I am a serial entrepreneur. Many of my ventures were not particularly successful, but I would say overall I am definitely ahead of the game. I would of course like to think that I was a born hustler but truthfully my ambitions and willingness to play outside the box came from lessons learned from my mother.
My mother worked approximately thirty-five years for the same company. I do not recall her ever taking sick days, and she logged overtime as much as was permissible the last thirty years on the job. I can say without hesitation that, perhaps excepting the first couple of years, she absolutely hated her job. This just made me respect her even more for her commitment and the fact that by all accounts, personal feelings aside, she excelled at her job.
The easy question to pose is if she hated the gig so much, why did she stay? The answer is relatively simple… lack of options. Growing up in Brownsville, Brooklyn in the 50s and 60s, educational options were not exactly plentiful, and career opportunities for young women raised in the hood were scarce to say the least. A high school diploma afforded her little more than an entry level position and the burden of raising two children on her own lead her to take the best stable position available with health and dental benefits and the potential for growth.
She was not on a career path and didn’t have the luxury of quitting or job surfing with the real needs of family persisting. She worked cause she had to and consistency and stability, along with the benefits were more important than any theoretical pursuit of workplace happiness.
This was the backdrop that contributed to my zealous pursuit of higher education. I believe in the American dream equating to education plus hard work equaling success. More importantly I associated education with granting me greater options: options that my mother did not particularly have.
So even with a seemingly impressive educational resume, I took the unconventional route, and by unconventional I indeed mean hard. That hustling ambition and need to work for myself lead me to a series of ventures in the pursuit of “getting money”. As mentioned, some were more successful than others. However, I found that I got bored easily and this allowed/forced me to constantly re-invent my hustle.
It was not until many years later, that I finally realized that I was doing it all wrong. I would not tell anyone to not get money and I realize that there are times we must do what we have to, in order to support ourselves. However, in cases like mine, where a conscious decision has been made to pursue a path on my own, I was too focused on the money instead of pursuing projects I was passionate about.
Once I made the adjustment, my life changed dramatically. I am still forced to occasionally work with clients purely for the purpose of support, but now I am doing what I love and the process could not be more fulfilling. It is no less difficult. In fact, the shift in priorities from monetizing my existence to pursuit of passion has been more difficult. Yet, I have never been happier. The clichés really are true. When you do something you love for work, the time and effort expended are never looked at as arduous or wasteful.
I have always felt I was blessed. I have those closest in my life support my unorthodox lifestyle and decisions that they never really understood. Things have gotten even better, now that I am committed to ventures that I love. My belief in myself has never wavered, but now the journey has even more meaning.
I realize that much of society is in the same position as my mother. Work is a necessity not a luxury of pursuits. However, if anyone is ever in a position to change that narrative, however short that window of opportunity, take the challenge to do something you love. Taking a chance on oneself is no guarantee of success, but if given the chance, the rewards of fulfillment far exceed simple monetary benefits.
#lovewhat you do
#jobs
#career
#entrepreneur
#lifeisajourney
#passionpursuit
