Careers-Employment
Are We Having Fun Yet?
Have you ever asked yourself this question at work? If you have, it?s more than likely you were being sarcastic ? stuck in the office late because a superior tossed a short-deadline project on your desk, or while you?re bemoaning a lack of job satisfaction.
You need to ask yourself this question...FOR REAL.
Life is short ? you SHOULD be having fun.
What brings passion into your life? What would you do even if you weren?t being paid? If your career path doesn?t fall within the answers to those questions, you might want to consider embracing some personal change.
Choosing your career path isn?t something done during college and never revisited. Your working life needs to be reassessed regularly to evaluate whether your life is in balance. For example, if you chose a career path strictly because of the income it offered, it?s a better than even bet you?re now feeling stressed by work pressures at the cost of the rest of your life.
What did you dream of being when you were young? I dreamed of writing, and of acting. I went to college for theatre, then moved to New York and became a television engineer. It might sound like I followed my dream, but the television work was ridiculously well-paid, and not really something I ?loved?. I loved being a witness to the first draft of history by covering world events, but I found myself looking at the reporters and producers and thinking I?d rather be doing their jobs.
Predictably, by the time I left the news network where I had been working for over twenty years, I was utterly burnt out. My move to Richmond helped me regain the life balance that had been missing for so long. Now I?m looking for opportunities in public relations and corporate communications, which will allow me to write and speak ? the two things I love and do gratis.
Evaluate the contribution your work makes to your life. Don?t make work your life, make life a priority at work. Inventory your passions and skill set ? what would be the highest and best use of those passions and skills? When you?ve got some answers to that question, look at where you are. If you?re in a work situation that doesn?t engage your passion, start embracing change, girlfriend!
Look for opportunities in your current company. If they seem scarce, put your network to work. Ask friends and colleagues for leads, and for advice. Look for someone who has your dream job ? ask them for mentoring and coaching. If the profession has an association, go to a meeting and network like your life depended on it ? it just might.
Don?t trudge through your work life. Make sure your answer to the question ?Are we having fun yet?? is ?Oh, yeah!?
Casey Quinlan has successfully managed change through several careers - perfomer, photography studio manager, broadcast producer, broadcast company exec, and now Media Relations/PR consultant. Her company, Mighty Casey Media, works with technology innovators that change the world. Visit her on the web at http://www.mightycasey.com |
Casey Quinlan
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