Your career: What’s your first, best destiny?

I find myself often considering that what I do for a living is not what I was put on Earth to do.I remember in early High School, there was a lot of pressure to pick a career path. They did a horrible job trying to educate us on what was out there. I picked Advertising more out of pressure to fill out a line on a form than to pursue a burning passion.

In college, I actually pursued a dual major for awhile of Marketing and Computer Information Systems while I tried to figure out which career path to begin. Marketing eventually won out. Thus began my agency-side career.

I’ve had several mid-life career path crisisesssess. Every few years I begin to hate my job, hate being abused by clients, yada yada yada. I’d swear to never take another agency-side job again, but alas, I’m always drawn back to the dark side. So, what do you do when you lose faith in your career path?

READ A BOOK
There are many resources to help people choose career paths.
I’ve read several books. One popular book I never liked is called “What color is your parachute.”

TAKE A TEST
There are plenty of tests to guage your skills, such as comprehension, organization, leadership.

I’ve taken a few. One of the longest and most complex I ever took told me I’m best suited for either:
A. Advertising Account Executive

B. Army Munitions Tester

For real, I’m not joking! The test told me I was already doing what I’m best suited for, but if I want to shake things up a bit, I could try not to blow stuff up. I can’t help but imagine that old cartoon where Bugs Bunny whacks projectiles with a mallet.

How come they can’t suggest something sexy, like a wise and powerful Ninja!

TALK TO SOMEONE
Talk with a close friend. Maybe a Human Resources person in your company. Some people seek out mentors, career coaches and “life” coaches.

SEARCH YOUR FEELINGS
What do you truly enjoy? Was there something you maybe tried once? Can you get a job doing something related? Could you start your own viable business that you’ll enjoy and can pay your rent?

REALITY SETS IN
It’s a lot easier for a single person to pursue their dreams. Once you have a family, there are harsh economic realities, stability and responsibility to consider.

What are your thoughts? Are you living your dream? Please post a comment about it. Thanks.
-Roland

Roland Reinhart is an interactive marketing professional. His observations can be found at Chaos365.com and AdMadMan.com.

©2006 Roland Reinhart. All Rights Reserved.