THE GET AWAY JOB

For a few days I had been toying with the notion of a blog post that relates to people having a dormant profession lying within them. And all of a sudden it hit me (not like a ton of bricks though). “We all have our job alter egos, waiting to take flight like Superman”. If you chalk it up to superheroes, we all know that Superman moonlights as Clark Kent or vice versa. On one hand he works as a news reporter and on the other hand he saves the world from one villain at a time. The question is “is he a superhero that has a job as a reporter or is he a reporter that has a job as a superhero? It may seem a bit confusing but let’s look at it this way, are you a teacher who works as a waitress or a waitress who works as a teacher. The reason this intrigues me is that I found myself haphazardly contemplating an escape from my current profession and wondered what I would do, not only to occupy my time and gain an income but how would I ensure that my new occupation brings me greater satisfaction. I got to tossing around career choices that I could sink my teeth into and here’s a short list:

Tour guide (1st job out of school)

Travel agent (seeing the world)

Masseuse (no comment)

Pyrotechnics (family business)

Landscaper (the great outdoors)

Event planner (who doesn’t like a good party)

Cake decorator (I’d gain 10lbs in a week for sure)

Cruise Ship worker (again the prospect of waking up in a different country is very appealing)

My list could go on for another two pages but at least you get the general idea behind where I’m coming from. Some of you may or may not have a “side hustle” or have not realized it as yet. A side hustle is essentially a hobby that has the potential to bring in a few dollars e.g. cake baking, sewing, tutoring, writing etc. It may or may not be lucrative enough for you to quit your main job and dive head first into your passion (s). Whatever the case may be, having one is always a plus. When it begins to blow up though, you may be faced with a hard decision. After all you can’t work two 40hour jobs at the same time (unless you work for the government) and expect not to be bone tired at the end of the week.

Though I am fresh to the world of work I heard a gentleman say something last night that caused me to think. He made it known that he had been working at the same company for thirty years. This in itself was not alarming but he went on to say that he strongly doubts that the present generation has that level of loyalty. To be quite honest, I believe he was absolutely right in his statement. With the way technology and society is rapidly advancing, who among us would want to be in the same position 30 years from now? Imagine seeing two generations pass by and you’re still in the same position. Pretty strange if you ask me. Though this may be what some of our parents are currently doing, I do not believe that many of us (age 22-30) want this for ourselves.

The getaway job is not abandoning your job and spending days on the beach sipping pina coladas (sounds inviting), rather it is a chance for you to fulfill that sense of adventure and enjoyment that you may be lacking in your current position. But before you make a mad dash for the door screaming “free at last free at last, thank God I’m free at last”, think about what you would rather be doing if you weren’t at your current job. Start with a short list and keep going until you’ve exhausted all your possibilities or until you end up backlit your current position. I cannot say what happens after that but keep it in mind next time you’re sitting in a four hour meeting or staring at your quarterly evaluation. This might be the motivation you were waiting for to get your job alter ego the chance it’s been waiting for all along.