Oops! Did I choose a boring career?
I sit at my desk in our apartment in Tel Aviv, and every other day I wonder if I’ve made the right career choice. Being a freelancer and helping run a small business is not always what I thought it would be.
I worry about money.
I worry that I haven’t found my purpose.
I worry that I’m just doing what I know rather than really doing something new and challenging.
I worry that I’m wasting my time.
The other day I told Amit about my concerns with my unconventional career. And I was surprised by his response.
Amit said, “I worry too. I worry about making a living from my businesses. I worry that I’ve chosen the wrong path to follow because sometimes my work is hard or dull. I worry that I won’t receive the recognition for what I’m doing from the world”.
“Really?” I asked, “You’re just like me then?” Can it be true that this husband of mine, sitting across the room from me most of the day, wonders if he is doing the right thing as well? All I see is Amit working non-stop on his photography business and Stick Around with such intense focus and dedication, I just thought he knew he was on the right path.
“Of course I have doubts”, said Amit. “But I know I have to keep going, because this is the path I’ve chosen to pursue. I have goals I’ve set for myself and I’m going to get there. Some parts of the work I’m doing are really hard, like when I get an email from a store saying they don’t want to stock Stick Around.”
“But the hard bit is just a low-resolution picture of what is going on. When I’m faced with a difficult or boring task, I know I need to zoom out and look at the bigger picture. The high-resolution shows me that this is just a small hurdle for me on my way towards my goals. And I keep going”.
(I think you can tell that Amit is a photographer with his talk of resolutions!)
Keep on doing
We have to work towards our goals to see if they are the right ones, otherwise how will we know? We can’t stop every time we’re doing work that is hard or dull. Take the first step towards your goal, then another, as small as they are, and you will get there.
And yes, all of us are scared. We all have fears that we struggle to control. But just like I found out from someone as close to me as my husband, as soon as you choose to share your worries with someone you care about, you’ll find out you’re not alone.
The hard work we don’t see
While I was sitting at my desk with all my doubts, I’d forgotten that creating my own unconventional career is not all chocolate and picnics. A lot of hard work goes into it, and that hard work involves a lot of boring stuff. It’s easy to forget this when all that we see around us are articles about successful people. We read articles that people have published successfully. We see Facebook updates of friend’s weddings, babies, new jobs, new houses and new friends. We don’t see the hard, boring work that goes on in between.
You do not see a picture of me at my messy desk writing words that will never be published (or do you?).
The boring bit - me at my desk, writing words that will never be published.
We have to remember the stuff that goes on that we don’t see (as I was reminded of by the talented Sarah Kathleen Peck in her article “What you don’t see”).
Too true Jo. Really couldn’t have written it better myself. Just in case you had any doubts, this captures my (and Lihee’s) experience perfectly.
Stubborn-ness can be an under-rated virtue…
Good to know we’re not alone. I’m going to practice being more stubborn! Keep up the awesome work you’re doing, I’m a huge fan.
Jo,
You need to ask yourself if this career makes you happy. Given the world demographic, it is clear that we will be working much longer than previous generations. So, we need to be happy with the career choices we make. Bored? In anthropology, there is the “observer – participant” approach to understanding. Maybe you could use this methodology in your science reporting as well. As the late Joseph Campbell stated “Follow your bliss” It worked for me. Though there are challenges, I still cannot believe I get paid to do what I do for a living. Go forward Jo!
James, thank you for your thoughtful comment. I’m really working towards finding what is my bliss, what makes me happy. I’m on my way… Thank you for the encouragement!
I hope to feel the same way as you very soon. We do indeed have many years of work ahead of us these days – I think mine will be filled with a variety of things, which makes me excited to find out what these things will be.
I will look into the “observer-participant” approach, it rings a bell from my undergraduate studies.
Hello! I’m leaving a comment to tell you that I’ve nominated you for the Liebster Blog Award because I love your blog! http://meantforsomethingbetter.com/2012/05/03/liebster-blog-award/
Check out the blog to see what it all means!
Thank you so much for passing on the award – it means a lot to me to be recognised as one of your favourite bloggers! Yey!
Hi Jo,
You can tell Amit that I am loving, and learning from, my “Stick Around” stickers. As for yourself, I am giving out the link to your blog to friends who are having doubts about their mainstream ideas and wanting to start their own business. One friend is reading it when she gets home from work to get ideas. Your blog is highly inspiring and an invaluable source of info for budding entrepreneurs. You ARE a successful entrepreneur if you ask me!
Thank you so much Sabine, this kind of comment totally makes my week! I’m so glad that you find it inspiring, and are recommending it to your friends, it means so much to me. I’ll keep of writing, and working on being an entrepreneur, and I’ll be sharing what I discover. And I hope it will continue to inspire and help others think differently about the opportunities that life gives us.
Did I choose a boring or career? I think all of us suffer from this question from time to time. Like anything in our lives, work will be a roller coaster of ups and downs. And really, the averages and downs will outweigh the ups (this is the nature of life) – but the ups are what keep us going!
Personally, I think that starting our careers with such a fun, varied and challenging job makes it difficult to find roles that live up to that – but also include career progression (and therefore mastery)! You’ve definitely got autonomy in your job (as I do with mine), but I struggle with mastery and purpose. With science communication – what is mastery? how do you define that? What makes you excellent at your job? What is an excellent outcome?
The purpose wanes sometimes as well when you work alongside scientists and see the working conditions and demoralisation that PhD students and scientists face with repeated funding round applications and university job cuts (rife in oz at the moment). But I guess we never stop believing in the purpose and importance of science. And working alongside scientists making breakthroughs on incredible science has reinvigorated my passion for science and the thrill of discovery briefly tasted during my honours project.
I admire what you are doing and am very impressed with you, if that helps
You’ve just got more time to think and dwell on this because its your job!! When you work out the answer, tell it to me. 
I totally agree Alice – working in something that you’re passionate about, that you feel matters, is the most important thing in the end. Because every job will have it’s ups and downs (hopefully lots of inspiring ups!), but if you feel your contributing to something that will make the world better, you can go home with a good feeling about what you’re doing, even when things don’t work out exactly how you think they should.
I love what you’re doing too! Keep up the awesome work. Sometimes things look worse from the inside perspective, but if you can take a step back and see what the world sees you doing, it can boost your spirits, it certainly does for me!
I soooo resonate with that, Jo.
When I do a boring task I just want to give up… actually I can procrastinate for ages before I can even start some of them.
I like the ‘zoom out’ concept and be reminded of the big picture and why we are doing this. We may even find a easier way (or not). Either way, keep focussed on the big picture. I love your honesty and authenticity!! Go girl!
How r u feeling about that after a wholw year?
I’m feeling good after a whole year of entrepreneurship. I’ve realised that always having some questions about what I will do in the future is normal, and that’s an empowering feeling! Zooming out really helps. And now we’re doing 6 weeks of travelling, which is possible because we are doing our own thing and can work online from anywhere. We are fortunate.