When we were children, careers seemed fun. We all wanted to grow up to be something we saw that captured our attention. That idea stuck with us and we didn’t give a thought to if it paid well or came with a benefits package that included insurance or a retirement matching amount. We didn’t care because the part of doing the job seemed exciting and fulfilling by itself. The rest would fall into place right? Over time most of these dreams may and probably did change as we grew but that initial awe stayed with us for a long time. We eventually packed up these child dream careers in place of a trade off we made for something that did paid our bills, offered a semblance of security and promising future.
If only that trade was worthy of the price of our dream…
The dream of being fulfilled, having fun and enjoying what we did. The ability to do something good for the world that was kind, even heroic, and made us happy. At times in my 30 year career in healthcare I have been happy. It has even paid for a comfortable lifestyle I enjoy with my husband and son but fulfilling, satisfying and even dream like it has never done for me. Given that more than 70% of Americans are dissatisfied with their career for a variety of reasons including layoffs, uncertainty, crappy bosses, lack of autonomy, lack of creativity, jerk co-workers and more, I would say I’m not alone in those feelings of lackluster passion for what I do each work week.
It is not that I am unappreciative or even ungrateful about my career because I’m not at all. Everything from our home to food on our tables has come from careers we all work very hard at every day. I appreciate what it has provided but I know the space of me it has not filled and that beating of what I packed away so long ago as a child still can be heard. The desire to live life on my terms and and do something that wakes me in the morning with excitement to do it again and again. The prophecy of doing something you love, as in really deeply love and never having it feel like work at all is at the core of every childhood career awe striking moment. It was more than just looking like fun, it was fun itself.
Most of us cannot just walk away from our careers today and focus on the fulfillment part. Most of us wait until we get to retirement and have second careers that provide that for us. I prefer to not wait that long and instead when I retire have it be for play, travel and things I enjoy that don’t include earning money. Waiting that long to have something that makes life fun every day seems ridiculous too in my opinion. What about today? What about now? Is happy and passionate only elements of retirees?
Being able to take care of ourselves while building a dream with that level of fulfillment takes some strategy, planning and motivation but it is possible when we look at entrepenurialship. I’m not talking of replacing your job with another through a franchise or something else that runs our day to day. I’m talking real entrepenurialship where we set our schedule, manage our own destiny and determine exactly what that looks like. It is all the things we ever imagined but somehow as adults we see as impossible and impractical but deep down it would make us ecstatic.
The path to achieving that level of fulfillment in your work comes down to completely realizing we are either employees or entrepreneurs as well as how much we want to control our own life. It is scary for sure to realize how control and power we give up for the sake of security. Yet finding the way to balance the risk of trying something new while retaining that security until we don’t need it is exactly the formula to make it possible to have it all. This is where side hustles, creative outlets and entrepenurialship is born. Those that figure out how to include it in their life see the door crack open for what else is out there in this big beautiful world.
For me, this door opened up the world of natural living. It was a space I could be me and awakened in me the creativity I had long wanted in my career. I found a space to write this blog to fill that long love of writing I always had. I found products that changed my family’s life and my own so much so I started selling them! The childhood dream of teaching became possible through online webinars and masterclasses I now teach. The elements of what I dreamed about as a child became real all the while I was still working in my career. It became so real though that I could honestly see the possibility of living my dream full time.
When we open our heart to what we really want deep inside, there is always a way to make it transpire. It may take some time and even require us to give it space to grow but it is the very thing that creates the not ever feeling like you’re working feeling. It is all the things that your job is not, including providing the potential for real growth, enrichment, doing good in the world and providing stable security. Maybe that is too much for you to consider and you’re saying this is impossible! It is impossible if we’re not brave enough to try it.
The wisdom of this all is listening to our own heart because it is always right. When we dial in to our own body, mind and spirit amazingly we start to see things for what they really are and what they mean to us. That very action is what opens the doors to dreams coming true in terms of finding work that lifts us up in inspiration to create things that change our world while freeing us from careers that only pay us. It is possible to have both you know. A stable comfortable life that is filled with dreams living in our reality.
Are you ready?
Contact me at dragonspitapothecary.com and let’s unpack that long stored idea and build your dream together.