Choose Your Own Adventure

When you are a kid people always ask you, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"  If you asked my daughter last week she would have said hairdresser, or taking care of butterflies in a butterfly conservatory.  This week she announced that she thinks she wants to be a teacher, like Ms. Winfield (she's attempting to be teachers pet I believe).  When I was little there was a while that I wanted to be a Dentist.  Yep, you heard me right.  Dentist.  I'm not really sure why that was something I aspired to.  I think I remember reading somewhere that Dentists are the most universally hated people.  That desire faded as I got older, and most likely had more dental work done.  lol  As I finished high school it caused a sort of panic.  I had no idea!  I enrolled in a one year general knowledge program at a Bible College and hoped that maybe I would gain some direction.  After that year I thought maybe counseling would be a good option for me so after a year of working to save money I headed off to the University of Guelph enrolled in the counseling program.  Even though I was in that program, taking psychology courses seemed to almost take a back seat, like I was still trying to figure out my goal.  I also took, English, Fine Art, Computer Programing and I attempted to audition for a vocal training class.  I didn't manage to get into the course but I think they were also looking for people to be more focused on the arts, not psychology.  On the side I decided to volunteer at the school radio station.  Though I enjoyed the classes I took it was not enough of a draw for me to put in the number of years required and I found myself looking at a new direction. 

Enter broadcasting.  I had a friend enrolled in this program at Conestoga College and he recommended I apply.  It sounded great to me!  Lots of fun, interesting people and incorporated my love of music.  So I dropped out of University, took another year off to save and applied to Conestoga.  Surprisingly I got in.  The program had over 500 applications that year for the 23 or so slots so with a slight bit of pride I headed off to school once more.  I enjoyed this program a lot and met some really amazing people.  I actually managed to graduate too from my 3 year program but heading out into the working world I found it wasn't exactly what I had expected and the jobs that I would want for some reasons would completely suck for others.  It turned out that this wasn't a carrier that I felt really worked for me after all. 

So I waitressed, got married, had kids and am now working at my current carrier of Mommy but I will need to figure out something for the future and I find myself still asking, "What do I want to be when I grow up?"  So far my track record of selections is abysmal.  I try lots of things but mostly feel like a Jack of All Trades but a Master of none.  I've attempted recently some direct sale companies, done some cake decorating and read a few business books.  From all of this I have discovered I should not be in business for myself!  I am a far better drone than Queen Bee.  With that in mind I still have to figure a lot of things out.

My husband is encouraging me to think about something I would love to do since he I won't have to worry about bringing in a huge income.  If I can figure it out now I can even take some courses online or something so I'm ready when our youngest is in school full time but I just don't know.  I've always struggled with confidence and assertiveness, plus I'm worried about doing more unused schooling.  I would love to find something that would be creative yet still work for someone else.  Unfortunately a lot of those creative jobs require a lot of freelance, finding your own clients, or opening your own business.

I had a friend tell me a few weeks ago that she thought I would be a good real estate agent.  I really appreciated her input!  I think often other people can see things in you that you have trouble seeing yourself.  There are a lot of things I think I would really like about real estate, however I know the drawbacks that would not work for me.  Though I did consider this like of work for a short time I realized that it wouldn't be one that would fit for the long run.  It was great to have an option to consider though and figure out if it would be a good choice for me.

In keeping with this I wonder if anyone else has ideas of options for creative careers where I could find a job and not be in business for myself.  I would appreciate some direction and love to see what ideas could be considered for a job I could love.

Any ideas?