Article By Kevin L. DeWitt

How many people do you know working their dream jobs right now? How many people do you know working in a job that pays the bills but their sights are set on something bigger and better … when the time is right?

 

I was visiting with my cousin from Princeton, Kentucky last night, and he mentioned that there are only two people he personally knows that are working the job that they really love.  And both are exceedingly happy.

 

I believe the number of people working in jobs to pay the bills far exceeds those working their dream jobs.  That’s not inherently a bad thing, particularly since most people have very good reasons for wanting to earn a paycheck … especially now … Food, shelter and clothing cost quite a bit of money and can’t wait for a winning lottery ticket.

 

Invariably, five, ten or twenty years later … many of these people find themselves still in an industry or job they really don’t love.  They get to a point where they can either stay on the same path or make a break for it.

 

The decision isn’t easy to make.  

 

We’re not guaranteed to succeed and could end up putting ourselves (and our loved ones) a lot of pain in the process … but we could end up living our dream.

 

Jordan’s dream job

Jordan Shepard was in a good place career wise. After majoring in marketing at college, he joined a local ad agency and after three years became the manager of one of the agency’s ad teams.  He was making good money and had job security.  Yet at 25, all the good didn’t outweigh the fact that he wanted to work in gospel music, the field he also studied in school and in which he had had several internships during college.  So he decided to look for a job he wanted, even though it meant leaving a comfortable situation.

 

The challenge - going from manager to a position where his pocketbook took a noticeable hit.  “Before leaving, my prior company did offer me the largest account in the agency, which would have come with a significant raise,” Shepard says. “[The pay cut] was significant enough to change my lifestyle.  I really had to limit my social life - not eating out nearly as much and limiting my weekend plans.   I also limited buying my favorite snack foods, CDs and DVDs.”  In addition to the satisfaction that he was going to be working in a profession he felt passionately about, he was able to offset the financial setback with encouragement from his friends and family.

 

“My friends, family and colleagues were all very encouraging.  Even my former boss, who was not happy at all to see me go, was quite supportive.  I still keep in touch with all my former employees and my former boss,” he says.

 

Jordan also interviewed multiple times and was offered a position as a music worship leader at a large Christian church for their College and Young Adult ministry before resigning.  He knows that the security of the new job made it easier to make the switch rather than live in an unemployed limbo for a few months.

 

Rich in Karma dollars

Martin Hunt knew he was going to transition from his software industry job to the nonprofit sector for over five years before he made the move.  One day, however, turned out to be such a dramatic study in contrasts that it literally changed his life.

 

Martin had spent the morning in his corporate job working on an upgrade for software his company placed in large banks.  That afternoon he was teaching eighth graders at an inner-city school when a drug dealer ran into the school to evade police.  The school went on lockdown and he saw the young students handle the situation with composure.  After it was over, Martin couldn’t get the contrast between his well-paid corporate peers and the young, endangered middle school students out of his mind.  Six weeks later, Martin resigned with no established direction ahead of him.

 

“In leaving my corporate position I sensed that I needed to ‘live more in the moment’ for a while to see if my perspective on ‘what’s next’ changed … and it did,” Hunt recalls.  He decided to spend the next year volunteering at several nonprofits, which was possible only because of his cooperative wife. Four months later he accepted the job as executive director of an organization that organizes camping trips for urban teens and their mentors.

 

Martin’s step received praise (and some envy) from friends and family … while many of his business associates were confused.  Many former business peers thought he was experiencing a midlife crisis.  “In making the change, [the hardest part] really was my fear of what others would think of me,” he says.  

 

After making the career switch, the financial change has been the biggest struggle.  Although Hunt says his family lives a conservative lifestyle, he does have three young children to care for and a lower income.  “Although my financial bank account is not what it once was, my karma bank is overflowing.”

 

Volunteering

Yet Martin does caution others to think the process through. “I tell most people who ask me about my change to not even consider it unless they had spent several years exploring their interests and options,” he says.  “If I had not spent over a decade in the business world gaining skills and living well below my means, the possibility of making such a change would never have been possible.”

 

Still, having to wait awhile to take the jump and lessen the risk factor doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy your true passion on the side … by volunteering.  If you not quite prepared to make a move, find the meaning you seek through volunteer work rather than your vocation.

 

If you give yourself a little time and plan for the change, you can be ready to move on when you have your “aha” moment … and start banking those Karma dollars.

 

“We try to make choices and do things with our career that make a positive impact. We want to have long-lasting careers, but we don’t want to have to give in to the industry. We want to stand for what’s right, and you can do that and still be relevant and still matter.”
-Aja Graydon

 

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
-Michael Jordan

 

If you liked this article, please share it on del.icio.us, StumbleUpon or Digg. Thanks!