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Do You Have a Job or a Career?By
Thursday, June 22, 2017
Most people have jobs. They faithfully go to work each morning, do their best to execute their duties, come home tired, and look forward to weekends and vacations.
They do this to make ends meet, hoping something better will come along. And better things do come now and then, along with setbacks. But the drudgery continues. Week in. Week out. Forty years pass. Life has been half miserable. But it's time for retirement.
Retirement means getting out of job jail. No more hated work. It's now time for relaxation and fun...
Just kidding!
As it turns out, retirement today is this: After giving up a fairly well-paid full-time job, you take on several poorly paid part-time jobs (without benefits) to pay for your ever-increasing retirement expenses.
But it doesn't have to be that way...
You can spare yourself the misery by ditching the job early on and replacing it with a career.
What's the difference? A career is a life's vocation...
You work a job to make money. You work a career to build something you value.
With a job, you are always thinking about the time you won't be working. With a career, you are always thinking about it even when you aren't working.
The reason for this is a matter of focus. A job looks inward: "I do this to make money for myself." A career looks outward: "I am building something that others can appreciate or use."
The litmus test for determining whether you have a job or a career is this question: If you could afford to, would you do it for free?
You shouldn't work for money. You should work on having a career.
If you don't like your work but are doing it because you have to support yourself and/or a family, start working on a Plan B. Plan B is titled: "Doing Something I Care About."
Measured in mundane, day-to-day terms, having a career can be challenging since you are constantly focused on the work, and the work sometimes does not go as well as you might want. But even when the work is frustrating, it involves you in a way that is somehow satisfying. And when the work goes well, there's nothing like it.
If you have a job now, can you transform it into a career? Well, it may depend on what you are doing.
I have worked as a writer and editor for about 40 years. For more than half that time, writing was a job for me. I did it to make money. I worked hard at it, did it well, and did make a lot of money, which was great. But I never really enjoyed the "job."
That changed when I turned 50. I changed my priorities. Making money wasn't even on the list.
I began writing about topics I valued, like art collecting, language, and literature. I was also writing movie scripts, short stories, and poems.
Before, the "purpose" of the writing I had been doing was to sell products and services and thereby make a lot of money. After, the purpose of my writing was to teach readers what I had learned about making money. It was the same topic, but the intention was different. It had moved from me (inward) to them (outward).
So that is the first and main thing. But there are requirements for your work to be a career:
Not everyone can make a career out of his or her job. An architect certainly could. Instead of designing commercial crap for the highest bidder, she could gradually develop her own style, one that she likes and that would serve people, and she could produce work over her lifetime that would endure for generations. Think about it. Start creating your Plan B. Satisfaction comes from doing something you care about. And if you can make money for 40 years doing something you care about and creating something that has value to others – you have a career!
Regards,
Mark Ford
Further Reading:
"The big problem everyone has when starting a new business is ignorance," Mark says. But you can learn what works for the experts by following a few simple steps. Read more here: How to Inherit 20 Years of Business Know-How in a Single Year.
If you're overwhelmed by your career, business, or life goals, Mark has a solution. In this essay, he explains how three common roadblocks keep us from getting started – and how to overcome them. Learn more here: The Positive Power of Short-Term Goals and Small Rewards.
Market NotesCHECKING IN ON THE 'POOL' INDICATOR Today, one of our favorite economic gauges suggests that things can't be all that bad in the U.S...
Longtime DailyWealth readers know that we like to keep an eye on the U.S. economy in non-traditional ways. In the past, we've looked at healthy share-price movement in motorcycles, recreational vehicles, cruise lines, and hotels. That's because when American consumers are shelling out cash for non-essentials, it's a sign the economy is humming along.
Another sign that American consumers are confident today is the big uptrend in shares of Pool Corp (POOL). Swimming pools are the ultimate "want-not-need" item. And Pool Corp is the largest wholesale distributor of pool supplies and products. So when POOL shares march higher, it's a good sign for America.
As you can see from the following chart, POOL has more than tripled over the last five years. The stock just hit an all-time high and shows no signs of slowing down. Despite all the political noise today, the strong uptrend in POOL shares suggests that things can't be all that bad...
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