Perhaps you have been through aquarter life crisis or maybe you are even in one right now. It’s possible you have questioned your career path and choices, wondering if you should have pursued your passion instead of the route you took.
It’s well known that millennials are loyal to their values and morals, as published by the 2016 Deloitte Millennial Survey, where 55% of millennials said their personal values or morals had the highest level of influence on decision making at work. Since it’s common for millennials to defer their passion pursuits for a steady job, I talked to millennials who have already made the jump towards their dreams to find out what they had to say to those still in their sluggish career rut.
In short, the best time to dump your career and pursue your passion is now. Without a doubt, the professionals I spoke with who have made a successful transition to a passion pursuit said they wish they had jumped sooner. That was the only step they would have done differently. It’s a bit tough to believe when you think about all the things that could go wrong when quitting a steady job to pursue something of your own.
“With the benefit of hindsight, I definitely would have gotten things started earlier,” said Michael Lux, Founder of The Student Loan Sherpa, a student loan blog. “The big benefit to starting a business while you have other employment is that there is little risk. The worst thing that can happen is that you don’t make any money, and you learn a tough lesson or two.”
As Lux explains, often times you can start pursuing your passion while you are still employed elsewhere. Many millennials take on side hustles to test the market and develop their skills.
“Honestly, I wished that I had pursued entrepreneurship earlier,” said Dr. Paul McNeil, CEO at ScrappyLock, a token-less multi-authentication software solution company. “I allowed my fear of the unknown to cripple me. Find ways to work towards your passion, even if it is only a little bit at a time.”Certainly there is a theme among millennials who have pursued their passion. It goes without saying that there is no time like the present. However, it’s easier to say make the jump than it is to do it.
According to Michael Rangel, Founder & CEO at Clear Financial, a FinTech company for millennial business owners, there are a few primary reasons why millennials won’t ditch their day job to chase their dreams.
“The typical reasons young people cling onto their jobs are threefold,” shared Rangel.
- I need to make more money before I launch something of my own.
- I need more experience before I do something on my own.
- I need to meet more people to open up the doors before going my own way.
Rangel. “The time will never be just right. You will never have the right amount of money, knowledge, or connections to start something comfortably. It’s a hard and long road, but if you have the grit it will be the most rewarding journey you will ever experience.”
Rangel himself knows that time is of the essence, even at such a young age. He decided to pursue his passion after a car accident put him in a coma and became a near death experience. He realized he was too comfortable in his old job. “Comfort can be a gateway drug to complacency,” he shared. “Although it may not be biologically dangerous, the mental ramifications it can have are incredibly powerful and demoralizing.”
Not everyone needs a near death experience to know what they should do. Some millennials know early on that a cookie cutter job won’t work.
“Day one I knew that a traditional career path was not for me,” said Rachael Bozsik CEO and Founder of The Brand Girls, a College Women’s Workshop. “In the moment when my boss told me that I had to clock in and out for my lunch hour that it would never work. If you have a brilliant idea that you want to work on you had to go through two levels of management to get approved. I am and have always been entrepreneurial spirited at my past experiences I felt completely creatively suffocated!”
After hearing from these millennial entrepreneurs, it’s evident that the earlier you start working on what matters to you, the better. But executing on that can be difficult. I asked them for advice for young millennials considering making the jump.
“Try to find a job that you are excited about and can't help thinking about the daily projects,” said Joanne Jiang, Founder at LadyMarry, a virtual wedding planner app.
Surely you will need to pursue something that attracts and keeps your attention, so you can keep it up over the long haul. Even if you have found something that keeps you up at night working on it, there can be hesitation when making such a tough career decision.
“We are taught to use our mind and not our heart when it comes to making career decisions,” said Sami Wunder, a Dating and Relationship Coach and Author of Your Feminine Roadmap to His Commitment. “I strongly feel it should be the opposite. If you tried to rationalize a top Economics student giving up her lucrative career as a consultant for international organizations, becoming a love coach and starting from scratch with nothing in her savings, I would appear crazy to you.”
Wunder shares this having gone through the difficult choice to dump a traditional career and become a love coach. Her success extended well beyond what would have been possible in a traditional career.
The last piece of advice worth sharing on this topic can sound very much like a negative millennial stereotype, but it actually makes clear sense.
“Be selfish,” said Akash Nigam, CEO of Blend, a messaging app for millennials. “As a young adult, you are allowed to be selfish—you are generally only responsible for yourself and you should use that time to really explore what you are passionate about. If you are 20 and dreaming about what you want to become when you are an established, 40 years old professional, figure out how to achieve that at 20 years old.”
For any millennial who feels stuck in their current career and wants to dump their job for a passion project, know that the best time to try is now. There will always be reasons not to, such as needing more time, money or experience before trying. But if you find something you are excited about, you should make the tough decision to be selfish and give it a shot before you have more responsibilities, professionally and personally, to hold you back.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kaytiezimmerman/2017/03/05/when-its-time-to-dump-your-career-and-pursue-your-passion/#390c1d877073
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