiet, and just exist without trying to optimize the time. Those moments matter too, they give your mind space to breathe and remind you that you’re more than your productivity.

I still plan to return to pharmacy work eventually. I don’t know when or exactly what that next step will look like, and that uncertainty used to bother me. But now, it feels less like something to fix and more like something to explore. There’s value in not having all the answers right away.

If there’s one thing this experience has reminded me, it’s that rest is not the opposite of growth.

It’s part of it. It’s the moment where we reconnect with ourselves before taking the next step.

So if you’re in a season of uncertainty or thinking about your own pause, I hope you give yourself permission to take it. You don’t have to keep pushing every single day. Sometimes, the most meaningful progress happens when you stop trying so hard to make it.

Here’s to slowing down, listening to yourself, and finding direction not through constant motion, but through stillness.