A far Better Fate
abluephoenix' blogArchive for money making
An Exercise in Career Therapy
Of Friends & Books
My good friend, a creative entrepreneur herself, recently lent me a much-needed (though I didn’t know it at the time) book called “The Anti 9 to 5 Guide – practical career advice for women who think outside the cube,” by Michelle Goodman.
These days I have Wednesdays off from my day job, and have been making a concerted effort to use the extra eight hours in my week to DO something. It’s been tough, but the only way to get motivated is to start something (anything) and then just keep going. This morning my “something” was opening up this book to the first chapter, and reading the hell out of it.
Not only did it have some down to earth advice combined with good, honest humor, it also had some brainstorming exercises to sink my teeth into, digging a little deeper into what exactly IS that other career I’d enjoy waking up in the morning to attend. And I didn’t end up discouraged or overwhelmed like I imagined I might – no, because I got to do exercises and take notes. I’m good at taking notes. I also got to write lists. It’s funny what sorts of things turn you on…
Picking a Direction
I won’t go into detail about Michelle’s tips or exercises (though I do recommend the book already, having not even made it to chapter 2), but I will relate some interesting things I learned by doing one of them.
Part of the problem I’ve had finding “the perfect” career by the ripe old age of 28 has centered around the fact that I have not (unlike some people I have met) known exactly what I want to do since the age of seven. Rather, throughout my college years and those immediately following, I’ve been stumbling somewhat blindly between things I don’t much enjoy and things that I might be passable at after another 4 year educational sabbatical and financial money-sink.
I’ve found a good number of things I never want to do again in my life, and will NEVER enjoy. I’ve also occasionally discovered elements that ring true, and have jumped from lily pad to lily pad chasing them through different job descriptions, titles, and experiences, without much of an overall change in my career-enjoyment status quo.
The first exercise I did this morning at the prompting of this book was to sit down in a comfortable place, close my eyes, and think back – way back. I’m talking 5 years old. I was to think about anything and everything I had ever done since the beginning of memory that I had enjoyed even a little. This included everything from making up characters at the age of 6 and having make-believe conversations between them for hours to copying down and completing algebra equations on graph paper in seventh grade (yes, really…).
Career Therapy
I filled half a page, and then the other half, because I didn’t let myself stop for at least an hour. I went back and pictured myself in all of the places I lived and went to school and had fun over the past two and a half decades, focusing in on each room and each age to find what tidbits I might have forgotten. It was actually rather therapeutic.
It’s interesting when you become a grown human being (by which I mean you have a steady job, an apartment/house, a significant other, possibly some pets, and a reminder note on your monitor to call your mother sometimes), because you think you know what you’re all about. And that shouldn’t be such a huge thing compared to knowing what IT is all about – right?
But when you think back over the years in the level of detail that I did this morning, you realize that this fully formed person you are actually had its start from lots of different directions and influences, and that you may have been different people (in a sense) over the years as you grew up, because that’s what growing up is all about. It’s not so cut and dry after that.
But Will it Make Money?
It’s nice to remember all of the things you’ve done over the years. All of the things you’ve been successful at, and enjoyed, and been rewarded for (internally or externally). Even as you pass over those embarrassing moments of your existence (did I REALLY say “GI Joe underwear” in my sleep at a slumber part when EVERYONE else was still awake?), you remember how much more “well-rounded” there is to your personality.
Sometimes I think we forget this as we struggle through the immediate concerns and opinions of our day to day. I don’t know – maybe it’s just me – but this exercise gave me some perspective.
Regardless, all of this soul-searching and creative thinking and job brainstorming did actually bring up some good stuff. Sure, there’s the things I expected (writing, editing, drawing, design), and some next steps for pursuing them as a career focus. But then there’s things like, “will somebody actually pay a girl like me to help them organize their house full of STUFF they can’t emotionally deal with thinking about?”
What an interesting question…
A far Better Fate 