"I need to work at something I'm passionate about."
That's what a 51-year-old female coordinator told me in our initial complimentary coaching session.
Her job with a non-profit, although it provided the health insurance benefit, no longer paid enough for her to make ends meet.
We did proceed to having five more coaching sessions. The solution, for that time, was to hold onto the non-profit job, which only required 40 hours a week, and add on telecommuting freelance assignments in grantwriting.
The predictable irony in this is that Joan, as we will call her, insisted she wasn't "passionate" about grantwriting. A major educational task we had to take on was eliminating the illusion that to succeed and even enjoy work one has to be "passionate" about it.
That had been always a myth. For centuries men and women have built successful career paths on what they didn't start out as a kind of love affair.
Lawyer Scott Turow's passion was writing. He realized he couldn't make a living that way, went to law school, made it his business to excel in a law firm - and published fiction on the side.
When careers were more predictable in the 20th century, yes, those of all generations could be committed to searching what they could wildly enthusiastic about.
That was then.
In order to make it big or even survive in the volatile 21st century, there is an absolute necessity to be open to opportunity, as it presents itself. That might not be positioned and packaged as a "passion."
Takeaway: Opt for realism when it comes to earning a good living.
Communications Strategy/Services and Career Coaching. Special areas of expertise include professionals over-50 and students applying to degree programs in higher education.
Complimentary initial consultation. Sliding scale fees. Contact Jane Genova for an appointment janegenova374@gmail.com.
“Over-50: Outsmarting Your Comfort Zone” http://over-50.typepad.com/over-50/2018/05/outsmarting-your-comfort-zone-free-book.html
“Over-50: The Four Monsters in the Mind” http://over-50.typepad.com/over-50/2018/04/ageism-bites-.html
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