Do you have a career that you really enjoy? I'm bored of the rat race

[twobone]

I'm 20 years in the Canadian banking industry (age 42) and increasingly bored with the rat race.

 

Of course, you could shoot back, that in this economy, I should shut up and be glad I have a funded pension and a steady income.

 

I'd love to be able to find a viable income from something more closely timed to my passions like motorsports.

 

Just curious what other folks do and whether they also are doing their job as a means to an end, like I do to enable the other joys in my life like family and hobbies

[turboeric]

No special advice, except to be careful what you wish for. My uncle, who was a successful racer in the 60s, retired from that to run a high performance shop in partnership with his mechanic. He got so sick of trying to make a bunch of skin-flint car abusers happy that he got out of the business and hasn't played with cars since.

[MHKflyer52]

I'm 20 years in the Canadian banking industry (age 42) and increasingly bored with the rat race.

 

Of course, you could shoot back, that in this economy, I should shut up and be glad I have a funded pension and a steady income.

 

I'd love to be able to find a viable income from something more closely timed to my passions like motorsports.

 

Just curious what other folks do and whether they also are doing their job as a means to an end, like I do to enable the other joys in my life like family and hobbies

 

twobone,

I think you will find that most of the people that participate in this forum are all into family and motorsports and are usually the folks that seem to be the ones always trying new and different things yet are very stable in what they do in the way of a living or career.

 

I myself find that I now work for the enjoyment that my family receives from the income that I receive and also so that I can have the play toys that I have and enjoy and the fact that I enjoy what I do and how I do it.

I tell people that I am very fortunate to be able to draw drawings for a living and figure out how to make things that people think up but do not have the ability to translate that information or knowledge into a document or object that someone can take and make something that works and get paid to do just that (the last four years).

Now don't get me wrong as I have retired four different times in the last 20 years.

Each time thinking that I could just enjoy life as it is and do what I want for the rest of my life but found that I needed something more to do or to challenge myself or I become very unrest full, the first time in 1990 at 40 yrs old lasted all of four months until I found something to do (designing marine cranes), the second time in 1998 to build a business not knowing what real work was until then, the third time in 2002 after having started a second business and then sold it and the last time in 2005 after starting a third business and selling it so that I could move my wife and I closer to her family and because I was ready for a change and the money for the business was very good.

Each time I found that I had to be doing something more than just playing golf and taking the RV on trips and messing around in the garage with some of my toys as my wife say and have always found that I am happier when working than not plus my wife is happier when I am working and not at home all the time and that is something that really makes a big difference in the way we live.

As a side note a mistress is out of the question as something to occupy my time as I would not be able to afford the divorce or live through what my wife would do to me if she found out as she would not be very kind and besides I just could not handle two women at this stage of my life.

 

I also agree with turboeric and what he posted as wishes do sometimes come true.

 

Just enjoy life and your family and it will always work out I find.

[twobone]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm just finding it strange these days. I've kind of levelled off in my career and am facing questions about what's next for me. The next level is executive and would require a kind of commitment and work/life tradeoff that I'm not sure are the right choices for me.

 

I've got young kids and a wonderful wife and its strange to be 40+ and starting to think "I'm good now".

 

Perhaps it was losing a spouse to cancer at 37 that has reset my priorities. I just don't want to lose my current balance in search for the more money and "power"

[turboeric]

Sounds like you're about a decade or so behind me (I'm 57). I've done the junior executive thing twice now, once in an entrepreneurial business and now in academia (chair of the department). Both times I've found the cost to my enjoyment in life was too great, and I'm looking forward to being finished my term as chair. No-one ever lay dying thinking "I wish I spent more time at work."

 

Two thoughts for you. I recently lost my dearest friend of 42 years to cancer, so have been feeling rather mortal. Our time here is finite and short, so don't waste it doing what you dislike. A new job or new challenge can be extremely invigorating, but it can eat up a lot of time. So do something you love.

 

However, the thing you love isn't necessarily going to be your work. If you can look at work as the necessary evil that allows you to do what you love, it may be better. Kind of like wrenching on the car to allow yourself more blatting time. Also, sometimes a lateral move can provide some spice to your work life - a change is as good as a rest.

 

The short answer is that there is no clear answer. It's all a question of balance. How much money do you need to live the life you want, and how much will earning that money interfere with the life you want. No-one but you can answer that.

[Ruadhd2]

I have a colleague in Washington, DC who is an excellent career coach. PM me for more information.

 

Because people are living longer many are changing careers at all stages of life. My sister-in-law finished her residency in radiology at age 52. My brother in law almost dropped out of high school and now supervises 300 people at a solid state rocketry installation as an engineer. My wife got two degrees in her forties. I have a post-retirement career also in a related field.

 

There are very few specialists who are really trained appropriately to do career guidance. I actually had a .5 year internship in that field in addition to clinical psychology training for the doctorate. Good systematic help is out there.

[Mondo]

I retired almost 3 years ago from the fire service (30 years). I can relate to 2bone & Martin. My first 20 years were exciting & fun. Started the family a little late and went into management for the family time (and more pay). It was a long 10 years... I missed the direct sense of accomplishment and comradery when going on emergencies.

 

One of the sayings in the fire service is; "200 years of tradition unimpeded by progress".

Being a "Hall Lizard" was often frustrating as the time & politics it took to get changes made took it's toll. Seemed either the firefighters (given more responsibilities) or City Hall (requiring more money) were against most big proposals. I do have a sense of accomplishment on bringing the department into the 21st century but it wasn't "fun". Though I was rewarded with a pretty good pension and got out without a serious injury.

 

I was looking forward to just hanging with the kids and playing. I did a little consulting work over the last 2 years and enjoyed the flexible hours and relatively short assignments but am now getting the itch to do something more consistant. Also, it seems you have money or time but rarely both. Wish I could do something relating to cars as I enjoy it.. even though my skills are mainly limited to replacing parts.

Edited September 16, 2010 by Mondo

[MoPho]

You're going to hate me.....

 

 

 

 

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[escondidoron]

twobone said:

(age 42) and increasingly bored with the rat race

 

I don't mean to sound sarcastic, but isn't this the definition for a mid-life crisis? Believe me, I can appreciate where you're coming from.

 

It seems to me that there are 2 ways to look at this: We can have a job or we can have a career. In my view, if you have a job, the job provides an income. We then use that income to fund our life. As you stated, the job becomes a means to an end. On the other hand, in my view of things, a career is an avocation where you derive some income from your passion. Basically you get paid to do what you might do for free, or would maybe even pay someone to let you do. Race car drivers and fighter pilots come immediately to mind for me. If you are lucky enough to be good at something that you love and people will pay you to do it life can be pretty good. The price of admission is making a major commitment and realizing that the rewards may not be financial.

 

Ultimately then, doesn't our work become a question of balance between commitment, satisfaction and reward?

 

When I was a kid I built model planes and cars, raced slot cars. I mowed lawns, shoveled snow, picked berries, caddied golf, washed cars, pumped gas, worked in a bicycle shop, worked in a body shop, whatever I could to fund kart racing and then motorcycles. I wanted to be a racer like Jimmy Clark. When I was 19 I quit college to take a job with a TransAm / IMSA team as a fabricator / crew member. My mother was not amused! In that period I decided that I didn't have the talent to drive at the level of my dreams. I also figured out, eventually, from working side by side with some excellent race engineers, that while I wasn't a great driver, I could be a pretty good engineer. So I went back and finished my degree on my own nickel (my mom cut me off when I quit college).

 

During college I met a girl with the shared belief that family is primary, that the happiness of children stems from the shared happiness of their parents for their lives together and their work. We committed to each other, to our careers. And we had 3 sons.

 

When I graduated I had to decide whether or not to go back to Michigan (my family home) to work in the auto industry or stay out west (where I finished my university studies) and work in aerospace. I was offered a position at Boeing to work on the then upcoming 737, to work on flap design. I turned it down because I thought that if I stayed there, after 30 years, I would be, at best, a 737 flap expert. Instead I accepted a position at a smaller aerospace subcontractor where we built engine nacelles and thrust reversers. I took the job because most of the senior managers had callouses on their hands and dirt under their finger nails. They built things. I lasted about 5 years before I grew tired of the work and lack of new technical challenges.

 

This pattern repeated itself until the late 80s. I was climbing the corporate ladder but at each rung, after 4 or 5 years I would burn out or grow tired of the work and move on to a new challenge. I quit and started consulting after deciding that having a staff of 60 wasn't why I became an engineer in the first place. I was about your age at that time. After consulting for about 5 years I was offered a direct position with one of my clients that looked very attractive financially and technically challenging. I've been there for 15 years now.

 

What has kept me is not money or technical challenge. It has come down to respect. I have lucked into being part of an organization that I respect and that respects me in return. That respect combined with technical challenge and financial reward has made all the difference.

 

I'm very fortunate. For the most part I love my work: Mechanical engineer - design/build composite aircraft. Specialty is propulsion, Gasoline, Diesel and turbine. I have a large staff.

 

After racing driver, all I have ever wanted to do is design / build aircraft and / or cars. Its really all that I have done for almost 50 years. The work has its ups and downs but for the great majority of the time I enjoy it.

 

The upside: Maximum job satisfaction (for me), good income and some great fringe benefits. Saturday (day after tomorrow as I write this) takes me to Zolder to drive a Seven and on Sunday I will be at the 'Ring for some touristenfahrten in our Alfa 75 and a friend's GT3. The following week will take me to Charlotte and some NASCAR shops. And then back home for a couple of weeks in SoCal to enjoy the Loti at home after work.

 

The downside: My commitment to my work has meant that I've been on the road >50% of the time for the past 15 years. While I have taken each of my 3 sons along to some fantastic places and experiences over the years I also missed a lot of their growing up. I have had to work very hard to try to make up for that while at home.

 

But ultimately it hasn't been work that has proven to be most rewarding for us; our sons are our greatest achievement and source of satisfaction. Over time we figured out that we weren't raising children, we were raising adults.

 

My wife of nearly 40 years is an artist. She's just as crazy in her work as I am. We often wonder what other people's lives are like. How do they do it? Social life? Work / life balance, what is that? This is the "be careful what you ask for" part of having a passionate career. In our case our careers are really our obsessions. After the boys were in college my wife went back to school to get a degree. In fine art.

 

At my age, most men are considering retirement. Retirement, what is that? When I get tired or burned out I think about it. And then I go out in the shop and work on the Loti! Then I remember that this is all that I know. While my income is very good, unless I won a mega lottery jackpot, I couldn't afford to jump off the wagon and play in the manner that I have become accustomed to in my career on my own nickel.

 

Some time back in the mid 90s I saw a coffee table book about lottery winners. It was based on someone's graduate thesis. The author traced several people who had won big money (>$10 million) in a lottery. He wanted to see how it had changed their lives. In this sample the author found that most people did pretty much similar things:

1) Quit their jobs

2) Buy a car

3) Buy/build a home

4) Go on a trip

5) Get their old job (or a very similar one) back after about 5 years

 

So in spite of my previous comments about retirement, I will retire from regular employment in a few more years. After this year's visit to the Historics at Monterey I'm actually beginning to look forward to it. We have a plan. I will shift my focus from aircraft back to cars. I will make up for my lack of budget by throwing a lot of time at my new project. I'm going vintage racing with the Seven.

[Kitcat]

I have a friend who says people are like plants, they need to be re-potted every 10 years or so, or their roots bind up and they stop growing. As a lawyer, I have switched thru a variety of legal specialties over my nearly 40 decades of lawyering, and that has helped me find work enjoyable.

 

I can say I have fun doing what I do. On the other hand, my ex-partner resigned and went to full to time retirement as soon as he inherited the $ to do so. We both did exactly identical jobs, he was miserable, I was thrilled. Four years later he is the happiest person I know, just walkin the dog, watering the plants, puttering and more puttering. What makes one person happy is not necessarily going to work for the next guy.

 

Self employment is ideal in my opinion: No bosses, no meetings, no absurd rules/orders. But you soon discover that you have a slave driver for a boss-the upside is that if you are doing what you want, it doesn't feel like work, which is good because I have been working 60-70 hour weeks for 25 years .

 

So I guess change is good, tho challenging (terrifying). When I opened my law practice, I likened it to diving into an empty swimming pool in the hope that by the time I landed, there would be water there. Luckily, thru endless hours of work, there was.

 

Mike

Edited September 17, 2010 by Kitcat

[WestTexasS2K]

"over my nearly 40 decades of lawyering"

 

Wow Kitcat that is a long career! I just hope to live that long.

[twobone]

Ever see that movie "Brazil"? Its an amazing film, but so creepy in its true but distorted view of modern working society that I had to turn it off the other day.

 

Anyways, I've confirmed today that there is no way to "hide in the machine" just like the lead in the film.

 

I had a discussion with my executive this morning and it was subtly clear that even though I'm a top performer in my current role, eventually the organization is going to want me to move to another department so that new ideas can be brought to the group.

 

I know thats probably right for me and right for the organization, but its not fun to be forced into action by the "man". Thats life in Capitalism. I view work as a social contract, I guess the guys paying the bills get to write the rules.

[Kitcat]

Hey, Westtex,I'm shooting for 40 centuries:)!

Edited September 17, 2010 by Kitcat

[WestTexasS2K]

Hey, Westtex,I'm shooting for 40 centuries

 

I hope you make it!

[TLRracer]

I run and sweat for a living.

I coach tennis professionally and love it.

It keeps me fit and I have a blast every day playing and coaching.

But, but, but that's the main reason I lurk and drool and don't own....

[Mondo]

Morgan, yeah you have a pretty good gig going. I know less about photography than I do cars. But if your ever hiring for someone to hold one of those shiny discs to reflect light next to an Italian exotic (car or girl) I'm your man.

 

We're at other ends as far as family; mine are 18 & 14 and your just starting. I imagine your gone a lot and that may become a bit of a downer with the children.

[MightyMike]

I retired in 2009 after a 23-year career as an Army officer. Still doing the same exact thing for the Army, but now out of uniform. I have nothing to complain about.

[powderbrake]

Times are tough , so hang in there until the economy gets better. After that, do whatever you feel will make you happy and provide an adequate income for your family.

 

After being a design engineer and supervisor for 12 years, I took a big chance, and bought my way into a manufacturing company doing design work. 18 years later we sold the company and I stayed on as president. 11 more years of rapid growth and another sale of the company, and I was doing well and happy, until the new owners decided to mortgage the whole thing and pay themselves a huge dividend. The next step was to "put my shoulder to the wheel, my nose to the grindstone, and work like hell". Well I had done that for 40 years, so I said screw you, and I retired.

 

This month, after 10 years of my retirement, my son started a company, and I'm an investor and general buttboy. I am again working my butt off, and having a great time. We are starting a manufacturing business, based on CNC plasma cut steel parts, and general machining. So if anyone wants some steel shooting targets (our first endeavor) let me know.

 

So take a chance, do something you enjoy, and every day you go to work it's like going to the playground.