Let's do it together.
First, imagine you have all the money you could ever possibly need. You're a multi-billionaire. Money is no object.
Next, imagine you have every degree you could ever need. Your college is covered, there is no obstacle stopping you from doing what you want to do.
What would you do with your time, you, the billionaire in possession of every college degree there is?
Don't be shy here, don't lie to yourself. If you've always desired to be a dolphin trainer, NASA worker, or just a stay-at-home mom or humble crafter, contemplate it. Don't think about what you'd buy, think about how you'd occupy your time. Would you paint, take additional classes for fun, travel?
That activity, those things, are what you truly want to do for a living. Many people go to school for high-paying jobs because they want, or need, lots of money. Many choose work they hate, just to make money. A quote that sticks out from me about this phenomenon of life-long suffering for money we won't have time to spend working 40+ hours a week was spoken by Billionaire Jackie Siegel in The Queen of Versailles. The only place where she could work and make money in her small town was IBM, so she went to school and earned her degree in computer engineering because she refused to be anybody's secretary. She occupied a sad cubicle in a big building full of them and notes that a colleague was making a program to count down his retirement, years down the line, down to the second, he said that's when he'd begin "living his life". She quit and pursued her modeling dreams immediately after.
If I was a billionaire I'd write content, take photos, travel, craft, make art, attend school for enrichment and help causes I'm passionate about. All things I do now. I would have more peace-of-mind and less stress with more money, but it wouldn't change my goals or direction. I feel like I'm on the right life path.
What would you do? Because that's what you should do.
Note: I also wrote about Career Planning in this post where my teacher mailed out "letters from ourselves" 6 years later! And I still want to write/edit for publications...
Great post! When I was in high school (a long, long time ago), I had not the slightest idea what it was I wanted to do. I like what I do now, but I would enjoy it more if it wasn't as stress full is it is now, moneywise. Also, I would take a couple of weeks of every year to get some travelling done, and maybe work 5 days instead of 6 and spend the extra time by half a day of taking courses and half a day of voluntering, probably something with animals!
ReplyDeleteHaha, I feel your pain on money woes. It's hard right now for everyone :P I'm doing random work I'll write about on the blog soon. I'd love to help human trafficking causes and travel more, I'm traveling locally and saving for abroad and taking classes-- need to volunteer more now!
DeleteThis is a great post, Van! When I started college I was totally clueless too, and like so many others, I bounced from concentration to concentration rather aimlessly. I ended up doing what I do by convenience more than choice - but I am currently in the process of switching gears so I can take things in a direction more suited to what I'm actually passionate about.
ReplyDeleteI dropped out and ending up working as a copywriter, then working on Thrift Core, now I'm jumping ship again, ;p haha I came to reselling the same way, convenience, and am now trying to build income sources I'm passionate about the same way.
DeleteIt's not the college's faults entirely. There was a shift in the idea of what higher education should be in the late 70s. The shift was toward liberal arts. Suddenly, every "tech" school, no matter what the topic, could not be accredited the same as the larger, state schools and liberal arts colleges. In order to keep up, EVERY major had to change, or risk losing accreditation. Therefore, many schools shifted, including traditional apprenticeship programs, most notably, art. There are still a lot of problems with higher education, but the real shift toward everything costing more can be blamed on the accreditation organizations.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info. I'll have to read more about it.
Delete