How People End Up With Boring Jobs

 

Sad though it surely is, most of us do not end up in the jobs that we dreamed of when we were younger. In fact, most of us won’t end up with jobs that are even close to being as exciting or as inspiring as the ones we used to tell people we wanted when we were five or six.

When we were young and we believed anything could happen, we wanted to be astronauts, rock stars, the owners of huge international businesses, action heroes, superheroes…

So the question then becomes: why are so many of us stuck working in offices? Why are so many of us entering data into spreadsheets? Why is it so common for us to work late hours in jobs we hate? Why does ‘success’ mean more responsibility but no more job satisfaction?

How did this happen?

• The Unfortunate Story

The answer varies from person to person but unfortunately, there are a few consistent elements that seem to hold true across the board. Many of us will go through essentially the same story that will lead us to the same end destination. 

It starts early when we’re at school and we’re forced to start specializing and choosing. Which course at school is most likely to help you to become a bestselling author? Or a pop star? Hmm. We end up biding our time by doing something that we enjoyed at school – history or geography maybe.

Then we go to college and we study that course for a year or three, only to find ourselves back at home living with our parents and without a job when we leave. If we want to get back our independence, then we’re going to need to take on a job just to pay the bills. 

So we start working for our friend’s Dad’s company. Or we work in a supermarket. Or maybe an estate agent.

Then we get a few promotions and we find ourselves climbing the ranks – actually, we’re on an okay salary.

And it’s just as well too – because our responsibilities are beginning to increase as we find ourselves with partners, maybe wanting to buy a house, maybe with children.

And before you know it, you’re ‘area manager’, or you’re ‘director of logistics’, or you’re an estate agent.

They’re not bad jobs but they sure aren’t exciting and they sure don’t fill you with impassioned excitement. But you have kids on the way and you really need the money: now is not the time to do something foolish like starting your own business, or changing jobs, or taking out a loan. And nor do you have the time in the evening to do the things you want to do…

• It Doesn’t Have to End This Way

But here’s the good news: the story isn’t over yet. You can still be the things you’ve always dreamed of being. In fact, with more money behind, more experience and more contacts, it’s more likely than ever. All it is going to take is for you to acknowledge just how important it is to you and to decide that you’re not going to settle for the way things turned out.

There’s still time…

Written by Yola Bastos
yolabastos@womenflix.org
https://linktr.ee/LifeCoachWomenFlix  

Women Flix, Supporting Women all the way to Success!  
Women Flix Limited, a company limited by guarantee, incorporated in England and Wales (company no. 13047578 ). 

Some ‘Impossible Goals’ and How to Make Them Happen

 

Many of us have goals and dreams that sound impossible and that other people will perhaps tell us can’t be done. Sometimes, those goals are so preposterous that we don’t tell anyone at all – and in some cases, we’ll hardly even admit those goals to ourselves!

For example, if you have always dreamed of being a film star, then there’s a good chance that on some level you don’t think it’s going to happen and so you won’t actually pursue it with the vigour that you should pursue it.

Likewise, if you always dreamed of being an astronaut, then you probably know it can’t be done and so won’t even try.

Except that this is entirely the wrong attitude. Rather, you should be working toward your goals but simply taking a different approach to making them possible. Because anything is truly possible, as long as you know how to think outside the box…

To demonstrate this, let’s take a look at some highly unlikely goals and see how you could really go about making them happen…

• Recording Artist

Want to be a pop star or a guitarist? Then how about starting your own music channel on YouTube? Perform your songs and build a following and then you could eventually start charging for your full albums through Band Camp and similar sites. It’s probably only a matter of time until someone offers to give you a recording contract once you have the numbers behind you!

• Bestselling Author

These days you don’t need to find a big publisher to become a bestselling author. Of course, that is one route to the top but another option is just to write your own book and publish it yourself.

This is possible today thanks to sites like Lulu. Lulu is a website that allows you to use ‘POD’ publishing, which in turn stands for ‘Print On Demand’. This means that you can create a book and only pay for the printing costs each time someone orders one of them. That means that you don’t have to order a huge number of books and then try to sell them – instead, you can simply start selling right away and you’ll just lose a fraction of the cover price each time you do. That also means you’re not splitting your profits with a publisher!

Of course, the downside is that you’ll have to do all of your own marketing and editing. But if you can do that, then you’re good to go!

• Astronaut

Always wanted to visit space? Then one way you can do that is to sign up for Virgin Galactic. That will give you a chance to visit space, without needing any training!

Now of course there is the chance that it will never happen, and it’s a lot of money too – you might just have to start saving. But the point is that as soon as you start working toward the goal you always dreamed of, life becomes a whole lot more exciting!

Written by Yola Bastos
yolabastos@womenflix.org
https://linktr.ee/LifeCoachWomenFlix  
Women Flix, Supporting Women all the way to Success!  
Women Flix Limited, a company limited by guarantee, incorporated in England and Wales (company no. 13047578 ). 

The Most Important Question to Always Ask: Does it Help Me Achieve My Goals?

Why do so many people not get what they want out of life?

Why do so many people find themselves falling into jobs they don’t really want? Or living places that don’t make them happy? Or with lifestyles that they find stressful?

How does someone go from dreaming of being a rock star to being locked in an office to enter data onto a spreadsheet?

Well, there are many factors. But it usually starts by not clearly defining your goals or what you want. Because until you know exactly what it is you actually want, how can you possibly expect to get it?

That means it isn’t good enough to decide you want to be ‘rich’, you need to know what you want to do to become rich. What kind of work you enjoy, how many hours you’re willing to work etc.

Likewise, if you hope to become a rock star, then you might want to think about how you actually intend to make that happen. What does being a ‘rock star’ entail for you and how are you going to make it happen? What would you settle for?

And when you make all these decisions, you need to ensure that this is truly what you’re passionate about – that your intended goal is something that you enjoy thinking about, enjoy working on and can’t wait to make a reality.

• The Simple Way to Make Decisions

The reason this is all so important is that it will then allow you to make all your future decisions that much more easily. This is going to act like your barometer and your road map, to help you to get to the end destination that you want. 

Now, whenever you find yourself making a decision, the question to ask is: does it help you achieve your goals?

So for instance, if you’re umming and having over buying an expensive piece of equipment, then the simplest way to decide if it is a good idea or not is to ask if it will help you to accomplish your goals. Likewise, if you’re unsure about where to live, or whether you should take a particular job opportunity, ask whether the decision is going to take you nearer or further from your goals.

The problem with many people who aren’t quite sure what they want is that their objectives end up on a kind of back burner and that other things seem to start getting in the way.

But if you really want to achieve something amazing – if you have a dream business idea that you really want to make happen – then you need to make this your priority and you need to change the way you think about everything else.

And it shouldn’t feel like a sacrifice either. Because if you really love what you’re working toward then it will mean fully embracing the thing you really want to be doing anyway. You just need to find what that passion is…

Written by Yola Bastos
yolabastos@womenflix.org
https://linktr.ee/LifeCoachWomenFlix  
Women Flix, Supporting Women all the way to Success!  
Women Flix Limited, a company limited by guarantee, incorporated in England and Wales (company no. 13047578 ). 

Why it’s Never too Late to be What You Always Wanted to Be

Many of us wanted to be amazing things when we were younger. Some of us wanted to be astronauts, some of us wanted to be rock stars and some of us wanted to be rock stars. Maybe you dreamed of owning your own business.

Then you reached your twenties and realized that achieving those dreams was harder than you thought and that you needed money faster. So you start working a regular job in the meantime. Then you reach 30 and have a spouse and kids. Then you reach 40 and realize you’re old and tired. And in short, you realize that you’re never going to be that thing you always wanted to be.

Dreams are for younger people, right?

• Why Dreams Get Easier, the Older You Get

This is certainly the stance taken by many people but in reality, the opposite should be true. As long as you hold on to those dreams, they actually often become more attainable the older you get.

Why? For starters, being older gives you more experience and means you’re going to have a better idea of how to go after what you want. Then there’s the fact that you’ll have had longer to accumulate useful assets. That includes money – you’ll have more funds to put behind you – but also other intangible and tangible assets such as property, contacts, a better CV etc.

And if you’re retired, or if your children have moved away from home, then you’ll have more time as well.

And if you combine all that with a savvy knowledge of how to leverage your age, there’s no reason that you can’t get things done even when you’re older.

• Some Examples…

Many people want to be actors for example but never get around to it when they’re younger. When you’re older, however, you have the option of applying to appear as an extra in films and to play bit parts. You have the time now to attend and the older you are, the more in-demand you’ll find you become for smaller roles. Build up a CV and who knows!

Or you could start a YouTube channel. Silver surfers make up a massive proportion of the web and there isn’t as much content there for them. You could make a fitness YouTube channel for over 50s for example and it would likely be a huge hit.

You’ll likewise have more time to write books and more time to pursue hobbies. And if you can’t become an astronaut (admittedly unlikely), then how about signing up for a Virgin Galactic flight? If you can’t be a football player, you could certainly maybe be a coach or join an older team.

And this post isn’t just for people in their 80s. It applies to those in their 40s too. Did you know that the average age for successful startup founders is 40? Did you know that you’re twice as likely to start a successful business at the age of 55 as you are at 20-34? 

Never give up. 

Written by Yola Bastos
yolabastos@womenflix.org
https://linktr.ee/yolatvbastos

Women Flix, Supporting Women all the way to Success!  
Women Flix Limited, a company limited by guarantee, incorporated in England and Wales (company no. 13047578 ).