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There are those who like their 9-5 jobs and are content when there are no issues and things are on autopilot. The security of an every-two-week paycheck is a thing of beauty, no doubt, and an occasional pat on the back works for them. Nothing wrong with that. Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly and, of course, bills need to be paid.
But what about the restless ones among us; the ones who realize that we simply can't sit in cubicles for the rest of our lives? We are the ones who, no matter how hard we try to fit in and become team players, we can't help but bust loose -- using our creative sides more than our soldiering ones. I, for one, realized long ago that I would rather do something potentially risky, unconventional and independent than be unhappy in my job every day. This gut-level admission has made a huge difference in my life and I've never looked back.
Sacramento, CA area residents Michelle Gamble-Risley and Anne Marie Smith both had PR-related careers in the corporate world over which they could proffer little control. Unbeknownst to one another, they each decided that their happiness and family lives were too important to them to be in environments where they were told where they had to be and how long they had to remain there. Neither was routinely recognized (and sometimes they became resented) for the extra creativity they offered. And they bristled with disgust when they found higher-ups woefully less qualified than they were on many counts.
So with the encouragement of their husbands, each quit their respective jobs to establish their own PR companies.
Having in common the dream of making a living as writers, the two eventually met and teamed up to write Second Bloom, a book outlining a step-by-step plan for self-reinvention, using all the business-planning methods they had learned in their corporate environments.
The result? One might call it a calculated surprise accompanied by a alot of hard, but happy work. The book, available through Amazon.com as recently as January, prompted an unsolicited call from HARPO productions just a week or so ago. Although the two authors are not sure when their book will be featured and their appearance scheduled, the people who put on the Oprah show have told them to stayed tuned.
So is it scary to try to live out your dreams? You betcha.
Is it worth it? The answer, if you stay committed to those dreams, is one only you will be able to answer. It comes down to a matter of deciding to take a chance on yourself while finding ways to eliminate the obstacles that have kept you from doing what you love.
It won’t happen overnight. It’s a process, to be sure. But if you start making a plan, writing out your goals and giving yourself deadlines to accomplish them in baby steps right now, what do you really have to lose?
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