How To Answer Your Call In Mid-Life

by: Nandang S Nugraha | Total views: 46 | Word Count: 708 | View PDF | Print View

 by: Craig Nathanson

Hank
Bochenski’s story proves it is never too late to walk away from a life
you feel trapped in and do something that you really love.

Hank
spent 30 years in demanding senior positions at large high-tech
companies. By the time he went home each day, he felt like all the
blood had been drained out of him.

Hank’s real passion
was his collection of more than 1,000 movies. He had recently spent
hours converting the collection from VHS to DVD, a process he enjoyed.
One day his wife walked by as he worked on this project and said, “It’s
too bad you can’t make money doing this.” Before his wife’s offhand
remark, he hadn’t considered that he could do this full time.

He
did some research and found a company called Home Video Studio Inc., in
Indianapolis. HVS offers 21 services, including DVD transfers, DVD
duplications, home movie transfers, photo-video keepsakes, sports
scholarship videos and videotape repair.

Hank and his
wife did some due diligence and decided that this was a perfect
opportunity for them and they went ahead and got into the video
duplication business. And to top it all off, Hank's studio is in his
own home--no more 1.5-hour each way daily commute.

What Happens in Mid-Life?

Mid-life
is a time of challenges and crossroads. Often we re-evaluate our
relationships, become more concerned about our health or worry about
whether we are as financially secure as we should be. The biggest
challenges in mid-life often involve our careers, and more centrally,
whether our careers are providing the fulfillment we crave, or are
simply exhausting us physically and emotionally. In mid-life,
fulfillment and meaning begin to compete with paychecks and perks, and
the paycheck and perks usually win.

Answering the Call to Vocational Passion

Before
you can take action to change the course of your life and pursue your
vocational passion, it is critical to take an inventory of your life
and what is really important. You must begin by understanding what is
missing. You need to have a dream and a plan for achieving it.

Start
by making a list of the things that are missing in your life. Is it a
passion from your youth that you can never find time to pursue? Is it
music, a sport, writing, cooking, activism, entrepreneurship, working
with kids? It doesn’t matter, as long as it is something you long to
do, and have enough passion to do it full time.

You need
to understand not only where your passion is, but also where your
strengths lie. Make a list of the things you are passionate about, and
then narrow the list to those items that present an opportunity to
generate income. An interest in rock climbing suggests opening a store
that sells climbing equipment. Perhaps some past volunteer work with
disabled kids leads to earning a certificate to teach full time.

Once
you’ve narrowed your list and have matched your aptitudes and
interests, it’s time to take a good look at your support network. Do
you know people who care about what you are passionate about? If not,
what organizations or social networks could you tap into to build a
better personal network to help you make your big vocational change?

Begin the Journey with a Lighter Backpack

Finally, you need to think about money--how it comes in and where it goes.

Treat
your money with more respect. Making better choices in how you spend
your money will make it easier to free yourself to change the direction
of your life.

Examine ways to “lighten your backpack.” Do
you really need 100 cable channels? How many shoes, credit cards and
watches does it take to make you happy? Would life be any more
difficult if you drove a used Toyota instead of a brand new Lexus?

These
are the kinds of questions that Hank Bochenski and his family asked
themselves as they made the difficult but ultimately rewarding decision
to “throw it all away” for a simpler yet more fulfilling lifestyle.
Hank is much happier. He is having fun every day. And while his income
may be more modest than before, his family is living comfortably. His
pursuit of vocational passion has cost him little materially, yet the
spiritual dividends have been immense.

About the Author

Craig Nathanson is The Vocational Coach™ and the author of the new book, P Is For Perfect: Your Perfect Vocational Day by Bookcoach Press and the publisher of the free Ezine, ‘’Vocational passion in mid-life’’. Craig believes the world works a little better when we do the work we love. Craig Nathanson helps those in mid-life carry this out! Visit his on-line community at http://www.thevocationalcoach.com

Rating: Not yet rated

Comments

Add Comment

Copy and Paste Article Code.

Remember: The article body, title, author bio and links may not be changed or removed. By publishing this article, you agree to all the terms in our Terms of Service.

More articles in this Category

1: Will a Personality Test Help You Find a Career?
2: How to set and achieve Goals
3: New Business Development
4: Remembering long lists
5: How to Deal With Difficult People