My whole life, my dad has been in my ear encouraging me to complete a degree and have a stable career. He wants more for me than what he's had, and he wants nothing short of success for myself. After hearing it for so long, it naturally becomes ones own goals. Honestly, who doesn't want success and a career that has job security?
But that wasn't the only thing my dad preached. My father was big on one thing: do something you love. He used to always tell me, and still does to this day, that "it's easier to make minimal money doing something you love than to make loads of money doing something you hate." I've taken that to heart. My attitude has become that of a mindset that would rather make $20K a year doing something in sports, over $100K and hating my life day in and out. What's the point? If you're miserable, there's no point in makin' the bacon.
This is all a result of a Tweet I saw from someone I know this past Friday night.
"Great things come to those who wait.
I'll wait forever if that's what it takes"
To which I responded:
"I disagree. Good things come to those who work hard to pursue what they want.
Those who wait get left behind."
So, my main venting point, if you will; what the hell is with all of the complacency among my generation? Left and right, I see kids my age saying "well I could go here, and get this degree to do this, but I might as well just stay here, save some money, and do this." My main question to you all is this. WHY? Why in the world settle? We are all in the prime of our lives, guys. The most critical four years that ultimately shape the rest of our careers, and possibly even the rest of our lives. What we do in these two to four years has such an impact on everything around us.
I could have just decided to stay in Fort Wayne, get an associates in Business, and go into some part-time job hoping to move up the ranks. Is there anything wrong with that, if that's what you want to do? Absolutely not. But that's not what I wanted to do. If you've ever talked with me about sports, odds are you've found yourself on the wrong end of an argument because of my passion for the given sport we're debating. Clearly, it is something I love. So why not pursue it? I'm halfway home on a bachelor's degree here in Broadcast Journalism, with internships at 1070 The Fan (ESPN Radio Indy) and Bleacher Report under my belt, and opportunities abound. Both of my internships, I haven't gotten one dime in compensation. And it hasn't ever crossed my mind.
Is it going to take some debt when it comes to education? Most likely. But college debt isn't the worst thing that could happen. You know what is? Struggling to make money every night while hating your job. So I leave you with this: if you're going to struggle for money, why not struggle and love every minute of what you do?
I completely agree with your message here, Joe. Sometimes people will work their whole lives to realize they are not where they want to be. I have seen it so much already through my parent's professions and many family friends.
ReplyDeleteWe will work roughly 1/4 - 1/3 of our lives, so why not fill that time with something you love? 100k or more a year really doesn't increase your happiness, that is something you must choose. You must have a positive outlook on life and realize there is more to life than money. Experiences are something that money sometimes can't buy, along with true friends.
I completely agree with your message here, Joe. Sometimes people will work their whole lives to realize they are not where they want to be. I have seen it so much already through my parent's professions and many family friends.
ReplyDeleteWe will work roughly 1/4 - 1/3 of our lives, so why not fill that time with something you love? 100k or more a year really doesn't increase your happiness, that is something you must choose. You must have a positive outlook on life and realize there is more to life than money. Experiences are something that money sometimes can't buy, along with true friends.