I’ve lost count of the number of times this past week when I’ve heard “Oh you’re so lucky to live and work on a boat.” Invariably it’s followed by a wistful “I’d love to do that.”
Why is it that we don’t follow our dreams, why don’t we cast off and make our lives work for us? Whether you want to live afloat, work a 4-day, 3-day, 2-day or no work week, live up a mountain, or by a beach… the worst that can happen is that you find you don’t like it and move back but that would be just another valuable adventure as well as a lesson.
What could be worse than having to deliver those devastatingly sad words “If only.”
People are seizing their dreams – we have evidence all around us that we aren’t the only ones. We heard the uplifting inspiring words “We’re going for our dreams” from friends just this week. Like us they recognised that life is to be lived – not living to work but working to live. They accept there will be some compromises along the way but they balance those against the chance to achieve the bulk of their dreams – evening walks on beaches, lower bills and pressure among them.
Self-authorship is the key to feel in control, to achieve a sense of freedom – selecting when we work, and how often we need to work. For some that can mean stepping off the career ladder we have been climbing for many years to move to jobs rather than careers.
Sometimes that is a completely different type of work, for others it means becoming freelance or a consultant. From experience, this jobbing worker approach can carry a satisfying honesty – it is work where we know what is expected of us, and work we will do as well as we can in the knowledge that it brings us the wages we need to live our dreams, along with the satisfaction of doing each job as well as we can. For those of us working in multiple different companies we often have the advantage of being able to get on efficiently and effectively with the task required unencumbered by corporate or office politics. It is those latter elements that people talk of when they begin to complain about their jobs and why they want to move – something managers and bosses would do well to genuinely address.
This week I had the delightful task of presenting at an aspirational careers day for Years 5 and 6 (ages 10-11) in a Leicester primary school. These switched-on youngsters are our future. What was interesting was how many presenters from diverse walks of life and career fields said the same thing to them:
- Do something that makes you happy (as hopefully your working life will be a long one)
- Gain as many skills as you can to give you choices
- Remember that health and happiness can never be replaced by money – so look after yourself
What advice would you add?
From our heatwave working this week, chilled and unstressed on the water, we wish you the time and peace to reflect on your dreams. Achieving them doesn’t take luck but it does take some planning, determination and courage.
It’s in your hands to live (and work) the life you want.
Pickingupducks 