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Career mid life crisis

I like what I do, but it's not my dream. I have a good work situation that values life outside the office and favors accomplishment over seat time in the office.

Additionally, my job pays me well and generally allows me to pursue things I enjoy. I see my current role as a means to an end, but I'm far from miserable in my current position.
 
RacerDeac said:
They traded comfort and predictability for more work/longer hours (same decisions we make now and mostly the same issues were discussing here).
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Actually, they got killed and/or displaced by the farmers, who could support greater population densities.

Basically, work kills.
 
I'm in this boat recently. Loved my job when I started last September, but I found that your manager has a huge impact on your satisfaction. I went from having a great boss to one who is way in over his head (and way too young) and it's made things exponentially worse, to the point that it seems like every day there's something new that makes it worse than it was yesterday. It's sad to see good workers who used to love their job be put into a role where politics and other factors take away from their creativity/autonomy and make them feel miserable. Our team has been horribly mismanaged since March.
 
DirtySouthDeacon said:
I have this exact inner monologue almost daily. My instinct is to just run, but I love my family, so I am stuck.
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The problem is that employers know this too. They seem to squeeze you until you are about to break because they know you have obligations (bills, children, etc).
 
iodeac said:
I'm in this boat recently. Loved my job when I started last September, but I found that your manager has a huge impact on your satisfaction. I went from having a great boss to one who is way in over his head (and way too young) and it's made things exponentially worse, to the point that it seems like every day there's something new that makes it worse than it was yesterday. It's sad to see good workers who used to love their job be put into a role where politics and other factors take away from their creativity/autonomy and make them feel miserable. Our team has been horribly mismanaged since March.
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Ding.

Ding.

Ding.
 
I may be wrong but I'll say I am one of the few on this thread that work for themselves. I am 47 and went in with my business partner 6 years ago. We started our own business after working for other industrial distributors and manufacturers. I like it a great deal, but I didn't count on this much stress. Nearly every day is a dogfight and when not working I am constantly thinking of new leads/ways to grow the business. I do think I will get where I want to be but I didn't quite think it would be this hard, but its nice not working for the "man" and getting off early on Friday.

Before doing this I always tried to envision what it would be like to work in a good atmosphere.Most of the ones I had worked in were just a means to an end for most. I always thought possibly being a plumber or electrician and really getting to know your customers and working at your own pace would be good. The only problem would be stopping what you are doing to go back to school to get retrained & maybe not make as much $$$ starting out. You would have to have a pretty understanding spouse to do this and not many financial obligations.
 
I switched careers at age 35. That was 8 years ago. I spent the first 12 years of my working life teaching high school English and coaching basketball. Then, at 35, I was done. I didn't want to be there any more. So I looked for something else to do. Became an insurance agent for 4 years, did well, and moved in to management. I make very good money (which is a nice change from a teacher's salary), but don't "like" what I do. Managing a large group of people over several offices and geographies is brutal. But when you have a 17 yr old and 13 yr old and a wife and a mortgage and a dog and etc., what are you going to do?

I think the answer is to work hard, manage your money well, put as much in to your retirement as you can, and GTFO as soon as possible.

Oh, and drink alot. That helps.
 
This question is for those on here supporting the notion that its ok go through life not doing what you want:

If your work is truly just a means to an end, are you sending your kids on the same path?
 
Charlotte Deac said:
This question is for those on here supporting the notion that its ok go through life not doing what you want:

If your work is truly just a means to an end, are you sending your kids on the same path?
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Nothing fills me with greater pride than when a son of a lawyer decides to follow in his father's footsteps. The law is a noble profession, good sir, and a family filled with male lawyers of different generations is a noble family.

Grandfather, father and grandson, united by the unbreakable bonds of legal justice. This is what gives me chills.

A lawyer, good sir, even a Yankee or minority lawyer, is a man of character, honor and integri-tay!!
 
I'm at a crossroads of sorts. My employer of 16 years has shut my location down and has offered a fairly generous severance. So I've got been putting a good amount of thought into the "next phase". I could stay in my field, one where I am currently finding low to middling satisfaction day-to-day, or move on to something "cool". I sure hope it ends up being cool, but I worry that if I get a phone call in a couple of months from someone I know who has an opening at his company, that it's going to be quite tempting to take the old "bird in the hand".
 
Charlotte Deac said:
This question is for those on here supporting the notion that its ok go through life not doing what you want:

If your work is truly just a means to an end, are you sending your kids on the same path?
Click to expand...

Define "want." I want to sit my ass on the couch all day and eat peeled grapes, but that's just not feasible. You have to find the balance of what will work for your personal situation and what you enjoy -- or at most, can live with.

To answer your specific question, of course I want my child to be happy and fulfilled in his working life. But I also hope that I will be able to teach him that not everything is a bed of roses, sometimes things in the workplace don't always go your way, and that you have to find a way to deal with that or go someplace else.
 
Lawyer said:
Nothing fills me with greater pride than when a son of a lawyer decides to follow in his father's footsteps. The law is a noble profession, good sir, and a family filled with male lawyers of different generations is a noble family.

Grandfather, father and grandson, united by the unbreakable bonds of legal justice. This is what gives me chills.

A lawyer, good sir, even a Yankee or minority lawyer, is a man of character, honor and integri-tay!!
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But do you enjoy being a lawyer, if so, this question didn't really apply to you
 
Lol at the powerball 180 mil tonight tag. I've got my ticket, been enjoying thinking about how I'm gonna spend that $ all day long. That enjoyment has been well worth the $1 I spent for the ticket.
 
I hear ya man....

Pimpin' Aint easy,
but the pay is good
and the benefits are excellent


....so I keeps pimpin
 
I think most parents, as generations move on, are able to give their children greater opportunities if not to experience more things first-hand then to at least be exposed to them.

I have two daughters, 10 and 6, and they've traveled to more international countries and done more extra-curriculars than most of our fellow parent-friends did combined. I wasn't being taken to Europe or off scuba-diving when I was 10. And because they're doing that, I see them being more worldly in their knowledge and desire to do things I didn't even know existed when I was ten.

Shit, at that age, I was more interested in seeing Christy Odom across the street lay out on her back deck topless. Yeah, she knew what she was doing. By the end of the afternoon, there were five horny little peeping-tom shitheads in camo hanging in a tree in the woods trying to get a peek at those 17-yr old boobs.
 
94Deac said:
I think most parents, as generations move on, are able to give their children greater opportunities if not to experience more things first-hand then to at least be exposed to them.

I have two daughters, 10 and 6, and they've traveled to more international countries and done more extra-curriculars than most of our fellow parent-friends did combined. I wasn't being taken to Europe or off scuba-diving when I was 10. And because they're doing that, I see them being more worldly in their knowledge and desire to do things I didn't even know existed when I was ten.

Shit, at that age, I was more interested in seeing Christy Odom across the street lay out on her back deck topless. Yeah, she knew what she was doing. By the end of the afternoon, there were five horny little peeping-tom shitheads in camo hanging in a tree in the woods trying to get a peek at those 17-yr old boobs.
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did you ever tap that ass?
 
TuffaloDeac10 said:
The farmers actually worked much longer hours than the hunter-gatherers. Hunter-gatherers work(ed) like 20 hour weeks. Of course, they didn't get ESPN.
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RacerDeac said:
They traded comfort and predictability for more work/longer hours (same decisions we make now and mostly the same issues were discussing here).
Click to expand...

Ha I have farmed for a good while and trust me there is no room for the romantic in that job if you are trying to make a living off of it. There is very little comfort in the world of farming.
 
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