Recently I had a job opportunity land in my lap. I have been thinking about the idea of reinventing myself for the “second half” as they say. A friend called and said that she had heard about an opportunity with an up and coming furniture and design business. At first I did not think I was interested but the more I thought about it the more interested I became. I called her back and let her know that, I was, after all interested in pursuing an interview.
I have been thinking about my career, family, home and future. How do I want to spend the next 20, 30, 40 or maybe even 50 years. Of course, retirement seems a very distant and unattainable luxury at the moment, but I would like to work toward a more secure future and one that allows me to work as long as I like, at something I love while living and traveling to my favorite places. Too much to ask…I think not!
I have been an entrepreneur for 14 years and it has allowed me to have a flexible schedule in order to be more available for my children. I have loved this freedom but as all small business owners know, it can be lonely as king or queen of your own domain. Business owners often times wear many hats and work harder than most with the reward of more flexibility (at times) and hopefully control over their financial reward.
I have enjoyed the positives of business ownership but I find that I miss the more urgent and hectic life of a bigger enterprise. I miss being around more people and at times it would be great to have someone else worry about balancing the books and paying the bills. So off to the interview I went. One interview turned into 3 interviews – all enthusiasm and best foot forward! Suddenly I was meeting with the person who would ultimately be my boss. Uh oh…it had never occurred to me that I would not like this person or that I would not connect with this person – that has never been something I have worried about.
Connection lost! I could not say anything that would get this other woman (potential boss) on my side or to believe that I was capable of the big career move that I wanted to make. In fact, I am well qualified for the position – rarely does a job present itself and you say to yourself – “I am perfect for this, it will be a challenge but I am entirely qualified”. I knew it was my job to convince them that I was right for the challenge but after years in the working world, I am also cautious to be sure not to step into a situation I will regret.
I knew in my heart that it would not work. I would not be able to work effectively with this woman. My ego bruised – after all, who likes to fail- I licked my wounds and vowed to think long and hard about what I wanted for my future. The silver lining to this failed job change attempt, is that I realized that I would like to reinvent myself a bit for the “second half”.
The first half of my career-oriented life has been all, shoot from the hip and instinct and follow my gut. All of that has rarely steered me wrong but I have not really been steering my own ship – it has thus far been steering me. I decided to make a list – always a good place to start when you don’t know what to do. My list has three categories,
1- What do I really want to DO with myself for the next 20+ years of working life? In asking this question I followed the advice of so many others by asking myself, if I knew I could not fail and money were no object what would I most like to do? I find that my passions of today are different from my passions of 20 years ago. That sounds obvious but I was actually a little surprised until I realized that I had never actually thought in specific terms about what I wanted to DO, only about what I wanted the outcome to be i.e.: money, opportunities, benefits, lifestyle, etc..
2- Where do I want to do whatever it is that I want to do? For me, location and the ability to move about freely and often is important so I need to make my plans for what to DO coincide with my plans of WHERE to DO it.
3- How will I measure my success? How will I decide if what I am doing and where I am doing it is working for me? Of course I would like to make enough money to be reasonably comfortable and pay my bills but at this stage in my career there are other measures of success for me and I would like to list them in order to make sure that I have some goals to work toward.
The reinvention is under way! I will check in next month with an update on my progress. Not everyone needs to reinvent themselves with a complete overhaul but it is always a good idea to examine and update. Happy updating!