Just because society expects us to live our life in a certain way, doesn’t mean we actually have to. If you’ve read our post, ‘What If I Don’t Want To Get Married?’ You’ll know that in our blog we like to discuss all options for our lives, not just the options society gives us. What I mean by that is:
- Society tells us we should buy a house, but we are allowed to choose the house ourselves.
- Society tells us we should get married, but we are allowed to choose who we marry.
- Society tells us we should reproduce, but we are allowed to choose how many times we reproduce.
- Society tells us we should have a career, but we are allowed to choose the type of job and company.
Which all sounds great if those are things that you want and that’s how you want to live your life. But if the idea of having a ‘forever’ career doesn’t ignite a fire in your belly, that’s absolutely fine. And you should know, you are not alone. I feel exactly the same way and I no longer climbing any type of career ladder.
By no means am I suggesting you shouldn’t work at all and instead live off benefits, or illegally make your money. But there are other alternatives than becoming the top dog in your department. And the great thing about this day and age (I always feel old when I say that) is not only do we have options, but we can change our mind if the first choice we make doesn’t suit us. So what are our options?
3 Things You Can Do Instead Of Having A Career
1. Get Your Entrepreneurial Hat On
You can start a business. By starting your own company, there is no ladder to climb but instead many, many hats you’ll need to wear. You will be overseeing all aspects of your company including finance, sales, marketing, creative, operations. Depending on what your business does, you will be dabbling in lots of new and challenging areas of a business that you might not have done before. But don’t let that scare you, starting a business is super exciting and rewarding.
It also means you have no restrictions such as your earning potential, who you work with and how you work, you can decide everything! When you work for a company all of theose aspects are very often dictated by someone else.
Starting a business is not easy and I would know because I have done it, which you can read about in my post; How To Fail At A Business And Still Succeed. But you will also learn a significant amount more than any job or career can teach you. This is because you have to learn skills you wouldn’t normally need.
2. Sell Your Skills
Become a freelancer. This is a little like having a business in that you generally own your time and decide when and how the work gets done. The only difference is that you tend to have one skill you love and that’s all you focus on. You are selling your skill as opposed to having a business where you might sell a product or service.
You may not get as much exposure to a full company operation this way, but if you have found a job you love and don’t want to do anything else, then don’t. There’s a pressure in companies where we are expected to want to progress, take on more responsibility, start managing other people, and it’s difficult to say no to tasks that we would consider outside our job description.
I have been freelancing now for almost 2 years and I ‘sell’ my People Skills. What that means is that I am open to jobs including Customer Service, Customer Experience, Sales, Account Management and Partnerships. This is one of the more unusual freelancing positions as you are more likely to come across Graphic Designers, Programmers or Marketing Specialists. But hopefully I have shown you that there are jobs available for all types of skills.
If you are looking to travel the world as a Digital Nomad like myself, freelancing is a great way to create this type of life for yourself. I have a whole post on 5 Ways To Become a Digital Nomad that is worth a read!
A great place to sell your skills and start getting jobs is either Fiver or Upwork.
3. Work Hard, Play Harder
Have you considered seasonal work? This may seem like only 18 – 22 year olds would consider working seasons but hear me out.
During my travels I have met many travellers in their 30s that spend 3 – 6 months working on a farm, winery, ski resort or for a holiday group and once the work season is up, they will travel for a few months until they decide/need to work again. This gives them enough flexibility to get their travel fix with short bursts of income and rarely an office in sight! It’s also a great way to meet likeminded people. Your accommodation is often paid for and it may not be a managerial level pay but it also comes without the stress of being a manager or confined to 4 walls.
This may not be the answer forever but if you have no responsibilities then there’s nothing stopping you doing this for a few years or more.
If a career isn’t for you then one of these options might be worth a try. Maybe these ideas don’t suit you either but hopefully this post has inspired you to look at all the different options we have in life. And as I said before, if it doesn’t work out or you aren’t enjoying it anymore then it’s time to switch things up!
Are there any other non-career ideas you have? Please share them in the comments below.
Amber x
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