In light of the shit show of unprecedented proportions that is academia at the present moment, post-ac coach Kel Weinhold and I have launched a new 12 part series on leaving academia called, Twelve Steps To A New Job.
Welcome to the second installment of our 12 Steps to a New Job series, part of The Professor Is In’s ongoing Leaving Academia project. We’re on zoom FREE every Friday at 11 a.m. Pacific to have honest conversations about what it means to walk away from academia and build something new.
In case you missed the first two sessions (Introduction and Step One) we are using a 12-step structure—not because we’re trying to replicate AA, but because it gives us a scaffold. And because, let’s be honest: There is something deeply addictive about academia. About capitalism. About productivity. About ego. Step by step, we’re breaking away from those systems and building something new—something rooted in your actual values, not in someone else’s hierarchy.
Below is the synopsis!
Step 2: Seek Strength Beyond Yourself
Beyond the Academy, Beyond the Ego
The traditional AA step asks you to believe in a power greater than yourself that can restore you to sanity. We’re re-framing that in secular terms: Seek strength beyond the academic industrial complex. Beyond late-stage capitalism. Beyond ego-driven work.
This isn’t about religion. It’s about freedom. About imagining that there is something more than metrics, rankings, peer-reviewed prestige, and overwork. That you have the right to peace and ease, even if you’ve been taught that your value only exists in output.
Let’s say that again for the people in the back: You have a right to peace and ease.
Why Step 2 Is So Hard for Academics
This step is tough. And here’s why: academia trains us to believe that we must do everything alone. That we are only as good as our last award, our last publication, our last grant.
From day one in a PhD program, you’re swimming in external validation: exams, proposal defenses, publications, funding, tenure. It doesn’t stop. Step 2 asks you to put that down. To believe there’s something other than that hamster wheel. Something that might actually support your well being.
And that’s terrifying.
The Myth of the Rugged Individual
Academia thrives on the myth of rugged individualism—on working alone in your little office, battling imposter syndrome in silence. If you’ve come from activist or community-rooted backgrounds, that isolation can feel disorienting. Maybe even traumatic.
Step 2 asks you to reject that myth. It asks you to build community, not as a nice afterthought, but as a survival strategy.
Who Can You Reach For?
Your next step isn’t to “find a mentor” in the traditional sense. You’re not looking for another academic savior. Instead, ask yourself:
- Who is modeling the kind of life you want to live?
- What organizations or communities inspire you?
- Who can guide you toward the job you want—one that reflects your values?
And don’t get stuck in the trap of thinking this guide has to be another PhD. It could be someone you meet at a local meetup. Someone you admire online. A neighbor. A friend of a friend. Your guide could be a person, a collective, a book, a podcast, a business. Stay open.
Discomfort Is Not Death
Stepping outside academic culture will feel awkward. Vulnerable. Maybe even humiliating. That’s okay.
You won’t die of awkwardness.
You will learn.
And if you’re waiting for everything to feel aligned and non-performative before you act… well, you’ll be waiting a long time. There is no perfect place. No perfect community. People will disappoint you. Institutions will fail you. That’s not a reason to stay stuck. It’s a reason to trust yourself.
Internal Validation Is the Way Out
This whole process—of leaving academia, of seeking something greater—it’s about moving from external validation to internal clarity.
What do you value?
What kind of life do you want to live?
What kind of work do you want to do?
That’s your compass.
You don’t need a perfectly laid-out career path. You don’t need permission. You need the courage to try, and the willingness to believe that you’ll figure it out along the way.
Final Thought: Break Free from the Attention Economy
If you’re looking for a place to start, we recommend How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell. She writes about choosing presence, choosing thoughtfulness, and choosing peace—even when the world demands urgency and noise.
We’re not saying you have to drop everything. We’re saying: stand somewhere. Choose where you put your time, your energy, and your hope. You can live inside this collapsing system while still building a better one. Step by step.
Want help figuring this out? You don’t have to do it alone. Come back next Friday. And the Friday after that. Even if it’s a holiday. Because this is the real work of freedom.
At any point, if you feel inspired, you can schedule an appointment with coach Kel Weinhold for your own 30-minute introductory session.
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