7:59:59

She pulled into her company’s parking lot and found a stall facing the entrance. She turned off the vehicle and instead of gathering her purse and lunch, she sat there in the cold.

The clock read 7:57

She stared at the building entrance and watched her coworkers drudge through the snow to begin their day. The clock turned 7:58

She glared at the clock, daring it to turn to 7:59.

It flipped to 7:59 and then she counted 59 seconds before getting out of the car and walking in.

“This isn’t right. This isn’t normal,” she told herself. And she knew she had to do SOMETHING, but wasn’t sure what that “something” was just yet.

This true story is from Sunny Anderson, host of Cooking for Real on Food Network.  She recently spoke at a Women in Cable Telecommunications event where she was one of several inspiring women who spoke about their experiences climbing the corporate ranks.

Sunny spoke more about her stumbles and trials of finding her perfect job. She actually started out in the military, being a military brat herself, and leaned toward radio broadcasting. “Like Good Morning Vietnam,” she recounted to us.

The above story is when she took a radio DJ job inDetroitand loved the job at first, but it eventually headed south.

She stuck with it for awhile thinking the feeling would move on, or the job would improve or whatever we tell ourselves to get through the day.

photo credit: emohannink

It didn’t, of course. I can’t remember exactly what pushed her onward, but it had to do with asking for more money & responsibility, which was denied.

She eventually did move on to a bigger, better radio station, but the “7:59:59” bug returned again. This time she moved quicker to land her next happy place.

Are you in a 7:59:59 place? When I heard Sunny recount that she actually waited for the clock to hit 59 seconds before heading into the office, I thought she was crazy. It was as if her subconscious was screaming at her, “You hate this job! You are better than this! Get out!”

It took her a bit before she listened to what her “inner voice” was telling her. Once she started listening, she eventually landed the gig on Food Network. 

Are Sunday nights filled with anxiety, fear and hopelessness because Monday looms so close? It is very difficult to do, but seeing these little clues, like sitting in a cold car until the last possible second to head inside, are the keys to our happiness.