reinventing yourself?

[d0nnivain]

I don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

 

I have a graduate degree in a highly respected professional field & I hate my job. I wanted to have this career since childhood. I've been doing it for almost 25 years but I hate it. I have tried different aspects but nothing is reigniting the spark.

 

Has anybody else changed careers mid life? How did you do it?

 

I wish I had an all consuming passion that I could run toward. Then it would be easy.

[scooby-philly]

@d0nnivain

 

I am 33 years old on Friday. I started my career in the k-12 arena - undergrad in a social science, MA in Education. I made a life change 5 years ago and at the time left k-12. I had to work some crappy jobs for 12-16 months to pay bills, build my economic situation, and also try and figure out what I wanted to do next. I landed in a specific field in HR and have been there for 4 years. I started a new job a few months ago - a boss from a previous job recruited me, and I find myself not succeeding and feel lost. So, I have re-invented myself to use your term, but I think the better way to look at it is re-alize.

 

What I mean is that we are capable of more than we imagine most of the time - and also fail miserably at things we shouldn't - all because of context and experience. We all know people who do something well and then switch jobs, or companies, or industries and don't succeed. Despite what nay-sayers preach - even Einstein isn't smart enough to excel at everything (his son went insane if you didn't know it, and he married his cousin (Einstein, not his son)) The issue is that we need context and experience to help teach us - along with a personality capable of sustaining growth and change and the freedom to learn from those experiences. It's never a question of re-inventing yourself - the truth and your skills are always there - it's a question of picking up stuff you haven't used in a long time, or applying skills in a new setting that you use somewhere else, or making connections between things.

 

There are plenty of stories out there about good people, smart people who end up making mistakes because of this - a nice counter-balance to the ever present, inundating news typically offered up on TV, in movies, by books, etc - oh - look at that 23 year old who just sold their tech company for 10 billion dollars, or that new CEO of company X that has quickly risen in the business world, or the movie star, etc. President Eisenhower has been critiqued by good historians for never grasping that the government doesn't act like the military and that he simply though he had to "order it so" and it would be done (as has Grant to an even further degree).

 

 

 

BUT, BUT, BUT - the real question is why do you hate your job and how long have you hated it for? If you've hated it for 25 years - then it's the wrong profession (or wrong setting) if you hated it starting x amount of time ago, what changed - something in you, your life, the work, the company, etc changed. You have to rack your memory and disabuse your ego and emotions to uncover that.

 

You used a contradiction in your statement - you wanted this since childhood - but you don't have a passion that you can "run to". It sounds like you're disillusioned and not really in need of an external motivator but an internal adjustment. If it's any help, I'll say this - the only dreams I had were to be a writer, a teacher (or college professor), or something along those lines. I've found working in corporate america tough because people are looking for perfection and it's impossible to meet deadlines they ridiculously impose and still feel good about yourself and the quality of the work you do. I'd need to spend half my time on paperwork to keep up with all the BS. But, that's life in big business. I do what I can, and am trying to learn that they still need people to do the work, so I work hard, take care of myself, and try to push myself to learn a little bit more one day/week at a time. My mind wants to be creative - and that's great - but the past 4 years has also taught me how to be realistic and life in the present and in the real-world.

 

I still try to find creative outlets - but I remember reading Po Bronson's book "What Should I do With My Life" who said he found writing non-fiction better in the long run because it grounded him in reality

[d0nnivain]

I guess more than seeking advice from strangers on the internet about what you think I should do with my life, especially since I'm not about to post what I do now or my skill set, I'm seeking guidance in terms of places I can look for soul searching Qs I can ask to help me figure it out.

 

 

I went to a career coach who told me I'm in the perfect career for me. I wanted my money back after that.

[clia]

If you find out, let me know!

 

I'm going through something similar at the moment.

 

I had one career from age 22-27, then went back to school and got another degree, and have been doing it for the past ten years. I'm very good at it, but I'm burnt out and ready to move on to do something new. There are things that I still do enjoy about my job, but the thought of doing it for another ten years is horrifying. I'm feeling similar to how I felt when I went back to school the last time. I need change, just want to do something different.

 

The problem is that I'm really only qualified to do what I'm doing and there aren't a whole lot of options for my skill set, regardless of what all the career counselors like to claim. I'm also so advanced in my field that I'm not being taken seriously for lower level positions with a different focus than I have now, even though I'm willing to take the pay cut. They all find it hard to believe that I'm willing to take such a huge pay cut. I understand that I may have to take some steps back in order to move forward, but that's a hard thing to get across. It isn't all about money for me.

 

I really have no desire to go back and get yet another degree, so I'm trying to get creative.

[CherryT]

If you find out, let me know!

 

I'm going through something similar at the moment.

 

I had one career from age 22-27, then went back to school and got another degree, and have been doing it for the past ten years. I'm very good at it, but I'm burnt out and ready to move on to do something new. There are things that I still do enjoy about my job, but the thought of doing it for another ten years is horrifying. I'm feeling similar to how I felt when I went back to school the last time. I need change, just want to do something different.

 

The problem is that I'm really only qualified to do what I'm doing and there aren't a whole lot of options for my skill set, regardless of what all the career counselors like to claim. I'm also so advanced in my field that I'm not being taken seriously for lower level positions with a different focus than I have now, even though I'm willing to take the pay cut. They all find it hard to believe that I'm willing to take such a huge pay cut. I understand that I may have to take some steps back in order to move forward, but that's a hard thing to get across. It isn't all about money for me.

 

I really have no desire to go back and get yet another degree, so I'm trying to get creative.

 

Hey, I guess there's a few of us in the same boat!

 

I've been in my field for 10+ years. I'm very good at what I do and I have climbed the 'corporate' ladder. I never really had formal education. I went to college for a year, dropped out to work, and never went back. I did some upgrading courses here and there but never went back as a full-time student. I always said I wanted to finish my degree, but I'm at a point where my degree (or lack of) isn't holding me back from advancing in my career. Yet, here I am sitting and feeling pretty unfulfilled.

 

I'm in the corporate field. I do well monetary-wise, but it's blah. I am an amateur chef and photographer. My husband and family supports me if I want to try and build something of it... but I don't want to own a restaurant or work in a kitchen.

 

There's a lot of things I "like" to do, but am not confident I'm good enough at it to make a career out of it.

 

I'm still searching. I guess that's a part of life too... the searching part.

 

Not sure what I wanted to bring into this thread but to show support and say, hey there are people like you out there. It's funny how I have what most people would consider "success" and yet success isn't exactly what I feel.

[jonsnuh]

OP, what do you hate about your job? What can be tweaked? Is it inherent in your profession, or is it something that can worked around?

[d0nnivain]

OP, what do you hate about your job? What can be tweaked? Is it inherent in your profession, or is it something that can worked around?

 

 

It's inherent in my profession. Since I own my own business now I have designed it to the optimal level yet I still hate it, inherently. My dislike is also started to affect the quality of what I'm producing which is bad in & of itself.