If we work 40 hours per week, we’ll spend almost 25% of our adult lives on the job. 80,000 hours over a 40 year career.
If we’re going to spend that much time at it, is it unreasonable to ask that our career be fulfilling? That it gives us purpose and maybe even passion?
A friend once asked me to consider two questions. The answer to those questions have steered many of my life choices since and I’m glad of it. I’m offering them to you in the hope that answering them will give you clarity in your career choices, as well.
Will My Current Job/ Career Give Me What I Desire?
Does your current job/ career pay you what you desire? Is it likely to in the next few years?
Does it or will it give you the lifestyle you desire? The income? The freedom? Do you set your schedule? Do you work when and where you want to? Do you take vacation when you want to for as long as you want?
Is it fulfilling? Are you excited to get up and get after it every day? Does it give you passion?
If you can answer YES to this question, things are good. You should keep doing it. If you don’t answer a firm YES, then go to the next question.
Does Your Boss or Their Boss Have What You Want?
If you’ve thought about your job and it falls a little short of what you really want from life, look down the road. Consider people who have been on your path 10 or 15 years longer than you have. Look up the chain of command to your boss, their boss and their boss.
Does their life look like you want yours to? Do they earn the money you want? Do they have the lifestyle you want? Are they as fulfilled in their job as you want to be?
Or do they earn a little more but have more responsibilities, more stress and less time off? Is their work/ life balance what you want yours to be?
Here’s the truth:
If you keep going down the path you’re on, in 10 or 15 or 20 years, you’re going to be in the same position your boss, their boss or their boss is in now.
Is that what you want?
If it is, keep going. That’s awesome.
If it isn’t then maybe it’s time to consider a different path.
There Are Other Options
There’s an old saying, “If you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always had.”
If you’re on a job/ career path that’s taking you exactly where you want to go in life, keep at it. Go all in.
However, if you look down the road and know your job will NEVER give you the life you want, I’d suggest looking for something that will.
When I came to this point, I knew I wanted something that would let me live my life without asking permission.
I wanted to work from wherever I happened to be and on the schedule that suited me doing the other things I wanted to do in my life. I wanted to take time off when I wanted to, not when the company had open windows.
I wanted to take more than 3 weeks per year for myself.
I wanted the ability to earn a lot more than I had been, based on the results I could produce.
I wanted something that would allow me to become the best version of me.
For me, that meant starting an online business.
Something I could start on a shoestring, work on the side while I built it to where it would replace my job and something I could do from anywhere I happened to be.
Maybe that will be true for you, too.
Maybe not.
It’s your life.
I hope you choose a job/career that can give you everything you want from life. As an old beer commercial used to say, “You only go around once in life, so reach for all the gusto you can get.”
And after looking around for a while and having a couple of false starts, I found the easiest, most lucrative niche to pursue. A program that could replace your full-time income in less than 6 months.
