What are you going to do with your life?
Are people constantly screaming this at you? I’m a few years out of school now and I’m still hearing this all the time. Your parents grill you, your teachers are always asking, and employers even ask you in interviews (If I’m in the interview, don’t they think that’s what I want to be doing with my life? Why are they even asking?).
So I guess it’s time to start thinking about an answer.
I was looking for one thing in a job; I didn’t want it to feel like a job at all, and that’s what I told people, “I want to have fun at work”. Here are a couple jobs I considered and when I was thinking about them.
Dentist (at age 6)
Reason I wanted this job:
Wanted to collect everyone’s teeth and put them under the pillow to collect millions from the Tooth Fairy.
Reason I abandoned this dream:
I found out the Tooth Fairy was actually my mom.
NBA Basketball Player (at age 12)
Reason I wanted this job:
You get paid to play a sport, and I grew to 5’10 in grade 6 and thought this growing would continue at a rate of 4” per year until I was 18 making me about 8 feet tall. I also thought that would be the best way to date cheerleaders.
Reason I abandoned this dream:
I only grew 1” more after grade 6… and I’m slow… and I can’t jump… and NBA cheerleaders are out of my league.
Movie Store Manager (at age 18)
Reason I wanted this job:
Free movies, unlimited popcorn, great co-workers with similar interests and I didn’t have to wake up early.
Reason I abandoned this dream:
After 3 years working at a movie store while going to University, I was still only making $12/hour and I had finished watching every Star Trek: The Next Generation episode already (there’s 150 hours of my life I’m never getting back).
Forester (at age 20)
Reason I wanted this job:
I wanted to quad or sled, fish, and hike all day. I wanted to work with people who also liked to do those things. I wanted to be outside helping to protect and manage the environment.
Reason I abandoned this dream:
I didn’t. I’m living the dream. I get to choose what time I start my day. I get to choose whether I spend the day working outside or in the office. Half my time is spent cruising in my sweet jacked up work truck blasting Justin Bieber (kidding… well, mostly kidding…). If I finish my work early, I don’t have to keep working. I can go to the gym. I can go fishing. I can go make fun of the guy in our office who has lost the lunch time game of cards 11 days in a row. Or maybe I’ll just spend the rest of the day staring out the window looking at the forest I’m helping to grow and protect.
This is my buddy Ryan “working”.
So what do you want to with your life? Why not work in the forest industry? You can live the dream like the rest of us.