LIMBO V1.17 Apk
Onofre Alamillo
Nevertheless, there are moments when I'm reminded of where I am. It usually happens when someone asks, 'What are you working on right now?' or 'Are you still pursuing X?' or 'Do you miss doing Y?' Sometimes they ask directly, and other times, I hear it through the proverbial grapevine.
If you take advantage of your time in status limbo, you might emerge with a big status win, bypassing what you had before. Or you may emerge with similar or even a touch less status but as a happier, more internally-aligned person.
This is the allure of visiting status limbo. Taking the leap to take a sabbatical, change careers, start a startup, or shut down a startup all come with their own consequences, but the prospect of a win is compelling. At the same time, the reality of going through status limbo first subconsciously weighs on people.2
I was intrigued by the recent viral TikTok videos of people recording themselves being fired from their jobs. Of course the subjects seemed to have a clue it was coming, yet it still seemed like they were real-time processing a big shock.
Getting fired is one way to involuntarily enter status limbo.3 Sudden shifts in personal relationships, such as breakups or divorce, can also thrust you into it. Or a significant, unexpected financial loss can be the catalyst.
Status is by no means the most important thing to focus on or optimize for. That said, putting idealism aside, the pursuit of it (and issues arising from this) do contribute meaningfully to the human experience, especially in communities of ambitious people.
You've put words to something that I've had trouble articulating after leaving my tech job to start my own company. It was something I always wanted to do (so it should be all positive, right?) but didn't anticipate the mental journey and amount of angst I'd have after electing into limbo. I was also a bit surprised by how strongly I felt a loss of status.
In my experience there's also a valley of death similar to that of a startup - you start off excited about your reasons for going into limbo and you're still close enough to your status shields that they can reassure you. Then you hit a valley of death when the initial excitement wears off and you start feeling the status loss more strongly. For me during this time, the angst of the limbo was almost enough to push my out of limbo by giving up. I think leaving at this time is also the riskiest for ending up net neutral.
After I accepted what you're so aptly coining as "status loss", it felt less disorienting and has helped me do better work and focus more. Hopefully this will ultimately help me end up net positive after the status limbo.
I\u2019ve visited status limbo a few times, each after a decision to pause or step off a well-regarded path to explore a drastically different one. This time around, it started when I decided to leave my most recent job, and that too, without a perfectly charted out next move.
Since then, I\u2019ve been exploring new ideas as a founder and embracing a new approach. I\u2019ve also poured time into creative pursuits and personal goals. All of this has been incredibly fruitful, but hasn\u2019t significantly moved me out of status limbo. To be honest, I haven't actively sought to escape it.
Status limbo is a state of being that\u2019s frequented by those we admire, both for their remarkable achievements and inspiring journeys. Even if you don\u2019t identify with this archetype, status limbo seems to be a universal human experience that we all have more than once in a lifetime.
While temporary, if you can understand and accept its inherent trade-offs, status limbo can be an incredibly meaningful time of free exploration, personal development, and professional growth \u2014 and an all-around transformative period.
While status limbo often entails a drop in status, it remains ambiguous and doesn't feel permanent. You don\u2019t know exactly how far you\u2019ve fallen, but if done well, your actions in limbo will help you escape it again, ideally with more.
Status limbo is a place with more freedoms than other states. It\u2019s not freer in a tangible sense, but removing the usual status-preserving hangups lets you act more freely. It somewhat like being on the moon. There\u2019s less societal and institutional gravity.
Not long ago, I had a friend who was contemplating quitting their career in medicine to explore creative fields. But they were concerned about the questions \u201Cpeople\u201D would ask. People had certain expectations of them. They would wonder.
This is one way you might choose to enter status limbo voluntarily (and hence it could be seen as a privilege). You quit a \u201Cprestigious\u201D career that\u2019s stable, lucrative, and praised by society. Apart from this, it\u2019s also a big part of your personal and social identity, so that changes too.
Entering voluntary status limbo can be daunting even when you do it willingly. You might be surprised at how much or all the ways it ends up impacting you. But, the weaker the ties to the people you\u2019re worried about, the more it\u2019s usually status that concerns you more than something intrinsic. \u201CPeople\u201D is often a nice way of saying esteemed strangers.
I meant this on both macro and micro levels. You have to take risks. You have to be willing for \u201Cpeople\u201D to think less of you, or at least be unsure what to think of you for a while. And for the people that are close to you, discuss it openly. You\u2019ll likely get understanding and advice, making it less tempting to back out too. And in this process there\u2019s a good chance you\u2019ll find out who really is and isn\u2019t so close to you too.
Involuntary status limbo often brings more perceived or real societal judgment. In contrast, voluntary entry doesn\u2019t always carry the same judgment. For instance, entrepreneurship is often lauded, even though it pushes you into status limbo.
As an entrepreneur, the value of what you\u2019re building is often uncertain, oscillating dramatically from day to day, week to week, or month to month. Financial stability is also in question if you haven\u2019t yet banked a lucrative \u201Cwin.\u201D
One challenge of being in status limbo is that, by nature, it means something else is also in limbo. The \u201Criskier\u201D the endeavor you undertake while in status limbo, the more unstable and uncertain your future and the timeline to exit this state.
The flip side is that if you take status limbo in stride, you might actually feel relieved of traditional status handcuffs. A lack of attention and anticipation from people can feel like freedom. Sometimes that\u2019s when you try the most interesting, crazy-unique things.
And in that flow, you find yourself doing things not purely for status, but because there\u2019s something in them that\u2019s more meaningful to you. As I\u2019ve written before: \u201CTo become truly great at something, you need to be at least a little obsessed with that thing \u2014 enough to get lost in the joy of doing it, not the allure of what it could get you.\u201D
To get status, you have to give up status. You have to sacrifice some existing status to make it back and more. This is especially true in creative fields and high-upside opportunities. Writers, musicians, actors, directors, entrepreneurs must all do their time in status limbo. And you don\u2019t know how long that time will be. How well you tolerate this state can be the \u201Cwinning\u201D difference between you and someone just as talented and hard-working as you.4
Sometimes you\u2019ll have opportunities to mitigate the depth of your status limbo. Status shields can help you defend against sudden drops, slow erosions, severe hits and all the rest. Status shields are the things that prop up your status.
Your family\u2019s reputation, education from a prestigious school, or past achievements and trophy jobs, to your ability to display your talents regardless of your current job status. At times, you can actively pursue status shields, such as taking a sabbatical while retaining formal employment or securing a prestigious fellowship that extends throughout your journey as a founder or the more dangerous \u2014 raising money from venture capitalists for signal more than need.
I have written about \u201Cminimum viable status\u201D before, the idea that people want to accumulate a threshold level of status (especially within a certain community they care about) before they feel comfortable no longer playing status games to the same degree. This is a kind of status shield too, and though not idyllic, I think worth considering. Is there some minimum level above which you feel more comfortable taking a jump?
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