Why sabotaging your life is a good thing
The book that will most change your life is the book you write.
I suppose this quote relates to blog posts also. I will certainly be out of my comfort zone, because I really don’t perceive myself to have any writing gift whatsoever.
I’m mainly doing this for myself — to reflect, collect my thoughts and maybe polish some ideas that are constantly running through my mind.
Let’s see how this goes…
At the age of twenty I already had five years of working experience behind me. Unfortunately the experience that I was getting was getting me nowhere worth going. I was working at bars and clubs as a waiter in my hometown — all through my high school and the beginning of my (short lived) economic studies.
First years were very exciting for a young man such as myself. Working as 16 year old in a club with an age limit of 24. The experiences were beneficial to my growth and would never replace them, because they are a part of me.
But over the years two big problems were slowly arising…
- Settling for less in life
- Getting comfortable with a certain lifestyle
I slipped in a trap that is very common in my home country, which is basically exchanging my time, which is the most important asset, for money. The phrase “doing what you love” is being thrown carelessly into conversations and passion is something that is not talked about seriously.
Current state gets comfortable and striving for possibilities gets difficult.
First all-in
Life was starting for me and I knew that working behind the bar is not sustainable in the long run, but the problem was that I was feeling trapped. Trapped in a familiar (comfort) zone with no personal growth (at least in the direction that I wanted) whatsoever.
I had no particular skills outside of bartending business and the worst thing was that continuing with this pace a turnaround was nowhere in sight. I seriously started to dread about going to work. Every week, each morning. Another day that will bring absolutely nothing towards my growth or progress in life. The worst feeling in the (first) world.
A lot of you know this feeling, some of you are feeling it right now. Let me tell you that only living for the time when you are not working is the worst situation you can be in. Sadly, I think this applies to the majority still.
Two alarming facts that demonstrate this problem:
- 80% of people are dissatisfied with their jobs
- The average person spends 90,000 hours at work over their lifetime.
So an 80% of people spend their 90,000 hours doing things that don’t like. The phrase “doing what you love” needs to come into the mainstream and needs to be taken seriously. The only better time to make a leap will be tomorrow. Why not start now?
So I did…
At the age of 20 I quit my bartending job. To be more specific, I did not have a backup job nor did I have a grand plan. The following months were difficult, but necessary. I was 3 months late with my rent. I ate cheap pasta, rice and invited myself to family lunches more often.
My first “real” office job
The situation I was in pushed me into a problem solving mode. I was focused and obsessed with getting my first “real” job in marketing. I was deeply active in extracurricular activities, because I knew that my CV had to stand out with something.
On my second interview I got the job on the spot in an digital marketing agency. The guy who hired me is one of my best friends now. He later said that they mainly hired me because they saw a spark in my eyes.
I was conveying passion and determination. The lack of experience did not matter.
You can teach somebody skills and they can get experience if you give them a chance.
But passion is rare, and he understood that.
Paralyzing fear vs. Fear of paralysis
I understand that fear not being able to pay for regular expenses or even have nothing to eat can be paralyzing. But the situation itself is really not that bad. Even more so if you take into the consideration the positive outcome it can come from it.
Fear of paralysis must trump paralyzing fear 3 times over.
I’m so grateful that it did for me. My life would be so much worse right now, I cannot even imagine what would happen, where would I been if I didn’t take a leap.
Take risky leaps often — The cost of being wrong is less than the cost of doing nothing
Noticing & embracing the pattern
I did this a couple of times in my life mostly with major positive outcomes. So I started to notice a pattern. Pattern of extraordinary changes if you make risky decisions. Of course you need to be smart and maybe practical for a short periods of time. All I’m saying is that you don’t settle for a situation that doesn’t feel right.
Two weeks ago I left my full time job, with which I was earning more than 3x an average salary of my home country. The colleagues were amazing. But I was feeling that this is not the right direction for me.
How to know that the things you are doing are not right? My compass is basically if I’m not obsessed with the work I do. Not working for 14 hours a day & not thinking about the subject before I go to sleep and on my way to work.
Becoming a Digital Nomad / Trip to Asia
You really don’t need to be an optimist to see all the benefits the technology brought us through the ages. Sure it’s more stressful, maybe sometimes less personal, but it also give us freedom to decide. Decide what we want to do, what to value, what experiences to have. In the process help, or at least don’t hurt other people.
Freedom. And that is in my opinion the one of the most valuable thing we as humans could have.
In 2015, it was estimated that nearly one-third of all U.S. workers had participated in some type of freelance or temporary project.
This is a trend that will keep rising in my opinion. The tools and technology (that were not here 5 years ago) are also making it possible to work from anywhere.
I am writing this on a plane somewhere over Iran, traveling to Bali. For the next 3 months I will travel all over Asia and work on my personal freelance business, read books that are on my to-read shelf and launching a project that will hopefully help young people that are in the similar situation that I was 5 years ago. And I’m learning how to code in the process — so this will be fun :)
Looking around the plane, so many different people, so many different stories… I’m excited to write my own…
Have a wonderful day,
Klemen
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Klemen is Award winning UI/UX Designer, Visual Designer & Creative. Digital nomad currently living & working from Bali, Indonesia
