So much weight is put on establishing one’s career that it’s been causing identity crises here and there. Young adults are told that for them to be successful, they should know what they want to do for the rest of their life before they go to college. When things don’t work out for them after they’ve received their degree, or perhaps they dropped out because of the rising cost of college education, they think they’ve already failed.
Career success may give you some sort of fulfillment, but only if you end up in the job you wanted in the first place.
Corporate is Not Everything
Parents want the best for their children’s future. Somehow, this translates to having a job in the office, working eight hours a day — at least.
On paper, your job sounds good. You’re earning a hefty sum and you may even get to travel for free. Your parents brag about you to all their friends and you become their beacon of hope. In reality, however, keeping your job and advancing to a higher position means hard work and sleepless nights devoted to working overtime. You may even have to pretend you love your work so much that you’re excited to wake up on Mondays just to get back into it.
This isn’t the only way to be successful. You can have a small business of ynour own, where you offer shirt printing or mug engraving, and be content with the inflow of orders that give you a good profit without taking over your life. These kinds of jobs are easier to separate from your personal life because orders come in batches and there’s rarely any need for you to answer pressing and career-ending concerns after office hours. If you can be successful in a job like this, you might even be happier than if you were holding a managerial job in a big firm.
Making Money Out of Your Hobbies
What’s the most bizarre hobby you have? There’s a good chance that if you search for them on Google, someone is offering related services. If other people can profit from your hobbies, you can too. It’s easy enough to set up your portfolio online if you’re into photography, graphic design, or even music creation. You love what you’re doing, so there’s little pressure to grow your audience.
If you happen to gain a following, you can monetize your hobby and even turn it into your main source of income. Ask yourself which you would love more: slaving away in someone else’s company and losing hours of sleep finishing tasks that do not benefit you personally, or earning a modest amount doing something you love and are passionate about.
If you reframe the way you look at success, it’s not hard to achieve it. Instead of limiting yourself to cookie-cutter positions, consider how much you’ll achieve if you open doors for yourself in a field you’re deeply invested in. The question of whether career success is fulfilling now becomes moot. The question you should ask yourself is whether you’re in the career that you truly enjoy.
So much weight is put on establishing one’s career that it’s been causing identity crises here and there. Young adults are told that for them to be successful, they should know what they want to do for the rest of their life before they go to college. When things don’t work out for them after they’ve received their degree, or perhaps they dropped out because of the rising cost of college education, they think they’ve already failed.
Career success may give you some sort of fulfillment, but only if you end up in the job you wanted in the first place.
