Allison W. writes for The Digerati Life, a site that shares various financial articles about stock investing, saving and debt management. Check out the site’s reviews on the best high yield savings accounts and the top online brokers available to consumers.
If you don’t like what you got, why don’t you change it? If your world is all screwed up, rearrange it.
~ Trooper (Canadian rock band, from the song Raise a Little Hell)
Let me share something with you. I always wanted to be a writer. When I was at school and the teacher asked me what I wanted to do, I said something along the lines of “shop manager”. But personally I couldn’t think of anything worse for a creative soul but I was afraid they’d laugh at me if I said I wanted to be a writer.
Fast forward around twenty five years though, and that’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m a full time writer too, at least for the last two and a half years or so. Before that, I was working full time in various jobs and writing in my spare time until I finally found the internet and was able to earn enough to focus 100% on writing.
If You Don’t Like What You’ve Got . . .
There are a lot of people around who don’t like what they do for a living. I never really felt happy in any of my jobs, but I always knew that writing was what I wanted to do. I knew I would be able to earn more doing that than anything else, simply because it was a skill I had that I would always have.
Some people said I should stick with a “normal” job as it would be safer, but while I did so for a while, I never gave up on my dream of writing full time. And I earn more now than I ever did in any other job I ever had, so it was definitely worth sticking with!
If you are unhappy with your working life, there are always things you can do to change it. For instance, I believe we all have a skill we’ve been given to make good use of. And lots of people find their skills and turn them into full-fledged businesses as a result. Just check out the number of people who have been successful in the quest to make money blogging. The question is whether you can imagine doing something similar – and whether you have found your own talent yet.
Do What You Love
The problem I’ve found is that some people are myopic or are restricted in their thinking when they are considering all the different things they enjoy doing. For example, I know someone who absolutely loves cooking. They are a natural at it but they can’t imagine turning that love into a business. Of course it might be that this isn’t their real vocation – after all, I love cooking but only as a pleasurable activity. I wouldn’t want to bake cup cakes for local sales or work in a restaurant as a chef all the time.
The point is that if you often find yourself yearning to do something different, don’t be too quick to dismiss your passions and interests. I could have seen writing as nothing more than a way to earn the odd few extra dollars here and there. If that is all I saw it as, I would never have reached the position I am in now. I simply decided that I wouldn’t give up trying to develop a full time career as a freelancer. Ironically I had to wait for the internet to exist before I could really do it, but it was definitely worth the wait!
I refused to ever let other people tell me that employed positions were safe and the smart choice. Self employment has its risks as well of course, but at least I am in control of what happens. I’ve had times when things have been a bit lean, but I have immediately gone out and found more work as a result. You get a lot of flexibility when you work for yourself, which you can’t get when you have a regular job.
From 2 Cents: Have you ever considered giving up your stable, “normal” job to pursue something you love?
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