Sunday “Scaries”

“Find a job you like doing and you’ll never work a day in your life” - Mark Twain

While I would love for this to be true, for most of us it just truly isn’t the case. Even those of us who love our job, (and I certainly put myself in that category), it’s still a job. Like anything else it comes with ups and downs, good and bad, and fortunately for work, a paycheck. While you don’t have to LOVE what you do everyday at your career, enjoying the work, the people, the culture, the commute are all on the table for you.

Did you know that the most common day and time of the week to have a heart attack is Monday morning? Think about that for a second. If you have no idea why than I’m happy to hear that, but talk to enough people and you’ll hear about what we call the “Sunday scaries”. This is the point on Sunday evening when they realize the work week is right around the corner. The stress starts to build, the feeling in the pit of their stomach comes back and they go into their Sunday night depression. Raise your hand if this is you! Now take that hand and slap yourself out of this funk and start looking for something else.

The average retirement age for people in the United States is 63 years old. Can you imagine waking up every week day for the next 20, 30 or 40 years doing what you’re doing now? If the answer is a resounding, hell no, then it’s now or never to make a change. Would you rather be the person who left the security of a job they hated, took a job for a little less money, took a chance and started business, finally followed their passion or the person who wakes up near retirement and realizes they been wasting their time, energy and health for decades because they didn’t have the balls to make a change.

I am someone who was never really sure what they wanted to do. I have many things I enjoy doing but was never sure of a career path. I worked odd jobs and as substitute teacher while in school, worked as a personal trainer, started a small business after college, worked in advertising sales for a big company, until I had finally had enough and put a lot of thought into “what can I do for the next 40 years that won’t make me miserable?”. Teaching students with special needs ended up being my thing I could do and feel good about everyday while still getting paid. I love what I do and am grateful for the change I made when I did. Now as I continue on my career path I am constantly finding side gigs, summer businesses and opportunities related to my field and my passions to allow me to happily continue to work everyday towards my future. Life is too short to be unhappy at a job you spend so much of your life at. I’m not going to tell you what to do when you’re ready for that change. Only you know what’s right for you.

(Me on a boat for my summer business working with boys with ADHD. Who knew you could get paid to boat, go to the beach, water park, fish, go karts, etc and have a blast all summer?! )