I've been thinking that as I am writing my blog on a blockchain...my kids and the kids of my kids will be able to read what I am writing today. What a thought!
So here I am, maybe 50 years from now, my grand kids will be reading this, taking some wisdom from my 30 years old self. I have vertigo just pondering this thought.
But it also trills me considering this could be a "time capsule" that I will be able to pass down the generations.
This One is About Choosing a Career...
I always marveled at people who knew from a very early age what they wanted to do in life. One of my sister's knew since age 11 that she would like to be a nurse for example. That was definitely not my case. The world was my oyster and the buffet was so large that I couldn't pinpoint exactly what I wanted to do in life.
There was also a lie that I bought into when I was in my teenage years. I bought the idea that in order to be completely happy and fulfilled I would have to find my "dream job".
"What is my dream job?" I kept asking...
From age 18 to 25, I was on a quest to find my "dream job". The list of job that I tried is quite long...ranging from cabinetmaking to flight attendant. I was blessed with a mind that learns very fast and that's what allowed me to be very flexible in my interest BUT it was also a curse since I got bored quite easily.
After working 3 to 6 months in any job, I ended up coming to that wall:
"Is that it? Is that what I want to do for the rest of my life?"
I then left the job and went to look for greener pastures. This condition of mine also paralyzed me from going to study at a college or university. My interests where so diverse and all over the place that I couldn't pinpoint a topic I would study for 3 to 5 years. Also how could I be sure that I would actually want to work in that field after?
Find the Right Question and You'll Find the Right Answer
So what is my dream job? The answer finally came while I was taking a shower in my apartment in Lachine, Quebec:
My dream job will be the job that allow me to create my ideal lifestyle.
EUREKA!
After drying myself up, I sat down with a journal in my hands and wrote down what would my ideal lifestyle would look like:
- I would be able to work from wherever I want
- I would not have an alarm clock
- I would not get stuck in traffic
- I would always be in "learning mode"
- I would be able to see my kids grow and spend time with them
- I would only be working with people I want to work with
- I would not have a glass ceiling on my earnings
From what I could see, only something I can do over the internet could provide this type of "lifestyle". I then, taking my skills into account, honed in and decided that "internet marketing" was the way to go for me. I like people, I like psychology, I like business and I'm a good promoter.
Finally I could get going on the journey
It took me almost 5 years of trial and error on the internet to make it work BUT I can say now that I am exactly where I want to be.
Is marketing my "dream job"? Maybe...but that's beside the point. The point is that all the criterias above are fulfilled.
So if you are one of those people who KNOW what your dream job is since you are a kid, don't bother with this advice...but if you are have a brain wired like mine, with too many interests pulling you in different direction, then this advice is for you.
Happiness doesn't come from a job but from a lifestyle
Lifestyle is much more "holistic" than what you do from 9 to 5. Asking yourself "what would be my ideal lifestyle?" is a bigger question that brings better answers about what you need in order to live "The Good Life".
Because, after all, isn't that what we are all after? The Good Life?
I can relate 100% to what you describe....Sadly, it took me close to half a century to realize what you describe here :-)
If you care to have a look at my introduceyourself post, that´s exactly what you will see... https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@claudiop63/portrait-of-an-innovation-addict-my-journey-from-quantum-chromodynamics-to-cryptos-going-through-cern-and-lots-of-other-places
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wow...just wow
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Wow ! I just read this ! What a pleasure writing with you for a minute yesterday :)
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Hi @cryptoctopus I feel 100% identified with this post, after working hard for others for a long time I realized that was not the life I wanted, one day i take the decision to work for me and turn what was my hobby into my job (Fix Computers) Now I work in my own home, make more money, and I spend a lot of time with my family. how you say Happiness doesn't come from a job but from a lifestyle, now i feel i have a better lifestyle.
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Interesting post. I think that we need to find ourselves what "the good life" means or even what "the good person" means. What society considers a "good (bad) life" or "good (bad) person" does not necessarily mean that it is sustainable, healthy or logical. We have to find it out ourselves by constant questioning of ourselves and everything around us. We have to stay true to our own integrity and express ourselves without trying to mold into social expectations of what "good life" or "good person" should be.
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I personally like to draw from the experience of my culture over thousands of years to help me navigate the big question of the Good Life. There is wisdom there since, as far as I know for me, seems to be pretty bang on.
Be productive, love your neighbor, build a family you can be proud of, choose your partner carefully, avoid bad company, etc.
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These are very sustainable values. Different cultures can certainly teach us many sustainable values but they also can teach us a lot of primitive behaviour. In our culture (it just slightly varies globally-geopolitically) it seems that everything is the other way around - opposite of sustainable. One example (and probably the most important one) is that this culture's values system is built around perpetuation and maximization of profit and acquisition of wealth as priority over social and environmental well being. Values are fluctuating within cultures just like notions of beauty.
https://steemit.com/life/@logic/the-ever-changing-faces-of-beauty (old post)
I think that is why we need to find a point of reference in finding out what values are sustainable and what aren't. I myself use science as point of reference, especially current discoveries in science of human behavior (human behavioral evolution and biology, how human behavour is shaped by biological, psychological and social factors etc).
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Wow ! Thats nice and very touching. I am so grateful that I can say , just a few days before my birthday and I'm not in my 30's anymore ..... I had a Damn Good Life ! I can truly say, I did not miss out on anything except ....I might have to write about soon
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Thank you for this post. It is always assumed that we know what we want to do as a career. Those of us that don't feel strange.
This is exactly the way that I have always felt. I can't choose or pin myself down.
As your post suggests perhaps I have been framing the whole question the wrong way.
I will think about framing it in lifestyle terms from now on. Thanks for sharing your insight.
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Glad that you are able to find your dream job. For me, I am hoping that Steemit will be the answer to my dream job
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I know exactly what you mean... Happiness is a conscious choice. I use to think it was when I reached X goal or X life situation I would be happy, but it was never the case. You can't always chose your circumstances, but you can choose your emotional reaction... I choose to be happy ;)
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My job is my hobby. I was so happy when I managed to work on what I like.
This has advantages (I am super happy with my work, etc.) but also non-negligible disadvantages (my hobbies at home... well, I am actually still working).
Finally, my kids changed the picture a bit, but I am still working much more than what I am paid for ^^
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I wrote a post about careers too. I wanted to be a teacher when I was younger, and short story is I'm not. We must all work through ourselves to see what we like and what we need. Great post!
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And the normal article, who dislikes do not look and do not read, pleased me, an author had tried wrote) Everything clear and interesting
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I have a similar affliction (talent?) to you. I can't sit still mentally. I was able to torture myself by sitting through what I considered to be mundane jobs through my 20s and early 30s (and get 2 degrees), but when I was laid off in 2011 and was finally in a financial position where it didn't matter, it really opened my eyes to life's possibilities. The answer to life's problems is that there's no wrong answer to how you live your life. There isn't some knock-it-out-of-the-park dream job that's going to fulfill you. Fulfillment comes from within. I know that sounds like a bunch of new age self-help malarkey, but it's really what I'm living now. I got creative to make my situation work for me and my job now is basically being Mr. Mom (among other things of course, being so mentally multidirectional and all). I've never been so happy and fulfilled at my work than I am right now. I never would have imagined that this would make me happy when I was young and "trying to decide what to do with my life." Now I'm just doing whatever I want basically, and it's always productive stuff. Much better.
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i'm teaching one day a week - its a way to get my doodles into others brains =)
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I've had the same experience. I get interested in many things so my mind changes a lot. Now I just want to do something that will allow me a good lifestyle.
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Great article @cryptoctopus. Loved the photo with bulb striking instant idea.
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yes, I have also achieved the same whereby I do not care anymore about question Nr. 7. The only thing I disagree :-) is that our kids will read what we wrote. I think by that time they play pokemon in a hologram or something...
@steempowerwhale 🐳
🌞 upvoting your lifetime dreams!
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We all have our definitions of a good life that we all manifest from the information we are taught, and experiences we lived through. I think living a good life is understanding that you did not waste your opportunity at living life.
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interesting.someone like me asking question and spending time for answer. I spend long time to search a question answer.
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Like many commenters here, I can totally relate. There are many careers I know I would enjoy. I think the first thing I ever said I wanted to be as a kid was "archaeologist" when I was about six years old. :) My stated desired career changed many times over the years, and when I actually graduated from college (where I took a ton of electives in a variety of subjects), I went through different jobs/careers I thought I would like. But, none of them made me happy, because none of them gave me the lifestyle I wanted.
I'm almost there, now. I have the freedom I want by being my own boss and making my own schedule (and NO alarm clocks!), but am not at the point yet where hustling for money isn't an issue. When I get to the point where I have more passive income coming in and don't have to spend 12 or more hours a day in front of a computer to make ends meet, THEN I will have my ideal lifestyle.
I'm getting there. :)
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This post encapsulates everything I'm trying to figure out with my life right now. Thanks for posting. I have very similar thoughts about what I want out of a job.... although I have to admit that sometimes I can't even commit to that completely.
What exactly is online marketing? Did you build your own brand, or do you sell products for someone else?
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nice
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