During my university years, I often envied friends in career-oriented programs such as law or physiotherapy\u2014they had a goal in sight, a clear direction to move in. Their proverbial finish line was both graduation and the start of a career, whereas I seemed to float from class to class, eager to do well in my English Literature program but lacking motivation. As my convocation date grew nearer, I sought an answer to a question that had haunted me for some time: What now?<\/p>\n
I completed my master\u2019s degree, but it was still hard to find work here in Ottawa without significant office experience. I was determined to get it and join so many of my friends who had ascended to adulthood by having email addresses ending in \u201cgc.ca.\u201d How I envied their careers, with cubicles or offices to themselves, co-workers to go for coffee with at Starbucks (you could afford Starbucks when you had a career!). I eventually got there, a late bloomer who quickly learned that my dream of a career had not become reality. I sat in my cube under buzzing fluorescent lights, politely smiled as my colleague told me about her neighbour\u2019s wiener dog again, and booked meeting rooms. This can\u2019t be it, I thought. What now?<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s digress: remember an elementary classroom activity where the teacher would lead a chalkboard brainstorming session? For example, let\u2019s say a Grade Five class is asked what they think of when they see the word \u201cPolitics\u201d written on the blackboard. A brown-noser raises her hand first: \u201cPrime Minister,\u201d she says. The teacher writes it on the board, and another hand goes up: \u201cObama.\u201d In a few moments the whole class is involved, hands raised: \u201cVoting!\u201d \u201cParliament Hill!\u201d They all have ideas and are encouraged by the contributions of others. Someone suggests \u201cBoring!\u201d and everyone laughs, but the teacher still writes it down\u2014the kid has a point. The real point is, the children are learning that their ideas are reasonable and acceptable. Better yet, that thinking is fun!<\/p>\n
Back to reality: we\u2019re not kids. We all have bills to pay, and the learning curve looks a lot steeper when your new manager is counting on you. We don\u2019t necessarily have time to ask ourselves questions or consider new ideas when we\u2019re just trying to keep up. Even when I had an idea or suggestion for improvement at work, my main goal was to avoid pissing anyone off\u2014I was putting in my eight hours in exchange for money and benefits, and I didn\u2019t want that to go away. But after a year or so at my most recent office job, I heard that inner voice again, this time sharper and more frustrated: What now?<\/p>\n
And there\u2019s the rub. (For those who didn\u2019t major in English Lit, when Hamlet says, \u201cAy, there\u2019s the rub!\u201d he means, there\u2019s the problem, the \u201cCatch-22\u201d that halts progress.) It took another year to balance my inner frustration with a desire to work to my full potential before I made a move.<\/p>\n
My turning point came when my frustration was overshadowed by my ideas. I started to seek advice from successful entrepreneurs and CEOs to find out how they achieved greatness. I also started to realize that I had some good ideas that were worth sharing, even if they didn\u2019t belong at my workplace. I began to blog, to write articles for a local publication that earned me a little money on the side, and to create. When I wasn\u2019t at work, I painted, wrote, learned to make my own digital music, and surrounded myself with my favourite people. This high quality of life at home resulted in a major realization: I am, at my core, an artist. But because artists generally don\u2019t make much money (especially in a government town like Ottawa), I had rejected this idea long ago. I didn\u2019t realize that by dismissing the art-as-a-career option, I had dismissed my own identity.<\/p>\n
Leaving my job coincided with my decision to stop limiting myself. Since my Career Turning Point, I\u2019ve started my own writing\/editing business; created my website and logo; learned graphic design; developed an innovative new logo for a university-based health research group; started my own gift shop on Etsy.com; obtained a writing gig to enhance my exposure to new clients; started a web resource for women; and released my first set of homemade music on Soundcloud.com. The list goes on. I wake up excited about innovation, combining my business skills with a heady dose of creativity. The lack of steady paycheques coming in every two weeks is scary, but fear and negativity are unproductive emotions, so I choose to have faith in my abilities. I love what I do, and although I\u2019m still finding my feet in the world of self-employment, I am driven by passion and happiness. I do good work, and so can you.<\/p>\n
It turns out that my \u201carts degree aimlessness\u201d makes more sense in hindsight. Some things have to simmer for a while before being served, and this definitely applies to my self-confidence. Working at several uninspiring jobs actually pushed my inner creativity forward, as I would skip my lunch hour to create posters on my graphic design program or work on my writing portfolio. What are you doing on your lunch hour that might launch you into a new echelon of Careerdom?<\/p>\n
You too can be an entrepreneur, a person with the confidence and intelligence to think up an idea, refine it and bring it to life. It doesn\u2019t necessarily require an Ivy League degree or a group of investors, but it does take guts. There is risk involved, but this can be bested by initiative and passion, a refusal to be anything but the hardest worker assigned to the greatest project.<\/p>\n
If you find yourself at a crossroads in a job you can\u2019t possibly call your career, I dare you to put your \u201cgrown-up\u201d hat on for a second and ask yourself these questions:<\/p>\n
What do I value?<\/strong> Your Career Turning Point lies in the answers, a big \u201cAha!\u201d waiting in the dark like a surprise party. And you may indeed be surprised, but only at the brilliance you\u2019ve uncovered.<\/p>\n
\nWhat do I do well?<\/strong>
\nWhat do I enjoy doing?<\/strong><\/p>\n