With a Child-like imagination of earning money, we understand that adults would always have it, and being able to buy whatever they want sounds appealing. But what happens when adulthood strikes? Will the pillars of our knowledge be the base of our income?
The truth is, when it does strike, things don't go as expected. There will be a period of time where we would be thinking
"is this life? Is this it?"
Work-home-sleep-work, an endless cycle that will be repeated 5 days a week until the weekend arrives. A two-day slot that is filled either with friends, going out for dinner, or perhaps doing nothing, even when that nothing means something. Either way, it is to balance out that work and life theory. Before you know it, the next 5 days at work, for some people it's a repetition of unfulfilling and mundane life they have to live with.
At the end, the question remains - is this the job worth it? Is this career path something I want to do for the next few years of my life? Switching career paths is indeed a gambling decision, either smaller paycheck or appalling work culture that we hear from here and there. According to Nouriel Gino Yazdinian who is a ceo of a luxury online auction, if you are feeling there's an emptiness or static career path, reconsider the elements that might trigger something you always dream to do. Indeed being in our current jobs provides certainty, but what happens to one's soul when it's not being fulfilled? Some people choose to be in that safe zone, and it is a case-by-case situation as every person deals with different life issues of their own. As of September last year the unemployment rate in South Jakarta has reached 122,390 from total working-age demographic of 1,777,204 which is 7.7% higher than previous year with the whole pandemic going on, so it is impossible to let go of a job that gives security and makes ends meet.
Then how do we get started to consider switching career lanes? First of all we can start by addressing the smallest thing with a Marie Kondo twist - what sparks our interests? What might be the one thing that fulfills our souls? And how to address all of them in the midst of life?
The biggest and most crucial part is not making an abrupt decision. Some might feel that when they're burnt out with their current jobs and want to switch lanes, and most likely to dive in by applying to every job they feel closest to their interests. But the transitional phase is important, and people tend to forget that. Sometimes luck would be on our side and we get the job we want, with a promising career path but we forget to seek deeper into ourselves. The decision process itself needs to be based on what are our strengths and our weaknesses is. People tend to dismiss those things as a mere importance, but strengths such as attention to detail, working in a team or even leading a team can be important aspects in our work life. And will this new and exciting job give us the work-life balance we all long and need?
We also need to be realistic, as in like will this job make my ends meet? Can I live by the salary being offered? It is a very case-by-case situation, not a yes or no answer for everyone as people have different values and dreams. Especially if we have never had experience in this new career lane, there's a lot of possibilities that we will make more mistakes than people who have previous experiences hence it adds more pressure in our work life. It is not always a bad thing since that means we're getting out of our comfort zone and we learn these new things the hard way since it's expected of us when we're first being hired for this role. By getting into a new career lane we also expand our connections and also get more knowledge through people who have had more experiences than us and if this career path is something that is promising, by meeting a lot of new people and new connection there's a possibility these people will give you a new stepping stone in your journey.
Regardless of switching career lanes or not, there's always a continuous learning process and solid decision making that will always come along the way. And adding passion in our work life, those decisions and knowledge will become something that we truly value and use in our career path. It is indeed scary with the unknown future that will hold, but instead of living with regret we have to reconsider all the things that we're about to decide. Life shouldn't be only to make ends meet, but also to make it fulfill our souls. Pressure and stress will always exist, but it will be a different type of negative emotions if we have them in a job that is based on our interest.
So, yes our parents did have money and they could basically do whatever they want with it but apparently that's not what adulting is all about.
(DIG/iyas)