I’ve been rather slow on my blogging for the last week or so. Sorry about that. But, as you know, it’s the holiday season, a time where it is all too easy to become consumed with the preparations and decorations. I’m guilty. I’m trying to prepare to visit my folks and celebrate mini-holidays with my friends before the new year.
So, why am I telling you this? I’m not sure. What does this have to do with careers that don’t suck? That I think I can explain. You see, this time last year I was working for a wretched little outfit. I was a miserable girl praying for a new job in the new year. The company I was working for is a television company famous for it’s upbeat and informative programming. I’d worked there nearly two years, but I knew it was t he wrong place to be about two weeks in. Still, I stayed.
I stayed until the unit in which I worked all but folded. I endured rudeness and cattiness and negativity. For a supposedly creative environment it was very limiting. Still, I stayed. I convinced myself that I needed the money to pay my mortgage, that I’d needed to replenish the cash I’d spent on my new car, that I needed to fund more trips to Europe. All true. But, I also needed to wake up at least one day and not feel like I was betraying myself and becoming a slave to my possessions. I needed to feel like it was okay to be me and to be happy, and that it was possible to make a living and not give up on living the life I wanted.
I had a million ideas that I scribbled down incessantly during long, boring meetings. I had enough credit and seed cash to start my own deal. I’d had people in my life who believed in me and would lend me their support. Still, I stayed. And I was miserable.
But mostly, I was scared. I was scared to give up the certainty of showing up there, sitting in that office, doing the things I did everyday and getting the same paycheck each week. I was scared that the things I was passionate about would not pay the bills like my 9-to-5 did.
I was scared of failing.
Well, here I sit today my own boss, doing only the work I want to do and doing more of what I’m good at. I have time for my dalliances and my passions. I also have the time and the right environment to do my best work for my clients. I am blessed to be able to talk to people all day about their careers and life aspirations, and help them figure out how to attain their goals. I am blessed to be able to write about what I do in hopes of helping someone else out of a mire.
I guess the moral of this little tale is that I hope that any of you who are reading this and feeling the way I felt about my last job will take action now. Get out of that job if it’s killing your soul. Now, I’m no wide-eyed idealist. I don’t believe that you can go home and think deep thoughts and a check will arrive in the mail to cover your living expenses. However, I do believe that if you have a good plan (not a perfect plan, because you’ll never leave if you’re waiting on that) and you are committed to it, and you seek help from everyone who believes in you (and everyone you can persuade to believe in you), you will succeed at earning a living by pursuing your passions.
And that concludes my message.
Stuff You Might Also Like
If you liked my post, feel free to subscribe to my rss feeds
Loading ...
