Posted in
on
10:52 AM
by
Laura Kinker
making a schedule then totally disregarding it feels surprisingly refreshing.
Posted in
on
12:29 PM
by
Laura Kinker
i recently discovered an interesting phenomena: that more money isn't necessarily better. sure, you probably already knew this or knew it on some level, as well as i might have known, but it just recently hit me when i was trying to decide whether or not to take on one more project.
for the past six months or so i've been juggling three careers: photography, life coaching and web design. all are essentially new endeavors. even though i've been doing web design on and off for over 10 years, i need to significantly upgrade my skills (which i've been doing all summer) to catch back up to speed with the way things are. and for some reason i thought it was perfectly normal to be juggling three careers even though i felt positively overwhelmed (most of the time) and pretty much unfocused.
well, i've decided to make some changes.
it's so interesting to me how money sometimes (or maybe most of the time) drives decisions. i know this happens to me a lot. i've been in the process of making some career changes over the past year (or more) and it's funny how i keep flipping back and forth from what i WANT to be doing to what i think i SHOULD be doing. i am in the fortunate position right now to really be able to do what i want, without money considerations, due to my husband being able to 100% support us financially. (and he also 100% supports me in all the other ways as well.) but that little part of me, the one with the mother that always said "don't be dependent on your husband," keeps me coming back to BUT I NEED TO BE MAKING MONEY! and now with the current status of the economy, that voice has gotten even louder.
and the funny thing is that the money keeps coming to me (in a way), taunting me, saying DO THIS and DO THAT. it's not like i'm even going out looking for it (except maybe thinking about it in my mind) but then, there it is, finding me and calling me to make some tough decisions.
about a month ago i started contemplating getting a job and BAM - someone emailed me (out of the blue) wanting me to interview for a position at a very cool content-driven marketing company. i interviewed and they loved me (they told me this) but my heart wasn't in it. did i really want to pile this on top of my three careers and try to do it all? or sacrifice what i'm doing in order to make money? believe me, it was a tough decision. and i decided that i don't want a job at this time. (side note - i am happy that i went through this process because it really helped to quiet the voice that kept saying "maybe you should get a job." i'm happy that i was able to shut it off, at least for now.)
then just last week i had someone contact me for web design work. it's so interesting how life works. earlier in the year (sometime in the spring) i had decided that, yes, i was going to start doing web design work again for others (and for money). ever since i started coaching and networking with other coaches, i had been approached to do their websites, since most of them were just starting their practices, but i always shied away from it because i was focusing on coaching. well, once i decided to open that door, i swear to you the very next day i had a web client. and i've had a few over the summer and now this new one knocking on my door while at the same time i'm facing down do i do something for the money or focus instead on what i want to do. it's a really difficult decision.
but then something clicked in my brain - do i want to have money or do i want to be happy?
before this, i was thinking that having money would make me happy (as i'm sure a lot of us assume). but as i started looking at taking on a new web client, one who would totally stretch my technical skills when i'm still getting a handle on the more simple web design elements (which, believe me, are not "simple" at all), i felt totally overwhelmed. although i'm sure the money would be good, i also knew i would be under tremendous pressure to learn a bunch of new technology in a very short (and probably unrealistic) amount of time and would be completely overwhelmed and frustrated. is that really how to live my life? is that really going to make me happy?
it's one thing to take on projects when you feel prepared and want to do them, but it's another when you feel like you need to be doing it because it's here staring you in the face and you'd feel like a fool turning it down.
for the past six months or so i've been juggling three careers: photography, life coaching and web design. all are essentially new endeavors. even though i've been doing web design on and off for over 10 years, i need to significantly upgrade my skills (which i've been doing all summer) to catch back up to speed with the way things are. and for some reason i thought it was perfectly normal to be juggling three careers even though i felt positively overwhelmed (most of the time) and pretty much unfocused.
well, i've decided to make some changes.
it's so interesting to me how money sometimes (or maybe most of the time) drives decisions. i know this happens to me a lot. i've been in the process of making some career changes over the past year (or more) and it's funny how i keep flipping back and forth from what i WANT to be doing to what i think i SHOULD be doing. i am in the fortunate position right now to really be able to do what i want, without money considerations, due to my husband being able to 100% support us financially. (and he also 100% supports me in all the other ways as well.) but that little part of me, the one with the mother that always said "don't be dependent on your husband," keeps me coming back to BUT I NEED TO BE MAKING MONEY! and now with the current status of the economy, that voice has gotten even louder.
and the funny thing is that the money keeps coming to me (in a way), taunting me, saying DO THIS and DO THAT. it's not like i'm even going out looking for it (except maybe thinking about it in my mind) but then, there it is, finding me and calling me to make some tough decisions.
about a month ago i started contemplating getting a job and BAM - someone emailed me (out of the blue) wanting me to interview for a position at a very cool content-driven marketing company. i interviewed and they loved me (they told me this) but my heart wasn't in it. did i really want to pile this on top of my three careers and try to do it all? or sacrifice what i'm doing in order to make money? believe me, it was a tough decision. and i decided that i don't want a job at this time. (side note - i am happy that i went through this process because it really helped to quiet the voice that kept saying "maybe you should get a job." i'm happy that i was able to shut it off, at least for now.)
then just last week i had someone contact me for web design work. it's so interesting how life works. earlier in the year (sometime in the spring) i had decided that, yes, i was going to start doing web design work again for others (and for money). ever since i started coaching and networking with other coaches, i had been approached to do their websites, since most of them were just starting their practices, but i always shied away from it because i was focusing on coaching. well, once i decided to open that door, i swear to you the very next day i had a web client. and i've had a few over the summer and now this new one knocking on my door while at the same time i'm facing down do i do something for the money or focus instead on what i want to do. it's a really difficult decision.
but then something clicked in my brain - do i want to have money or do i want to be happy?
before this, i was thinking that having money would make me happy (as i'm sure a lot of us assume). but as i started looking at taking on a new web client, one who would totally stretch my technical skills when i'm still getting a handle on the more simple web design elements (which, believe me, are not "simple" at all), i felt totally overwhelmed. although i'm sure the money would be good, i also knew i would be under tremendous pressure to learn a bunch of new technology in a very short (and probably unrealistic) amount of time and would be completely overwhelmed and frustrated. is that really how to live my life? is that really going to make me happy?
it's one thing to take on projects when you feel prepared and want to do them, but it's another when you feel like you need to be doing it because it's here staring you in the face and you'd feel like a fool turning it down.
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