what should you do
with your life?
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I’ve got a good friend who was put on this earth to do marriage and family therapy (among other things).
He’s super naturally gifted in counseling and would add tremendous value in the industry. Except that he’s in construction. Why? Lots of reasons. But one of them is that people close to him — and not so close — have said, “You can’t make money in that.” Now it may be a reality that most people don’t make a lot of money in that. But not all. in fact, 2.2% — and maybe even the top 13.6% + 2.1% + .1% — are making great money in that. Exceptional money. But it’s likely true that the rest aren’t, because career operates on a bell curve, like most anything else in life.
Well, since when do you pursue your passion to become part of the ~75% that doesn’t make money? The short answer is generally “no.” That shouldn’t stop you. The x factor is time — how long until you become one of the top earners in that industry. I can’t answer that for your specific situation, but I can tell you that those who are at the top all have at least one thing in common — they love the work and are good at it. They get clear about their strengths and contribute them as often as possible to add value to the world around them. There are probably lots of other things that set them apart, but the truth is that people who love what they do rise to the top and get paid. And people who love what they do are people who choose something they love and do what they do best to add value to it. Plain and simple. So don’t let, “You can’t make money in that!” hold you back. Someone’s making money in that. Really good money. Might as well be you.
I just got off the phone with a college student who interviewed me for an assignment. He started by asking if I had any general advice.
Poor guy. Little did he know that I give advice for a living and I went on a 10-minute diatribe about the complexities of career. At the end of the call, he asked me a great question: “What do you dislike most about your job?” Easy. I can’t take it when people won’t change. When they won’t do something different even when they know they should. He followed up with an equally profound question: “Why won’t people change? And what makes those who do change, change?” When people change, it’s because they’ve bought into a brighter future than what they currently have that makes it all worth it. When they won’t? It’s often because the future I’ve sold them or they’ve envisioned isn’t bright enough to outweigh the darkness of the fear that holds them back. The enemy of change 100% of the time is fear: fear of failure, of loss, of uncertainty, of judgment, and so on. When the darkness is darker than the brightness is bright, the trade-off simply isn’t worth it to them. If you’re stuck and feel fear about a move you know you should make, try dialing up the brightness on your vision of the future. People with bright visions don’t need any pushing — their future pulls them along. |
Hi! I'm Dustin.I post here once a week on Tuesdays, every week, at 4:59am. You can also sign up below to have these posts magically air-dropped straight to your inbox. Archives
January 2018
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