A long time ago, people who fell into hard times (financially, career wise, health etc) were termed as the "unfortunate". The word unfortunate meant:
"A person who suffers bad fortune."
and was always used with a good sense of compassion and sympathy. In modern times the word unfortunate has been replaced by the term "loser". Your friend works at McDonald? He must be a loser. Someone lost all his money? What a loser. 5 years into your job and you're still in the same position? You must be a loser. Expectations have changed. We don't live to survive anymore. We live to thrive and succeed. Television,the internet and the media in general, have us belief that if you have the slightest idea about technology, if you have a garage, anything is possible. Nothing is out of reach. However the likely hood of you being as rich and successful as Bill Gates is still as unlikely as your chances of working up the ladder in 17th century bureaucratic France.
I am not saying that you should not follow your dreams. By all means do. But make sure that its what you really want and not what people expect you to do. So the next time you meet someone and ask the question "So what do you do?", don't judge them by what they reply. Career satisfaction is directly related to career exceptions. Book stores would have us belief that "Low Self-esteem" is a worldwide plague, that we are all suffering from it, and we need help from anyone who can write a "How to Deal with Low Self Esteem" book. The truth is, in an age when career expectations are unreasonable , people are bound to have low self esteem. No best selling paper back has a cure for this. The solution is to know your self, figure out what you really like, acquire the skills you need and achieve your goal. Your goal can be as simple and as complicated as you'd like it to be. But it is your goal, your career and your choices. You decide if you've succeeded or not.
I am not saying that you should not follow your dreams. By all means do. But make sure that its what you really want and not what people expect you to do. So the next time you meet someone and ask the question "So what do you do?", don't judge them by what they reply. Career satisfaction is directly related to career exceptions. Book stores would have us belief that "Low Self-esteem" is a worldwide plague, that we are all suffering from it, and we need help from anyone who can write a "How to Deal with Low Self Esteem" book. The truth is, in an age when career expectations are unreasonable , people are bound to have low self esteem. No best selling paper back has a cure for this. The solution is to know your self, figure out what you really like, acquire the skills you need and achieve your goal. Your goal can be as simple and as complicated as you'd like it to be. But it is your goal, your career and your choices. You decide if you've succeeded or not.