Career Changes

I've been in the IT gig for 12 years now. I've seen the changes in the way computers are used, their prominence in business and at home change immensely. I started using Netscape Navigator to browse the net when a 14.4kbps modem was high speed and saw ADSL 2+ hit our humble homes (not to mention cable and everything else!). But now I feel it's time for a change.

But change to do what? This is where I find myself at the moment - caught in a quandry between what I already do and am not happy about, and knowing I want to do something different but having no idea about what I want to do. Whatever I do I'll be successful in - I'm not concerned about that. I'm more just confused - as if there are too many options out there for me to choose. I recently re-read Steve Pavlina's blog <- specifically that post there - How to Discover your Life's purpose in 20 minutes. I haven't gone through the exercise yet, but I have every intention to - well once I'm somewhere quiet and peaceful where people won't see me cry :-)

Because I've been thinking about this a fair bit, I've noticed there are people around me who feel the same way, yet refuse to do anything about it. They are putting up with an unsatisfactory and lame occupation that brings them no joy and certainly no meaning to their lives. Why bother I think to myself - and ask them when I have the occasion. It's like being in a relationship which is completely unsatisfactory - where one or both partners are not happy and the synergy between the couple is broken. The synergy between myself and IT is broken. I no longer want to fix computers/servers/networks. 

So what do I want to do? There are many wonderful tools out there for trying to decide what to do with your life. I've been trying them out - looking for something that will help me discover the underlying desire I have for my life. Ideally I'd like something with appointments or some sort of pattern to it. Currently things happen in a very laissez-faire sort  of way that I find annoying and unfulfilling (in addition to the actual tasks I'm performing).

One of the tools I'm going to use is very simply to write what down what I enjoy - what I'm interested in and what I think there is a market for. No point doing something that I won't get paid for - even as my own boss I want to have a certain income at any point and I think that's important too. Understanding my own worth is something that I have to work on - how many of you out there know how much you are worth? My experience has been that most people settle for less. Those that have an exact understanding of what they are worth are often seen as arrogant or demanding and potentially they are both at times. There are, naturally, those folks who take it to the next level and are kidding themselves. But there are a *lot* of people being paid vast sums of money for what they do so why shouldn't we want what we're worth? It's crazy not to.

I'll keep you updated with my progress on this - it's going to be an interesting ride. Let me note for the record too, that I'm very grateful for the work I have right now - without it life would be even more challenging!