Can we talk about how nobody warns you that leaving a steady job makes you feel like a fraud for 6 months

Mary West · 2026-09-25T17:40:03.870599+00:00

I quit my job at a medical billing office in Dayton last March after 11 years, and the moment that stuck with me was a lunch with my old coworker Dana about 3 weeks before I gave notice. We were at this sad little deli by the office, and when I said I was thinking of going out on my own doing the same billing work from home, she put her sandwich down and said "you know you're not actually the job, right?" I laughed it off because it sounded like a fortune cookie. Then I spent the next 6 months feeling like I was faking it, taking calls in my kitchen with a headset on, waiting for someone to figure out I didn't belong there. The thing is, Dana was right, and not in a nice way. I had tied up my whole identity in a parking pass and a cubicle, and when those went away I had no idea who I was supposed to be. I made $1,200 my first month alone versus $4,100 at the office, and instead of panicking I just kept going. Has anyone else had a person say one small thing right before a big change that you didn't get until way later?

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Can we talk about how nobody warns you that leaving a steady job makes you feel like a fraud for 6 months | Big Life Changes - Thought Shares