By Bob Burnham
The title sounds like a daytime soap opera, but it’s not.
Everyone goes through “phases.”
Some are good, some are difficult or bad in other ways, while others are just “different.”
Your parents give you a place to live and feed you as a kid, then you become an adult and all hell breaks loose!
We get married (or not), have kids and pets (or not), lose jobs, change jobs and get new jobs. In fact, all of the above are “subject to change” at anytime, occasionally when we would rather NOT change.
Sometimes we get in a rut that we’re really not very happy with. We are forced to take multiple jobs to pay bills. The jobs may not be exactly enjoyable either. I have been there; I know what the drudgery is like.
Fast food? Been there. Production line with horrible working conditions? Been there. Self-employed? Been there a lot and still am to a degree.
The main goal is to wrench your life into a position where your job really doesn’t seem like work – that you’re actually doing something to make money that you actually enjoy doing. Often it takes extra effort on your part to get yourself into that position, and sometimes the “dream” job turns out NOT to be permanent. Been there and did that as well!
Then you have to re-invent yourself AGAIN, and go out and sell yourself to someone else. This is life.
Jobs that start when you’re a teenager that you never change until you retire for the most part, don’t exist anymore, but that’s part of what keeps life interesting.
The title sounds like a daytime soap opera, but it’s not.
Everyone goes through “phases.”
Some are good, some are difficult or bad in other ways, while others are just “different.”
Your parents give you a place to live and feed you as a kid, then you become an adult and all hell breaks loose!
We get married (or not), have kids and pets (or not), lose jobs, change jobs and get new jobs. In fact, all of the above are “subject to change” at anytime, occasionally when we would rather NOT change.
Sometimes we get in a rut that we’re really not very happy with. We are forced to take multiple jobs to pay bills. The jobs may not be exactly enjoyable either. I have been there; I know what the drudgery is like.
Fast food? Been there. Production line with horrible working conditions? Been there. Self-employed? Been there a lot and still am to a degree.
The main goal is to wrench your life into a position where your job really doesn’t seem like work – that you’re actually doing something to make money that you actually enjoy doing. Often it takes extra effort on your part to get yourself into that position, and sometimes the “dream” job turns out NOT to be permanent. Been there and did that as well!
Then you have to re-invent yourself AGAIN, and go out and sell yourself to someone else. This is life.
Jobs that start when you’re a teenager that you never change until you retire for the most part, don’t exist anymore, but that’s part of what keeps life interesting.
I started out as an AM disc jockey. Well guess what!?…such an occupation really doesn’t exist anymore! In fact today, AM radio (as we used to know it) itself barely exists. To fill in the gaps, I took many odd jobs as I re-invented myself including self-employment. This I parlayed back into full time work in the radio business.
My line of thinking was: What can I do or learn that would be MOST valuable to a broadcast corporation that I already know how to do or can learn? In the early 1980s, I was full time air talent and a Production Director. By the END of the decade, I was a Chief Engineer.
Realize you’ll have to learn a LOT as you go through a transition like this, and if you don’t have certain inherent skills, it will take longer, or you may need to re-think your goals.
Along the way, you will get frustrated, disgusted and feel impatient, but hang in there. A positive attitude will get you through.
With any luck, you will (hopefully) encounter some amazing people who will give you a nudge or an otherwise encouraging word or from whom you will learn things. Never forget those people. They might also be a future lifeline, aside from the fact that one can never have too many friends, especially those with common professional interests.
It doesn’t happen overnight, but if you are relentless in your pursuit of whatever your goals are, you will survive and find yourself into a rather enjoyable PHASE.
This evolution of life repeats itself over and over. Enjoy the ride. It never ends until you’re dead!
-Bob Burnham
January 22, 2011
A SPOT FROM MY EARLY DAYS IN RADIO FOR “ANN ARBOR PET SUPPLY”
(written/produced by me and I was one of the voices).
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19032620/WAAM_ANN_ARBOR_PET%20%282%29.mp3
Realize you’ll have to learn a LOT as you go through a transition like this, and if you don’t have certain inherent skills, it will take longer, or you may need to re-think your goals.
Along the way, you will get frustrated, disgusted and feel impatient, but hang in there. A positive attitude will get you through.
With any luck, you will (hopefully) encounter some amazing people who will give you a nudge or an otherwise encouraging word or from whom you will learn things. Never forget those people. They might also be a future lifeline, aside from the fact that one can never have too many friends, especially those with common professional interests.
It doesn’t happen overnight, but if you are relentless in your pursuit of whatever your goals are, you will survive and find yourself into a rather enjoyable PHASE.
This evolution of life repeats itself over and over. Enjoy the ride. It never ends until you’re dead!
-Bob Burnham
January 22, 2011
A SPOT FROM MY EARLY DAYS IN RADIO FOR “ANN ARBOR PET SUPPLY”
(written/produced by me and I was one of the voices).
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19032620/WAAM_ANN_ARBOR_PET%20%282%29.mp3
