Do You Love Your Work or Just the Money?

A friend of mine, Andie is her name, recently started her own company after bouncing around at a few different positions the last few years.  When we first met, we both had been with our employers for a number of years and then ventured out to try new things.

Andie and I spoke briefly this month and reflecting on that conversation, I’ve seen lots of people do what Andie has done.  I’ve done it too.

Maybe you have gone through this, let’s check.

You worked somewhere for awhile and then for some reason decided to leave.  For me it was a group of radio stations where I did nearly everything that I wanted to do and was getting bored and didn’t like the direction they were heading.  For Andie, her background was in the paper industry selling to ad agencies and print houses.

Over the eight years I was with those stations, I had people regularly approach me with offers to join them. Sometimes it was as a new business partner, sometimes it was in addition to my work for the radio station.  I did some of that, formed my own company, ScLoHo Marketing Solutions and earned a bit of side income.

Then one day I decided to jump ship.  It surprised my radio co-workers as I was the one who had been at that company longer than anyone except for a couple of the air staff.

Here’s the critical point:

The new job I took was not going to be a stepping stone, It was going to be my profession for the next 8+ years, like my last employer was.  But a few months into it, the position changed and I learned things about the company that I didn’t like.  But I was stubborn and stayed with them 6 months longer than I should have.  Years later, when talking to the radio stations I left, I learned that they would have welcomed me back.  But even though I didn’t burn any bridges, I had shut the door on that chapter of my career.

Anyway, what was supposed to be a life changing career move into the digital media world was at the best, a big learning experience and I returned to radio with a different company.  That was also a career mistake and the warning came sooner than before.  The very day I was signing my contract they asked me to make compromises. Their style of doing business eventually drove me away.  When I left I had 6 offers and decided to take another break from radio.

Again I was taking a position that I could do for the rest of my life.  It was organizing and running the social media outreach for 6 brands for a locally based national internet retailer.  I say local, but it was an hours drive from home and required me to be at the office daily.  I would leave home at 6:30 and return 12 hours later most days.  I also worked weekends from home and monitored our social media.  Why did I leave after 10 months?  The company changed.  Specifically my boss left and was replaced by a temporary boss who was clueless about what I did, but wanted me to make changes that for the most part were not good.

Each of these career changes were originally going to be permanent. However each simply became a learning experience.

As you decide what to do for money, be open to making changes.  But also use each experience as part of your ongoing education.

One final thought,  if you are working somewhere that you truly hate, first examine your attitude and if you decide you are not a good fit, do everyone including yourself a favor and look for someplace else to work, or start your own business like my friend Andie did.

By the way, looking back on the past 4 years, I see how each of those positions I took have added to my experience and abilities as I serve my clients today, along with helping me to sharpen my focus for what is important in my work and personal life.