...AND They'll Pay You
While I was on the CNNMoney website pulling up the link for The Best Places to Live in 2005 and I stumbled across this article on their mainpage: Six Figure Job: Stunt Driver, and I asked myself if I've totally missed the boat on a career you dream about as a kid.
Now don't get me wrong, consulting and real estate development for the world's largest company has its perks and has well-established and prepared me to be a big-business success, and I'm greatful and don't regret for a moment my career path or opportunities taken to date, but just about every one of us had to have asked the question at some point, "Would I enjoy my life more doing something else?" Life is short.
I know my brother has. Chris just stepped out of a cush, yet over-demanding, asset management job after asking himself that same question. My brothers and I have grown up as thrill-seeking adrenaline junkies, yet unlike some of our friends, we were instilled with a trait that allowed us the ability to (almost (learning from your mistakes is another good trait to have)) always be able to make more calculated risks, even under severe pressure, helping us to achieve a higher level success rate, i.e. making us such good drivers (allow me to blow my own horn here for a moment; I don't do much well).
Having a racing background with my father, we were taught to drive and learned car control/balance and racing dynamics from a very early age, and had my family owned a small country, my brothers and I would have had more opportunity to excersie our skills in ametuer racing growing up, and al-las would have had more of a level playing field towards making a career out of it today.
Chris released himself of the 8-7 (I can't even use 9-5 as an accurate example of desk-job hours worked any more unless I'm referencing government employees) duties and headed to the track. Investing most of his time, and money, into his passion, Chris is giving himself seat-time behind the wheel in just about every avenue of racing possible, and until the money runs out he'll continue to do so in hopes of finding a niche in the industry where he can begin to pay bills.
He's not on a Formula 1 driver's seat or bust mission, but he's trying to weave himself into the fabric of the industry everywhere he can in an attempt to find that first gap to fill, and he'll go from there. This type of venture is a risk, but again, it's a calculated one, driven by passion, so even a failed attempt is one worthy of taking just for the experience alone. There's no tear-jerking happy-ending to Chris's story at this point, but I pray their will be and it's early yet; I'll keep you posted. Even today he and the Goof have been racing at Watkins Glen in NY, acquiring more seat-time and building on their knowledge-base.
I know we've all wanted to chase the dream, but I really can't think of too many people that have taken the 'plunge' if you will. Excuses are FedExed early-morning arrival by the dozen, and the twinkle in your eye gets filled with children, student loans, mortgage payments, etc., which are all valid, but excuses just the same.
At what point in our lives do we make the decision, or get side-tracked in our lives that we're all of a sudden not able to do what would make us most happy. Now again I understand compromise, I'm married (otherwise I'd be flying Apaches in Afghanistan right now instead of blogging to all of you), and other inhibitors keeping us at bay from our utopic ideals of satisfaction, but all of these were choices we've made ourselves.
Much like you, I've asked myself "What is happy" and have answered in similar fashion that I am happy, dam happy. Happy to be alive, happy as hell to have my wife and my family, my friends, my job, my toys, etc., so again don't get me wrong, I'm one happy SOB. Perhaps thats why we don't go out on a ledge like my brother and risk disrupting what at times can seem like a significant, yet conceivably fragile, happiness (not to say Chris wasn't happy, he's just more willing than most to take the road less travelled).
Why would you rock the boat when everything is 'working' so well? The logical man says no, and goes on living, and it's usually a wise choice because in most cases he can't stomach/afford the rejection, won't risk losing what he currently has, and is ill-prepared to compete with the seasoned dream-career doers.
The question is focused on what gets us there, and the sad truth is that most of us spend exorbanent amounts of time at work than with all these things that bring us joy. Life is short.
What a crazy notion, to love what you do and make it work in your life not run your life. Reading the article , I haven't decided just what plunge I'd like to make, well maybe I have, but I know at the end of the day I want to live life, not work for it. That's not to say that I don't want to work, because I have every intention of busting my hump becoming a success in whatever I do, I just want to make sure I'm factoring life into the the present equation as well as the future one, because the present becomes the past every second and you don't get it back; I hope every moment is a moment I won't regret at the end of the day. Life is short
Now don't get me wrong, consulting and real estate development for the world's largest company has its perks and has well-established and prepared me to be a big-business success, and I'm greatful and don't regret for a moment my career path or opportunities taken to date, but just about every one of us had to have asked the question at some point, "Would I enjoy my life more doing something else?" Life is short.
I know my brother has. Chris just stepped out of a cush, yet over-demanding, asset management job after asking himself that same question. My brothers and I have grown up as thrill-seeking adrenaline junkies, yet unlike some of our friends, we were instilled with a trait that allowed us the ability to (almost (learning from your mistakes is another good trait to have)) always be able to make more calculated risks, even under severe pressure, helping us to achieve a higher level success rate, i.e. making us such good drivers (allow me to blow my own horn here for a moment; I don't do much well).
Having a racing background with my father, we were taught to drive and learned car control/balance and racing dynamics from a very early age, and had my family owned a small country, my brothers and I would have had more opportunity to excersie our skills in ametuer racing growing up, and al-las would have had more of a level playing field towards making a career out of it today.
Chris released himself of the 8-7 (I can't even use 9-5 as an accurate example of desk-job hours worked any more unless I'm referencing government employees) duties and headed to the track. Investing most of his time, and money, into his passion, Chris is giving himself seat-time behind the wheel in just about every avenue of racing possible, and until the money runs out he'll continue to do so in hopes of finding a niche in the industry where he can begin to pay bills.
He's not on a Formula 1 driver's seat or bust mission, but he's trying to weave himself into the fabric of the industry everywhere he can in an attempt to find that first gap to fill, and he'll go from there. This type of venture is a risk, but again, it's a calculated one, driven by passion, so even a failed attempt is one worthy of taking just for the experience alone. There's no tear-jerking happy-ending to Chris's story at this point, but I pray their will be and it's early yet; I'll keep you posted. Even today he and the Goof have been racing at Watkins Glen in NY, acquiring more seat-time and building on their knowledge-base.
I know we've all wanted to chase the dream, but I really can't think of too many people that have taken the 'plunge' if you will. Excuses are FedExed early-morning arrival by the dozen, and the twinkle in your eye gets filled with children, student loans, mortgage payments, etc., which are all valid, but excuses just the same.
At what point in our lives do we make the decision, or get side-tracked in our lives that we're all of a sudden not able to do what would make us most happy. Now again I understand compromise, I'm married (otherwise I'd be flying Apaches in Afghanistan right now instead of blogging to all of you), and other inhibitors keeping us at bay from our utopic ideals of satisfaction, but all of these were choices we've made ourselves.
Much like you, I've asked myself "What is happy" and have answered in similar fashion that I am happy, dam happy. Happy to be alive, happy as hell to have my wife and my family, my friends, my job, my toys, etc., so again don't get me wrong, I'm one happy SOB. Perhaps thats why we don't go out on a ledge like my brother and risk disrupting what at times can seem like a significant, yet conceivably fragile, happiness (not to say Chris wasn't happy, he's just more willing than most to take the road less travelled).
Why would you rock the boat when everything is 'working' so well? The logical man says no, and goes on living, and it's usually a wise choice because in most cases he can't stomach/afford the rejection, won't risk losing what he currently has, and is ill-prepared to compete with the seasoned dream-career doers.
The question is focused on what gets us there, and the sad truth is that most of us spend exorbanent amounts of time at work than with all these things that bring us joy. Life is short.
What a crazy notion, to love what you do and make it work in your life not run your life. Reading the article , I haven't decided just what plunge I'd like to make, well maybe I have, but I know at the end of the day I want to live life, not work for it. That's not to say that I don't want to work, because I have every intention of busting my hump becoming a success in whatever I do, I just want to make sure I'm factoring life into the the present equation as well as the future one, because the present becomes the past every second and you don't get it back; I hope every moment is a moment I won't regret at the end of the day. Life is short
posted by Jonathan at 1:32 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home