lmiller14
A Little Inspiration
Posted on: 06/09/2009 13:36
Graduating University
This was one of the most proud moments in my life. Attending all classes, getting good grades, ignoring my social life and being a nerd finally paid off. I received that piece of paper, walked across the stage as they said my name, gave a smile and was ready to take the next step into finding a career.
The Search
Searching the job sites it was clear that many career jobs required a masters or engineering degree. Everything that I wanted to do or sounded interesting required me to go back to school for another two years! This is not why I spent $20,000+ on a three year program B.A.
This is not what I saved all my cashier and high school job money for. What's going on? A University Education is supposed to get you a good paying job and certainly a higher paying job than those without degrees. Why can't I find ANYTHING? I thought this was supposed to be easy.
The search continued and I kept thinking something will pop up, it just has to. Someone wants to hire an environmental studies student ... don't they? The search for a job related to the degree dried up. I did not want to go back to school. I applied for about 50 government jobs before I got one. I stayed for 6 months, was bored, and then quit to move on to another boring office job.
Why I chose to settle
I believe many of us choose to settle. Take a look at yourself. Is there something you wanted but thought it was too hard to get so you gave up? We all have that thought process. Thinking that hmm…. maybe I'm not good enough to climb up the career ladder or I’ll never be someone’s boss. They need smarter people for more income. Maybe I will be judged if I spend all my money on that car. The hot girl will never kiss me so I will never try.
Settling when it comes to a job is EASY. We all know it. Easy Peasy. Same routine every day, no challenges or commitments. You can have the 9-5 job even though it's not something you love; it will pay the bills. You won't end up saving whales that you wanted to but you could watch the National Geographic on the weekend to make up for it.
My job now consists of tedious data inputting and processing registrations. Because there is little communication I sort of like it. I don't need to answer to a lot of people and I won’t get blamed for making a poor decision.
I was always a quiet person. Having to move up the ladder scared me. With my low confidence, it’s hard to picture yourself telling other people what to do. There is a constant fear of looking stupid. I was just fine at level 1.
Turning Point
It takes someone very influential to change a stubborn persons mind. I am a stubborn person. I was settling on my 9-5 job, at level 1 pay and figured I could do this for a while. I was convinced that yes I could do this for a career. It's easy.
Did I really explore all the other job options? NOPE
My partner (who is a business owner) introduced me to online opportunities. Nobody teaches that in High School or University. Who learns about making money working from home or being your own boss. This is not taught or even covered in our education system. We are instilled with the mindset that we all must work for someone else, maybe be the boss of a large corporation after being there for 30 years. Then you are allowed to retire.
The Opportunity
It took a lot of convincing for me to jump into starting something online. My partner had done all the research and we chatted about the pros and cons. It was scary and a huge risk for me. I've always been a money saver, I like to budget and track my dollars. Spending money on a risk was petrifying! I kept asking myself what if this is a scam, what if they want more money, what if they never pay out. What if I just wasted money on this, I will look so stupid. Thoughts were spinning, sleep was lacking. I needed my partner to calm me down.
The beginning stages were a huge learning curve. I did not have a marketing background whatsoever! I knew about the environment, animals and pollution.... not advertising and definitely not networking.
I needed to take it one step at a time.
The Change
Because I was so paranoid about losing money, my mindset was changed. This made me want to learn faster and motivated me to think outside of the box. I wanted to earn that money back fast and earn even more than what I had invested to begin with. I wanted to prove to myself that I did not make a dumb decision. The more research and learning I did, the more I realized that I COULD do this. I could be this person. I can quit my job and make 3X my income! No more level 1 pay nonsense. No more taking orders. No more being on time. No more quick lunches and pointless breaks. No more commute on the stinky bus, no more waking up early and working late. It was surreal thinking this could actually happen to me.
The unlimited priceless training provided me with amazing skills that I never knew I had. I am definitely more confident with myself and I would not trade that for anything.
The more I think about it, I realize this IS my dream job. I can be my own boss, pick my own hours, work less, have more time for hobbies, and jump through that glass ceiling. I would be at the top. Screw going to school for 5 years to save the whales. I can just pay to scuba dive with the whales themselves and even adopt one!
I now find myself always pushing the envelope, working because I want to, not need to. I am always motivated to get more money. The harder you work, the more you get paid. Finally I've found a job that actually pays me for my effort, creativity and personality.
My Suggestion
Explore the options, be yourself and find something that makes you proud. We can all be who we want to be. Don't settle. Live the dream and enjoy every minute of it.
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