Everyone wants to end up in their dream job, but somewhere along the way, we get lost. My wife and I have been very fortunate along our path to landing our dream jobs, so I want to share the advice that made the biggest impact in getting us to where we are now.
Nothing compares to waking up every morning EXCITED to start your day. I heard somewhere that if you dread Mondays, it’s time to move onto something new. I’ve been in jobs and running companies that I simply hated. The weekends never seemed long enough, and when I took a vacation to “recharge my batteries” I came back only hating what I was doing more.
If this sounds familiar, it’s time for you to make a change.
I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Nothing great in life comes easy, but starting out in the right direction can make ending up in your dream job a much shorter journey.
1. Start With The Lifestyle You Want
What do you really want out of life? Do you want to be able to travel, work from home, spend time with your future kids? It’s easy to get sucked into the idea that money and prestige will bring you happiness. I once followed that path, and ultimately walked away from it. The secret is that if you follow your passion and do what makes you happy, the money will come on its own.
As an example, my wife wanted to find a job that would allow her to work from home (to spend more time with our future kids) and give her the freedom to work and travel whenever she wanted. We looked at a lot of different careers, and found that blogging fit perfectly, so 4 years ago she started blogging in her free time. It started slow, but 4 years later, she’s happier than she’s ever been and making more than double the money she made any any of her prior jobs, because she LOVES what she’s doing.
2. What Do You Keep Coming Back To?
What type of projects do you completely lose yourself in? What types of things keep popping back up in your life? When I started college, I wanted to become a plastic surgeon. I thought it was the perfect career because it had an artistic side, great pay, prestige, and the ability to schedule your hours unlike many other specialty doctors. Looking back, I see that more of my decision to pursue that career was due to the prestige, money, and what people would think of me.
I eventually learned my lesson when in Junior year, after I had finished my second Organic Chemistry class (it’s as awful as people say), I dropped out of college to start a business.
The signs had been there all along, but I ignored them, because I cared too much about what people thought of me. Don’t make the same mistake.
3. Live Frugally
Money used to flow through me like a river. The problem is that when you’re spending a lot, you have to keep making a lot, which can lead to you getting stuck working in jobs you don’t enjoy. The first step in breaking the cycle is to cut back on your spending.
Depending on where you are in life, you may have become very accustomed to the lifestyle you live. If you’re in your 30’s or older, it’s likely you’re making a decent amount of money, and spending a fair amount as well.
If you’re looking to change careers, you need to prepare yourself to make less money. The money will come back, but it may take a few years to do so. As someone who has made these sacrifices, I still urge you to pursue what makes you happy. No amount of money can replace working in something you don’t enjoy day in and day out.
Changing career directions only gets harder with time, because you’re building experience in something you don’t enjoy. You build experience, so you get paid more, so you spend more, and you get trapped. Start now! Start building the experience you need to get your dream job. Take the first step necessary to make the change today.
4. Start as Soon as Possible
Once you know what you want, start immediately. No good comes from waiting. There are always reasons why it’s not the right time, and if you don’t start right now, there’s the chance you never will.
Life is too short to not enjoy it.
If you have any questions or need help starting the process, let me know below.
Dylan
