A Case Study On Work (Part 1)
Here at Tales of Work we obviously talk about our work and every aspect of it, we try to give helpful, practical tips for your job or business. For the next two posts I conducted a little case study about work from several different individuals in a wide variety of jobs and businesses. My hope with this little case study is for you to see some of the different things others are doing for work and to inspire you to find or create a job or business that matches the things that are important to your life.
If you have a story to tell or would like to be a part of future case studies, email me at: Kimanzi@talesofwork.com I would love to hear your story and/or feature it here on the blog. Please visit the blog's or website's or social media pages of everyone that so graciously took part in this case study, they have some awesome and inspiring material that will help you! So without further a due:
Loren Pinilis (http://www.lifeofasteward.com/)
When you were young, what did dream about doing when you got older? It seems I changed my dream every few years. It went from a paleontologist to an architect to a composer to a recording engineer to an entrepreneur to starting a ministry related to a Christian perspective on time management.
What do you currently do now for "work" (traditional employment, self-employed, homemaker, other)? God has blessed with family connections that have allowed me to be self-employed and serve the family business as my primary client. I do a bunch of miscellaneous work from public relations to graphic design.
Is this your "dream" work? It's an excellent way to provide an income and still remain fairly flexible and self-directed. That gives me time to focus on other pursuits, such as the ministry that is my true dream job. I certainly enjoy my work now and wouldn't mind doing it for many years to come as "tentmaking" for my ministry.
Do you believe it's possible for anyone to find work that they love? I don't believe it's possible for everyone as they are right now. A lot of unfruitful desires, motivations, and perspectives will need to be addressed first in many people. I think it's more about looking at yourself and starting to change there before you start setting goals and going on the career hunt.
What advice would you or are you teaching your children about work? I have a 3-year old and a 1-year old, so our teaching is pretty limited right now. We try to get them to clean up toys, "help" with chores – and of course we try to model to them what hard work looks like.
If you were giving a speech to a high school class, what advice would you give them about work and their future? Two things: 1 – Your life is not your own. You were bought with a price. Live like it. 2 – You may not believe it, but your life will only get busier. Use your time in high school and college to learn as much as you can about God, theology, and scripture.
TC Avey (http://tcavey.blogspot.com/)
When you were young, what did dream about doing when you got older? Growing up I had many dreams, in fact I bounced around frequently! I guess that's why I have two college degrees in completely different things. In the back of my mind however, I always wanted to be a writer. I even prayed that God would help me achieve that dream but then I never pursued it. Instead, I chased after the American dream of success. All that lead to was me being dissatisfied with every job I had.
What do you currently do now for "work" (traditional employment, self-employed, homemaker, other)? Life is crazy beautiful. I'm happy to say I have left the rat race and am currently pursuing my dream of becoming a published author.
Is this your "dream" work? Working towards my dream is more rewarding and fulfilling than anything I have ever endeavored to achieve.
Do you believe it's possible for anyone to find work that they love? I think we all have to honest with ourselves when making dreams and working towards them. Example: Say you are a 5'7″ guy who weighs 140 lbs and you want to play point guard for the NBA it's probably not going to happen. Say you want to be a brain surgeon but you hate school, can't stand studying, rarely finish homework and don't have the GPA to get into med school-it's probably not going to happen. Take my dream. With so many self publishing options today, writing may appear to be an easier career path than ever before. BUT, it's still tricky, in fact it may be even more difficult because there are so many options available and more people than ever are desiring to get published. On top of all the competition, even if an author does get published, it doesn't mean they will have good book sales because there are so many options of reading material available to the consumers. Add to all this that neither of my college degree's has anything to do with writing! I'm climbing an uphill battle, but it's still doable. I am honing my craft by blogging, by reading blogs of published authors/agents/editors and those who aspire to be published. I am also writing my book and researching the best publishing options available for me personally. So I guess I should say, yes, it is possible to work at something you love. Just be realistic and willing to put forth the necessary work.
What advice would you or are you teaching your children about work? I plan to teach my kids the value of hard work, disciple and integrity. I believe those are key to being successful in everything. I will live by example so they will know not only the concepts, but the actual steps necessary to live a life of productivity. Anything worth having is worth working for. If things are handed to you, you don't truly appreciate it.
If you were giving a speech to a high school class, what advice would you give them about work and their future? Don't make excuses for not achieving your goals. Take ownership and responsibility for your life and your choices. Don't say, "I'm going to try"- just do it! You don't TRY to brush your teeth- you brush your teeth! Also, surround yourself with like-minded people. The old saying, "Show me your friends and I'll show you your future" is true. If you want to be a brain surgeon, don't hang out with the kids who are re-taking the 10th grade for the third time- hang out with the honor students (even if you don't have their grades, their study habits will rub off on you). Realize you don't have to have everything figured out. Be flexible, be open and be honest with yourself. Lying to yourself is the greatest disservice you could do. Finally, don't focus too much on worldly possessions or status. Those things don't last. Make sure you are developing your Spiritual life more than you are your physical. Having a firm foundation in God will help you through whatever difficulties come as you pursue your dream. Life is short, make the most of it!
Thank You!
I want to thank Loren and TC for being a part of this case study, they put a lot of thought into their answers. Their answers have a lot to digest so I suggest you go through them a couple of times!
The Takeaways:
I think one point to pay special attention to is what TC said in response to the first question, she pursued other things instead of her passion for writing and in her words:
"Instead, I chased after the American dream of success. All that lead to was me being dissatisfied with every job I had."
This is the message we are trying to spread at Tales of Work, pursue your passion, the key is what Loren said:
"I think it's more about looking at yourself and starting to change there before you start setting goals and going on the career hunt"
We're tempted to look at the "good" paying jobs and think that the money will take care of everything else, nine times out of ten it doesn't. Life is too short to settle at a job or business where you're not happy, at a situation that doesn't match the things that are important to your life.
If you read Loren's answer he brings up a good point, his true passion is ministry and his current work situation compliments that passion, it gives him the freedom to pursue that passion. This is what we all should be looking for in our "work" and we all can find this, it's not going to be an easy road but the reward at the end of the journey makes it all worth it!
How would you answer these questions? Do you like what you would have to say? Your chance is with a comment:
