Job vs. Career

It's official. I've just finished my last week of the last "job" I will ever work. I'm not retired, though, but I am starting my career. What's the difference? Well, in my own words, I'd have to say that I've finally found something that I can say "I am". As far as trades go, I've been a bartender, a banker, a graphic designer, a fast-food worker, and a pizza delivery guy. I also taught myself to cut short styles of men's hair in high school and know how to cut my own fade pretty well. I've learned a lot from every single job and from the relationships created from them, as you who are reading this should have learned from your experiences as well. Though I have been quite successful overall as an effective employee and have even won awards and a trip to Maui from my past sales performance, I never felt in any of these jobs the sense of "I am". As I described once to upper management at the bank I worked at, "I feel as though I am trying to be a banker, but I don't feel like I am a banker." Of course, I went on to continue working there and the next year in 2007 I won that Maui trip because I had qualified for "premier club". Add to the fact my wife put in a lot of overtime as a nurse, we got married in Vegas, bought a condo, and enjoyed the greatest financial year to date. However, it's been a rough few years since, and I know I'm not the only one that has faced adversity.

Jim Rone said something like, "In life you'll experience difficulty mixed with opportunity." What I've found and am still learning is that by maintaining a positive mental attitude and becoming obsessed with my own personal development, I have been able to turn my health and my life around. If you would have told me two years ago that I'd be a home fitness coach and a personal trainer in 2010, and would feel ambitious and positive for a great future, I'd probably shrug it off, drink a beer and smoke a cigarette. But that was the old me. I've outgrown those tired old shoes and have strapped on some great-feeling new ones. At the bank, my manager who was an arguably difficult person to work with although a remarkable salesperson, told me at my interview, "You are still finding yourself." I had no idea what he was talking about until recently, and now I lly appreciate it. I have found myself and am poised to build a long career based on helping people improve the qualitiy of their lives. I believe it, and am anxious to get started. I hope you who read my blog have either "found yourselves" or will do so, because the ambition and appreciation for your life will greatly improve when you are passionate and believe in what you do so much that you will live, eat, breathe, and sleep it. Great things will happen, but it starts with you and your positive mental attitude. As Zig Ziglar puts it, "It is your attitude not your amplitude..." Have a great weekend everyone, and thanks for reading!