Who's Doing What They Love

[quote]Bauer97 wrote:
Interesting thread idea PGA.

Currently, I am doing what I love, and it’s exactly what I went to college for. My days go by quickly, and Sunday nights are not at all depressing.

However, although the money I make is certainly respectable, especially for being in the fitness industry, I have just gone back to grad school to head in a different direction.

My choice of choosing to focus primarily on Corporate Fitness has allowed me to develop some relationships with powerful people in said corporations.

The 'ol “it’s who you know” thing has come into play, and with a little additional education in a field completely un-related to my undergrad, my salary will almost double, and my work hours will decrease.

The lifestyle I like to lead demands a higher than average salary, yet the conflict between ‘doing what I love’ and ‘making more money’ is something I won’t be sure of until I make the switch.

I’m in a state of change much like you. I’m young, so I don’t have much advice, but I obviously hope you manage to find a job that you both love AND is financially rewarding, which is of course the ultimate goal.

Oh, and put me in your movies if you become a bigwig in the film industry.[/quote]

If you ever need music for a film, hit me up. That was my major and I can’t do much with it professionally until I move to LA (going to be a couple years), so I look for indie and student gigs when I can.

PGA you piss me off. You have a lot of talent and you are wasting your time with liberal arts? We all know what you like to do (no, not sex with RRJC) and you are good at it. So go do it!

I just got done doing what I love, and I was watching a video of Alizee while doing it…

[quote]SWR-1240 wrote:
I just got done doing what I love, and I was watching a video of Alizee while doing it…[/quote]

Did it involve a sandwhich?

[quote]beebuddy wrote:
SWR-1240 wrote:
I just got done doing what I love, and I was watching a video of Alizee while doing it…

Did it involve a sandwhich? [/quote]

Well, there was definitely some meat involved, and if hand was bread…

[quote]Bauer97 wrote:
Oh, and put me in your movies if you become a bigwig in the film industry.[/quote]

Yeah, I’m sure he’ll give you a call when he does a remake of frankenstein. When he needs a sexy, young, muscular man, he’ll give myself a call. He’s already got my number. Calls me twice a day. It’s getting a little weird.

Yep, I’m doing what I love.

Property and share investing. I resigned from managing businesses, and now work from home in my own time, determining my own income.

Took a HUGE leap of faith to stop working for a salary but the rewards are worth the gamble.

[quote]duke wrote:
Yep, I’m doing what I love.

Property and share investing. I resigned from managing businesses, and now work from home in my own time, determining my own income.

Took a HUGE leap of faith to stop working for a salary but the rewards are worth the gamble.

[/quote]

Duke…

I hope to be where you are as soon as i get out of the Marines. Still working on building up the network but…i’m working towards that and giving my all to my current job…

Congrats…Here’s to Financial Security!!

[quote]PGA wrote:

I’ve heard that before and I don’t agree with it. There is a ton of education out there to be had at a good film school. Also the networking that it gives is a tremendous benefit.

While a degree isn’t necessary getting all of the education from one place is huge.

I am DEFINITELY not ruling out the possibility of using the money and attending various workshops. But having a degree makes taking steps back a bit easier say if I want to work in TV, etc.[/quote]

I can agree with you on the networking angle. It never hurts to talk to many different people in the same business. If you go that route, don’t get too wrapped up in all the theory, kind of like how people read too much into programs here.

[quote]Petedacook wrote:
The way I am starting to look at it is that all jobs suck. They are inconvenient. No matter how much you enjoy whatever work it is, there is always something that is just going to get on your nerves.

Even something as basic as having to put hours in. The thing is you do it because you get paid for it. I don’t think many people would continue doing whatever their job is if they ceased getting paid.

Therefore, I just care about getting paid. The more I get paid, the happier I am with the inconvenience the job has on my life. [/quote]

That’s about the way I see it.

I believe it’s not that much about what one is doing, but rather the “framework”, e.g. the pressure of having to do albeit what one likes but in a way that it is considered valuable by others, something others are willing to pay enough for to suit one’s needs. I’m sure there are rare occasions where people find a niche or reach a degree of independence where this framework ceases to be annoying but without great efforts and a decent portion of luck, I don’t see it happening.

Personally, I am in the situation where I earn more than enough money to meet my needs and arrange the free time in my life the way I want to from a financial standpoint. The inconvenience of having to dedicate a significant portion energy and time of the day to earning this financial base remains and I don’t see much of a chance to change this at the moment in my situation.

Good idea for a thread by the way, I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently as well.

Teaching for 25 years, love it more than I can say.

Math teaching in this country is pathetic. So many of my students have told me horror stories, and then complimented me because now, for the first time, they ‘get it’.

Trigonometry is an absurdly simple topic. Calculus is an absurdly simple topic. A few very simple principles and they’re good to go. I’ve explained these things to kids and have heard over and over: “You taught me more in 2 hours than ___________ taught me in a year.”

I like that I’m able to explain those things.

I loathe and despise my job (yes, I’m actively looking for other employment). I work for a major health insurance company. After working there for almost two years, I’m more in favor of dissolving the health insurance companies and instituting national health insurance than I was when I started working there.

LOVE my job. Being in a position to really help people when they need it most is what I like the best.

If I hit the lottery tomorrow and won a shitload of money, I’d still be jumping on the truck and running calls.

I’m 19 and I HATE MY JOB with a passion, which I guess is why I’m in school lol. (lead of survellance in a casino, boring as hell but I get to eat whenever and whatever I want lol plus its not bad money while I’m going to school)

I train 5 days a week, I work 42 hours a week at my job, and I am a full time student on a scholarship that requires at least a 3.0 and full time enrollment. I stay so busy that I can barely think straight sometimes. I am doing a double major in Computer Science and Business Administration: Financial Accounting. I hope after getting my associates in the both of those I will have aquired a general taste for one of the two and decide on what I want to get my bachelors in. Only time will tell.

Right now, with FAFSA and all my grants/scholarships, I basically make money going to school, which is why I am doing a double major etc etc…

I hate it because I love computers, I am interested in programming and I LOVE the hardware side. Up until recently I really enjoyed overclocking computers and building performance rigs (nerdy I know) As my time has been consumed with work, school, and training I have kind of let that little hobby go to the wayside in light of more imporatant things. What sucks is that I currently have an office job where I sit in front of a computer for 8-12 hours and I CANNOT STAND BEING TRAPPED INSIDE like this all day.

I went to my highschool the other day to see if my football coach would let me lift in the gym. What was funny is that now he is asking me for training and nutrition advice, and the thing is I love to give it.

I am no expert in the field by any means, but I do know what works for me. I feel that I could share that with others and they could somehow reap a benefit from it as well. I know for a fact that if they left the team to me during the off-season that I could get them stronger and faster than the bull crap that the coaches there have them doing. I know I have improved a great deal since graduating and I attribute it to the fact that I have been doing my own research. All of my college research papers have been over training and nutrition, and I love it!

Now back to the fact that neither of my college majors are in this field. What a dilemma! There are just so many options that I have no idea what I want to do!

I am an insurance geek and so I guess I love it. I was in our strategic planning area, but recently moved to the product management area, which is something I really enjoy.

I’m 25 and spent 3 years studying, eventually gaining a degree in Computing and Management Sciences. After 2 years I realised that I didn’t want to work in that area for thew rest of my life, but I’d put in so much work and money i finished the course, so at least i’d have a degree.

I always wanted to travel so after I graduated I went backpacking for 15 months. I went to Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Cook Islands and finally USA.

It was a real life changing experience. Appreciating different cultures, and seeing with my own eyes that the English way of life is not the only way. Seeing how shit life can be for some people who suffer the worst poverty and disease. They no nothing of the rat race only survival. It changed my perspective and made me appreciate what I have.

I also saw how good life can be for some people. I bloody love the Ozzy lifestyle!

One of the best things about it was travelling alone. It was shit scary at first but eventually my confiednce grew. I met tons of great people and my confidence in myself as a person is higher than ever before. All of my friends and family have commented on how much more confident I am.

Now I have to admit I’m a little insecure about where my life is heading. I’ve been back since August and i’m working at one of the biggest energy companies in the UK. I don;t mind mt job but I don’t love it. The bosses like me and they’re really big on staff development. One of my bosses is always asking me what im doing with my future and is keen on getting me to go higher and become and Analyst making decent ???. Sounds ok but I just don’t really care about my job. I’m really just doing it for the money. I do get some job satisfaction but I’m just not keen on the corporate thing.

Anyway, I want to travel again. I’m looking at teaching English as a foreign language for a year. I know in South Korea i could save ?5k in 12 months whilst still living a good life. That ?5k would also send me around south America for 6 months. Seeing South America is a dream of mine.

I like the idea of teaching English too. I think i’d make a good teacher and would enjoy actually making a difference to people. Something more than just numbers on a screen. Something meaningful.

A lot of my friends are jealous that I have been travelling whilst they are settling down with girlfriends, getting mortgages and progressing the career ladder. I also envy them for having a career and money!

I’ve got other friends who are critical that I might go travelling again. They say “You’ve got no roots, no money, no career prospects, no investment in your future.” They’d rather travel when they retire. But why wait unitl you’ve worked yourself in to the ground and are too buggered to travel? Sometimes i wonder if they are right or if they are just masking feelings of jealousy because they are too scared to do what i’m doing. Perhaps it’s a bit of both. These are the very same friends who i hear saying that tey are not satisfied in their jobs anyway. It seems that few are.

Anyway i guess im just a bit scared that i’ll never find my true calling. I’m hoping that by the time i finish the next stint of travelling i’ll have figured a few things out and decided what i want to do with my life apart from travel!

What worked for me was self-employment. I’d been doing engineering for about 10 years and became thoroughly bored with it. The company I was working for went under and I took a leap of faith and went out on my own.

Although the actual work is the same, the fast that representing myself and not some jerks who were taking all the fruits of my labor has added a whole new level of interest for me. I’ve had my business for 6 years now and I couldn’t be happier.

[quote]Headhunter wrote:
Teaching for 25 years, love it more than I can say.

Math teaching in this country is pathetic. So many of my students have told me horror stories, and then complimented me because now, for the first time, they ‘get it’.

Trigonometry is an absurdly simple topic. Calculus is an absurdly simple topic. A few very simple principles and they’re good to go. I’ve explained these things to kids and have heard over and over: “You taught me more in 2 hours than ___________ taught me in a year.”

I like that I’m able to explain those things.[/quote]

Very cool. I loved Math in college, went all the way to Calc 2. Lucky for me, I went to school in Detroit were most of the teachers are foreign, i.e. “Better”. Yea I know harsh thing to say but its the truth.

Now if I could only understand chemistry…

Thanks for the replies and life experiences everyone!

Bauer and I have talked about college a little while ago and he posed the question “What are you going to do with the economics degree?” I believe thats what he said. Sometimes you cant understand him as he’s always eating and bulking. As a tongue and cheek reply I said, “Put it up on the wall with all of my college receipts and laugh at how I conformed.” While I was joking there was some truth to it. I didnt know why I was pursuing an economics degree. Sort of going through the motions. Doing that when $40,000 is on the line is a costly gamble.

Sometimes shit just hits us and makes us question what were doing. I guess it all came to a head yesterday. I didnt understand what I was pursuing an economics degree. I guess with the restricted degree offerings at my school that was the most “versatile.” Yeah, thats all well and good but if its not versatile in what I would enjoy its not versatile for me.

I’m glad all I really did was get my gen-ed requirements out of the way thus far. I have 40 credits under my belt that should be easily transferable to any college. Some may not but most should. I’ve sent a few emails out to film and TV programs offered at colleges around me and I’ll see what comes of it.

Thanks for the replies guys, keep them coming. I really appreciate it. This thread will probably help a few other people who may be in the same boat as me…