Begin Here -- Getting off Dead Center
Catana
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To continue... Living with the feeling that there’s something you should be doing with your life is like an itch that you can’t scratch. So, how do you go about scratching it? There are three parts to this problem:
1. Figure out what you want to accomplish
2. Figure out how to do it
The third, which is really the first part, is figuring out what’s kept you from thinking about it seriously. We live in a society that’s job and career oriented. Whatever you’re doing, it has to be full-time, and it has to enable you to make a decent living. How many people can afford to give that up in order to go in a brand-new direction? How many are willing to take the risk that the new direction won’t work out, or won’t be any more satisfying even if it does work out? How many times have you heard the expression “don’t quit your day job?”
Change your perspective. The real message of the expression isn’t an admonition to stay with what you have, regardless of how boring and unsatisfying it may be. The real message is in “day job.” What are you doing with the rest of your time? How much of what you spend your free time doing is just a substitute for something that might be far more satisfying? If I stop doing this, I’d have more time to do that. Could that lead to a new day job?
Change your perspective. If you make a serious study of a subject, why relegate it to the status of a hobby? Not that there’s anything wrong with a hobby, unless you regard it merely as a way to keep your mind occupied and keep the wolf of boredom from the door. Why allot it only those little bits of your time that you can spare? What if you make it your avocation? What if it’s preparation for a new career? What if it can supplement and enrich your current job or career?
Change your perspective. A job or career doesn’t have to be for a lifetime. Serial careers are becoming far more common, and employers are less likely than ever to penalize applicants for being job-hoppers. With each change, you should be able to bring more experience and skills with you. How would your avocation fit into that picture? And for the multi-talented and energetic—how about concurrent careers?
Change your perspective.
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Reader Comments (2)
In my case, to give an example, as I am a highly imaginative person I often diregard very basic, down to earth, practical matters, which seem to be so important to most people. So what I have to do is remind myself to take care of those matters while leaving space for pursuing my 'imaginative' goals (i.e. babysit neighbor's daughter, while exploring theories on chaos and complex systems.. lol). As it turns out, it doens't take that much effort, just a little compromise, and determination is all I need to keep myself going in the direction I want to go.