Taking Control of the Driver Seat

I got a bit excited tonight so I'm writing a second post here...

You might already know what this post is about judging by the title of it. But hear me out...

I just finished reading a chapter in The Outliers and it read:

"Autonomy, complexity and a connection between effort and reward are the three qualities that work has to have if it is to be satisfying."

I cannot agree more to what Malcolm Gladwell says here (p. 149). I worked in the government for two years while I was studying at Carleton U. My program was business and I was going for my degree in Commerce, specializing in Information Systems. The 4.5 years was an enjoyable one; learned lots, met a lot of interesting people and hit a homerun in my last year with my good friend Nigel Kay at the Wes Nicol Competition.

But when I came out of U, I really did not enjoy what I did there, even with the pay being more than what I'm making at my current job.

I'm a strong believer that one should chase after their passion. There were a variety of reason why I left the government and decided not to pursue a career there (not to sound like I'm bashing jobs at the government, but even I have seen people come and go (layoff) in the government, even though they say "not in a millionnn years");

• Pace was slow
• Not much of a learning curve
• Behind in my time of 'technology' (laggards)
• ... but... not everything was seen as negative... because my co-workers were a cool bunch to work with!

If you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desire.

While I was working in the government, I was running KayLo Marketing, a small local search marketing firm that helped accountants, lawyers and local businesses improve their presence on the web. We were the aid for their marketing needs and we did a damn good job of it. But later when things took a bad turn, I decided to look for something else. But at the very moment, I was approached by a local marketing firm who offered me a position as a consultant in their company.

I accepted that offer and looked back with no regrets. I love my job. I love where I am right now. And I believe I'm shaping my own destiny. I foresee a bright future with many goals that I want to accomplish in this lifetime.

My thoughts...

• You will find work enjoyable when you don't look at it as 9-5 work;
• You will find work fulfilling when your community of followers are listening to you;
• You will find work exciting when time flies by you in a blink of an eye without you noticing; and,
• You will find work is not really work when you are doing what you love!

Think about this... "If I offered you a choice between being an architect for $75k a year and working in a tollbooth every day for the rest of your life for $100k; a year, which would you take?"

I hope you chose the former one :p

So take control of the driver seat, because you're in for a ride of your life! Make it count!