Career? Who needs that?
Time is the new commodity to own…..A lost blog!
I was sat with my parents the other day. We were talking about direction in life. Particularly, my direction in life, or lack of one. They are traditional. It’s not their fault, they were brought up that way. And so was I.
You go to school, followed by university. Then into an industry you don’t particularly care about. Work there for the next 30 to 40 years until reaching upper middle management. And If you’re lucky you retire with a lovely gold watch.
To some, this way of life is perfect, to others, like me, this way of life feels like purgatory. A waste of a life.
But I’m one of those people that have never known what I want to do. Never known which career path to take. Drifting aimlessly in a sea of hidden ambition and desire. Watching helplessly as others come sailing by at full pelt, heading towards career nirvana.
However, I think I know the problem. The problem is that I was using a traditional lens. A lens that the working and middle-class masses have used since time immemorial (not the upper classes, how dare you suggest such a thing).
For those that don’t know what they want to do in life. For those that can’t stand the thought of the rat race for the next 40 years. The traditional lens makes you feel like a piece of crap.
That’s how I used to feel, what I used to think until I realised that the lens I was using to view life was the wrong one for the job.
“How in the hell could a man enjoy being awakened at 8:30 a.m. by an alarm clock, leap out of bed, dress, force-feed, shit, piss, brush teeth and hair, and fight traffic to get to a place where essentially you made lots of money for somebody else and were asked to be grateful for the opportunity to do so? ” Charles Bukowski, Factotum
Throw that lens away, for there is a New Dawn.
People are realising that the traditional lens is not the only lens out there. They are re-evaluating priorities, looking at things with a new perspective, one that gives hope, one that gives the middle finger to tradition.
The traditional view of one career and one income stream is dead. We can no longer rely on a single employer to give us everything we desire. Yes, a salary will enable you to live, and maybe live comfortably in some cases. But for the majority, your salary will never give you everything you desire, it will never help you reach your raison d’être.
Time is the new commodity to own. If you own your time while managing to make a living, you are rich, you are successful. And multiple income streams is the best way to own your time.
The new digital economy allows everyone that wants to, to step outside the norm and embark on something new. For those that want something different and are brave enough to step into this new world, the possibilities are huge. There are many people out there that give ideas for multiple income streams, just google it.
Yes, you are going to have to work hard, but once established, you will own ALL of your time, not just the bits before and after work.
“Why join the Navy when you can be a pirate” Steve Jobs
The lens you use is your choice. You decide on how to view things, not me, or society. Well, that’s how it should be. The world consists of all sorts of folk, but if you are like me, and don’t have a definitive traditional career in mind, don’t worry. You are not alone, there are millions of us out there.
We are the ‘others’, we are the non-conformists, the traditional oddballs. But we also have a world of opportunities out there, if, and only if, we are brave enough to change lenses, step away from the crowd and tread our own path. Let the others sail by in their traditional career steamships, its ok. Because we have a whole flotilla at our disposal, if, and only if, we take charge and command of our own time. So, in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
