Image provided by Timothy Ferriss

I was listening to a podcast the other day about how in the next few years 60% of America’s population (in the workforce) will be freelancers. There are so many opportunities out there for people to work a little here and there and never have to commit to being in an office. This has been an interest of mine lately because every week that I work 60-65 hours I become more and more dissatisfied with my career choice.

It’s a hard thing to admit that the career you always thought you wanted since you were a little girl, is actually something that make you feel miserable and tired most of the time. As a teacher you are expected to keep growing and learning about new teaching theories and care about your own professional development. As much as I try, when someone hands me an article or a book on teaching or education I get a paragraph in before I’m done. I don’t have time to keep learning. I spend 10-12 hours per day at the school, come home, eat dinner, try to do some more work before going to bed and wake up the next day to do it over again. I spend 9-10 hours per weekend grading, just grading. That doesn’t even count the time I spend preparing for my week. I give my all because I want my kids to be successful, but it’s slowly draining me. I’m not saying I want to do something easy for a career…but I want something that makes me feel alive and not dread 5/7 of my week.

Yesterday, was a rough day. It was beautiful outside and I wanted to go do something in it, hike maybe. I was just too tired and sad thinking about everything I need to do. It was one of those days where I spent way too much time feeling sorry for myself instead of doing something about it. I cried…I cried a lot. It was tough. It did, however, prompt me to get out the information packet that CU sent me a long time ago for the Master’s program I want to do (Public Administration with a concentration in Non-profit management). It’s sitting on my coffee table right now in plain view taunting me to do something with it. I need to do something with it. I read through it yesterday and read about the classes I’d take. It made me feel so excited.

This morning I woke up and decided I was done feeling sorry for myself. I watched my favorite contributor, James Altucher, for the blog Positively Positive give a TEDx talk. I got out my little notebook and took some of his advice to heart. I wrote 10 ideas down. One of my first ideas was starting the non-profit certificate this summer before applying to the Master’s program. I sat with that one for awhile.

What I know for sure, right now, is something needs to change and I’m the only person who can do that. Here’s James’ talk, appropriately named “Choose Yourself.”