She quit her 9-to-5, stopped waiting for salary alerts, and started asking a question many young professionals struggle with: What gives life meaning?
For years, success looked familiar to her.A full-time job. A predictable calendar. A monthly salary. Professional goals. Deadlines. Promotions.Then she walked away from it.Designer and entrepreneur Charmie Kapoor recently shared a deeply personal reflection on social media about leaving her 9-to-5 job after working for nearly a decade. Her post struck a chord because it wasn’t about burnout, a career crisis, or chasing a higher salary. Instead, it explored a question that many students and young professionals quietly wrestle with: If work no longer defines you, what does?Her thoughts have sparked conversations about ambition, identity, purpose, and whether success always needs to follow a traditional path.
When the monthly salary message disappears
According to Kapoor, one of the first adjustments after leaving a full-time job was getting used to the absence of a salary notification.“There’s something very comforting about watching a number show up which indirectly tells you that you’re doing fine,” she wrote.But she also discovered something unexpected: freedom.Without a calendar filled with meetings and deadlines, she began experimenting with how she wanted to spend her time. She completed personal projects that had been sitting unfinished for years, helped friends with design projects, exercised every day, explored design beyond digital screens, and even started a small mango toast delivery venture.For students preparing to enter the workforce, her experience highlights an important reality: a career often occupies much more mental space than people realise.
The philosophy lesson that changed her perspective
What makes Kapoor’s reflection particularly interesting for young readers is that it goes far beyond career advice.She described three philosophical approaches that shaped her thinking:• Nihilism: Life has no inherent meaning, so people simply continue doing what comes their way.• Existentialism: Life has no built-in meaning, so people must create their own purpose.• Absurdism: Life has no inherent meaning, and that’s perfectly acceptable, so people should focus on living in the present.Kapoor admitted that she had spent most of her life as an “existentialist” without even knowing the term.Her formula for life was straightforward: choose a goal, care about it intensely, and keep trying to succeed.That mindset, she believes, made her ambitious.But after leaving her job, she began moving toward a different perspective.
A dream opportunity arrived—and she still wasn’t convinced
Perhaps the most revealing part of her story came when one of the world’s fastest-growing startups approached her.By her own admission, a few years ago she would have accepted such an opportunity immediately.But this time, things felt different.Even though the role checked every box, she found herself more excited about continuing to build projects on her own terms.Was she avoiding structure? Or had her definition of success changed?She still doesn’t have a complete answer.“I’m at this newfound balance between existentialism giving me happiness and absurdism giving me peace,” she wrote.For students choosing careers and young professionals climbing the corporate ladder, Kapoor’s reflections offer an important reminder: success isn’t always about finding the perfect job.Sometimes, it’s about finding the right balance between achievement and contentment.And sometimes, as Kapoor jokingly concluded in her now-viral post, it simply means stepping away from the screen and heading out for a 5 p.m. pickleball game.Disclaimer: This article was prepared by TOI Education using information shared publicly by Charmie Kapoor on social media and is intended for educational and informational purposes only.
