Advice for kids starting out. Please help!

Hey Anon,

Well, there is also a quip about 'work is just something you do to make a living' but I don't agree with it at all.  If you don't enjoy your work, it is going to most likely filter out in to your home life too.  That makes for a miserable life.

Now the difference between 'enjoy' and 'love' can be tricky.

I (mostly) loved being a teacher because it was easy for me.  Sometimes I just didn't mind it.  That makes me lucky.  I daytrade e-mini futures now and really don't mind it and love the hours I get to keep.  So there are lots of facets to finding an enjoyable career. 

(Being Mom is a career, Anon…don't forget.)

Good luck with the advice giving and take good care.

k.

All work, whether using brain or using muscle, should be noble, as society relies on both kinds of work.
 

Hey Anon,

Well, there is also a quip about 'work is just something you do to make a living' but I don't agree with it at all.  If you don't enjoy your work, it is going to most likely filter out in to your home life too.  That makes for a miserable life.

Now the difference between 'enjoy' and 'love' can be tricky.

I (mostly) loved being a teacher because it was easy for me.  Sometimes I just didn't mind it.  That makes me lucky.  I daytrade e-mini futures now and really don't mind it and love the hours I get to keep.  So there are lots of facets to finding an enjoyable career. 

(Being Mom is a career, Anon…don't forget.)

Good luck with the advice giving and take good care.

k.

All work, whether using brain or using muscle, should be noble, as society relies on both kinds of work.
 

I can, perhaps, speak to the OTHER side.

My passion is music, and I hang out with a lot of other people who have the same passion. But, like with many other 'arts', only a few of the most talented and successful and connected people in the world become big successes in this field.

I persue music as a hobbiest, and worked for years as an optician. I liked my job, and, had I followed a different path ( I was very interested in ophthalmic research for a while) I think I could have been very successful. But it would have meant moving across the country, and I was about to get married to my wonderful bob, and made a choice to stay here. Which I've never regretted by the way.

In my musical circle, I know many many people who follow this passion on a part time or hobby basis. Many of them, even very successful musicians still have other jobs. Most of them, (more like me) who maybe have small bands who play locally still work day jobs.

In my experience, there's a large number who are involved in education and health care. They work hard at their day jobs to support their families and their lifestyles. Some love their jobs, some hate their jobs, some are at the top of their career ladders, traveling around the world, but they all hold on the passion they feel for music, while being realistic enough to know they are not going to be the next lady gaga.

It's pretty easy for someone like Madonna to say 'find something you love and make it your living' but not that easy a thing to actually accomplish. But I think it's important to follow those passions, to keep real meaning in your life. It's even more important if you have a job that sucks.

And, while it's likely a truism that very successful people doing things they love followed a certain path, that doesn't mean that everyone who follows that path will have the same success. It just seems that way to the ones who ARE a success!

When speaking to kids, I think it is very important to stress the notion of finding something you love that can drive your life. Lots of kids already have something like that by the time they are teens, and encouraging them to believe that they can persue it is good. I'd do it by focusing on visualizing what it is they really want, and setting realistic goals to accomplish it.

In goal setting, I think it's important to set long term goals, say, ten year, and five year goals, then looking at the yearly, monthly and weekly things that can be done to accomplish it. Their eyes might glaze over, so it might be fun to demonstrate by choosing something far out of reach, say:I want to win and Oscar, or I want to be President. and just look theoretically at a few things one would have to do to make it happen

I'm sure you will do great at this event. It's evident you love and respect these kids, and even if you've been out of the work force for a long while, you still have the age and experience to offer these kids.

Good luck!

Dian

I can, perhaps, speak to the OTHER side.

My passion is music, and I hang out with a lot of other people who have the same passion. But, like with many other 'arts', only a few of the most talented and successful and connected people in the world become big successes in this field.

I persue music as a hobbiest, and worked for years as an optician. I liked my job, and, had I followed a different path ( I was very interested in ophthalmic research for a while) I think I could have been very successful. But it would have meant moving across the country, and I was about to get married to my wonderful bob, and made a choice to stay here. Which I've never regretted by the way.

In my musical circle, I know many many people who follow this passion on a part time or hobby basis. Many of them, even very successful musicians still have other jobs. Most of them, (more like me) who maybe have small bands who play locally still work day jobs.

In my experience, there's a large number who are involved in education and health care. They work hard at their day jobs to support their families and their lifestyles. Some love their jobs, some hate their jobs, some are at the top of their career ladders, traveling around the world, but they all hold on the passion they feel for music, while being realistic enough to know they are not going to be the next lady gaga.

It's pretty easy for someone like Madonna to say 'find something you love and make it your living' but not that easy a thing to actually accomplish. But I think it's important to follow those passions, to keep real meaning in your life. It's even more important if you have a job that sucks.

And, while it's likely a truism that very successful people doing things they love followed a certain path, that doesn't mean that everyone who follows that path will have the same success. It just seems that way to the ones who ARE a success!

When speaking to kids, I think it is very important to stress the notion of finding something you love that can drive your life. Lots of kids already have something like that by the time they are teens, and encouraging them to believe that they can persue it is good. I'd do it by focusing on visualizing what it is they really want, and setting realistic goals to accomplish it.

In goal setting, I think it's important to set long term goals, say, ten year, and five year goals, then looking at the yearly, monthly and weekly things that can be done to accomplish it. Their eyes might glaze over, so it might be fun to demonstrate by choosing something far out of reach, say:I want to win and Oscar, or I want to be President. and just look theoretically at a few things one would have to do to make it happen

I'm sure you will do great at this event. It's evident you love and respect these kids, and even if you've been out of the work force for a long while, you still have the age and experience to offer these kids.

Good luck!

Dian