These days I feel like a lot more people are talking about how we don't need to have life all figured out. Once upon a time, it was normal and almost considered necessary for someone to plan out their life, their career and stick to that path, staying in the same job and on the same road for all their years. Now, and I think some of this comes down to the increasingly digital and creative age that we find ourselves in, sticking to the one path for all your time isn't necessary, and slowly becoming abnormal. I feel that we live in a time where more people are opening up and talking about their struggles, and while some may like to say that we just live in a time of whiney, entitled millennials who suddenly seem to have all these problems, I think the real truth is that these problems and struggles were always there, people always had them, it's just now we're much less afraid to admit to them and talk about them, and one of those struggles is about not having life figured out, and allowing ourselves to change what we do with our lives. This is particularly relevant to me at the moment. I will say that one thing that has never changed for me is that I've always wanted to do something that has involved writing in some way or another, and I certainly still feel that way. But how exactly I've wanted to integrate that skill into my life and career has changed numerous times over the years until we reach the present point in time where I no longer really a solid clue.
In school I had the idea I wanted to work at a magazine, which eventually evolved into the idea I wanted to work at Rolling Stone in particular. So when I hit Uni and started doing some contributor work I focused on finding jobs that were in the music writer niche. I really enjoyed it, and I certainly wouldn't hate creating content like that again, but then I discovered that being a freelance writer was a thing. I got my first freelance writing job and I loved it and decided that writing freelance was how I wanted to try and live my life. I also discovered photography during this time and realised I could incorporate that into my work as well and bring an extra skill to the table. I do still chase after freelance writing jobs and I know I will for the foreseeable future, but I eventually fell into the hole of YouTube, which also lead me to discover the world of people who made a living on Instagram and writing blogs. After much debate and a few failed attempts, I eventually started this blog and took Instagram seriously and stuck with it. I've been working away at it for a few years now and sometimes I think my goal is to try and make a living off blogging, Instagraming and maybe some freelance writing on the side. I enjoy the lifestyle it allows me to lead, it makes me happy and it lets me use skills I enjoy using on a daily basis.
I left Uni about a year ago and started studying a Masters in Journalism online while I tried to build up my blogging, Instagraming and freelance writing portfolio, but I've had so many other career choice thought patterns over that period of time. I've considered packing it all in and just going out and getting a normal full-time job so I would at least have a stable and more sustainable income. I've tried started another type of small business on the side, but I was to distracted and involved with my Masters and focusing on my blog and such that I'll admit it has fallen to the wayside. I've contemplated trying to start a magazine or just get a normal casual job somewhere, save up money and go travel next year; and that brings me to now, still very much lost in all these different potential options in my brain. I could do any of the above, though certainly not all, and I really have no idea which I should chose. For ages I've beat myself up over not being able to settle and stick to an idea, but lately I've been trying to change my mindset. As I started this piece by saying, it's normal now to want to change your career, whether you've been in it for three years or 30 years, and I also think it's fine at any age to really not know what your life is going to be all about. When you have people around you who seem to have their shit together and are out working everyday it can be hard to not give in to the norm and just go work nine to five, at least you'd being doing something and have an easy answer to give when someone asks, so what have you been up to lately? But I'm here to remind myself, and anyone reading, don't give in to that if you know it's not what you really want. If your goals in life don't fit that nine to five pattern, yes it's probably going to be a bit harder to get the ball rolling and keep it successfully rolling, but you have to remember everyone who is successful in their field didn't start at the top. They had to work their way up to get where they are and it certainly didn't happen overnight. And if you do work hard at something and reach a point and think, you know, I'm just not feeling it anymore, don't be afraid to change. Yes you put a lot of work in, but it's not going to waste because there will have been things you learnt throughout that time that have helped you grow as a person and that you will be able to transfer to your next chapter in life.
So if you've been thinking about switching things up and giving something else a go, remember, the time for new beginnings, is now!
.
9/6/17
.
change /
inspiration /
motivation /
new beginnings /
personal /
reflection
