From 9 - 5 Employment to a Self-Made Career: Discoveries on my Journey

My name is Sab and I am a sociology grad that previously worked in the not-for-profit sector. I am in the process of clarifying my plan for a creative career, currently across performance, filmmaking, visual art and potentially music. I have spent the past couple of years raging a personal war on graduate expectations, traditional 9-5 career norms and the things society largely ‘values’; the status quo.

 

However, I’m not a rebel without a cause, nor without an alternative. My quest is to carve my own path and work with what I’m blessed with; whatever it is that’s so intrinsically me that should be valued, nurtured and encouraged to shine.

When you’re sitting on the fence with traditional job titles and working styles on one side, and a murky, messy, organic plethora of life styles on the other, it can be pretty darn hard to jump into the latter. If your family, friends, schoolmates, co-workers, the people you see on the daily commuter train, all seem to be doing the 9-5 rat race; if the career guidance services you’ve had access to have thrown the usual job sectors and employment options at you; if your educational background has primed you to aim for a particular type of job based on your academic record; then to turn your back on all that, to rewire your psyche, to get up and nurture your beliefs about work all over again, it’s hard!

 

But sometimes that’s what needs to be done.

 

Career change can rock you to your core. I think if it’s done properly, if it’s about going from the humdrum to the heart-singing, then the process should rock you to your core. It’s going to throw up challenges to your sense of identity. Actively redefining and consciously shaping yourself, what you stand for, what you really want and what you won’t accept is an amazing process to go through, but it takes resolve. Even accepting the new ‘you’ that emerges can be a struggle as something inside wants to cling to the old. It takes guts.

It’s like mending, or getting over your ego, sometimes both. I’ve worked crummy jobs that damaged my ego, and the process of defining the work I really want is helping me mend it again. There are also times my ego gets in the way of my taking action or being open to things, so I have to ignore it for a while.

 

With all this programming from family, school, society, and any negative experiences of work you may have, it can be hard to think that work could be brilliant, that it could be an extension of who you are, that it could bring out the best in you. And if you do learn to believe that work can really be fantastic, it can be hard to think it’s possible for yourself.

I was encouraged by Careershifters' Selina Barker to seek out those who were doing work they loved, and ask them how they did it. For me, this meant contacting those involved in creative freelance work and/or running their own creative business. The most reoccurring and heartfelt advice they gave me was about self-belief, connection to your inner voice, and following passion.

 

I believe their advice and knowledge would help any person serious about changing their career, or finding their true path and making it happen.

“Keep your path simple, keep your head up in the bigger picture, strip back everything until your path is simple and clear.”

“Work on as many different things as you can to open your eyes to where your path may be leading.”

 

“Once I knew what I wanted to do and was very clear about it everyone in my life accepted and supported me because there was no changing my mind.”

“People believe in me because I’m so enthusiastic, driven and ambitious. People love that.”

“Create the space where something can happen. Don’t try to tie up all the loose ends before you have even started - launch something and let it evolve.”

“The key is partnerships. Develop partnerships with people who have a spirit for what you are doing and willing to add energy behind what you can’t.”

 

“If you can’t imagine people paying you to do what you love then how the hell are you going to make it happen?!”

“It’s in the belief that you deserve payment for what you give that will lift you up (to success).” 

For all of the people I contacted, it had taken them years to truly ‘find’ their calling, in terms of actively searching - from two to seven years. Something that came across to me strongly was that once they had discovered their path, they had a strong sense of identity and would stand proudly by their title eg. ‘I’m an activist’. They had a clarity and simplicity that was refreshing and motivating - there’s a lot of murkiness and grey areas when changing careers, and to have that sense of sureness and clarity would be divine. One successful performer shared with me because she told me she “was so inspired by people who want to take on their lives and fulfil their dreams’ - they are all very generous people too.

When I started out to write this article and interview people, I was uncertain of what exactly I wanted to do for ‘work‘, and I thought that by contacting a range of people it may help me weed out work areas. Whilst I’m still hesitant to commit to a clear path just yet, I received something more valuable - from each successful person I was told to ‘follow my light’. Even to them, the ins and outs of what they did didn’t matter so much that they followed a passion and made it happen. They also believed from the get go that they’d be financially rewarded for it, without doubts. They work hard at what they do, and they know that they are meant to be doing what they’re doing, purely because they’re passionate about it. And largely, they don’t have formal training in their work areas - that is, they don’t have degrees in dance, art etc (although they did take evening classes) - they just devoted themselves to their passions and people responded to their enthusiasm, which helped to open up opportunities. They had confidence in their products and skills, a sense of sureness, and the wider world has responded to that to help their success.

 

For me, I have learnt that enthusiasm goes a long way, and enthusiasm can’t be faked. You can try to pretend you’re enthusiastic about something, but you’ll know deep down that you feel, well, a bit blah. Excitement and passion make you giddy, and it’s that feeling that I’m going to have my radar out for as I continue to tap into my career path. To be ‘quite interested’ in something is not enough. Interests come and go, passions endure. As passions are so intrinsically linked to your sense of identity, they will pull you through a confusing career change.

These books resonated with me and have truly helped on my journey -

 

For creatives: The Artists Way - Julia Cameron

For spiritual ‘path finding’: Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting - Lynn Grabhorn; The Secret - Rhonda Byrne

For entrepreneurs: Business Stripped Bare - Richard Branson (every young person should read the epilogue! It‘s like being talked to by the best dad ever)

For career / life changing testimonies: What Should I Do With My Life? - Po Bronson

 

Check out Sab’s writing, art and acting background at lafemmesabotage.wordpress.com

You can alsofollow her account of her career change journey on the Careershifters Shiftlogs: Sab's Shiftlog