Amid the chaos of planning for big life changes, selling my house, and finishing copyedits on my next book, I found a few minutes to pull the next three cards in my ongoing quest to finish Debbie Millman’s Remarkable Life Deck. The last installment is here. This week was actually the perfect time to try to answer questions about my future work, since, as you may have read, I’m about to make a huge career change.
It feels great to read the first card— “What kind of job do you have?”— and think: the best kind, aka NO JOB!
It’s been a few weeks since I officially resigned my university job, and although I’ll still be employed for many more months, knowing that my days of having a job-job are coming to an end is amazing. Obviously, this doesn’t mean the end of work. My mom likes to keep saying that I’m retiring, but I’m not nearly there yet. I’ll be self-employed. Working, yes, but not exactly having a “job” in the sense of being employed by someone else and having a boss.
Picturing this job-less world ten years out, as the Deck asks you to do, lets me imagine a future where self-employment isn’t a hustle. I know it’ll be hard for the next few years; there’s still a lot of room for growth and I’ll have to actively make some of that happen (the rest being luck and algorithms). In ten years, though, I picture a self-sustaining business where I don’t need to scrounge for clients, where I have the support I need to take care of the technical and financial side of things, and where I can fully focus on meeting with clients and delivering high-value coaching.
My dream is that this self-sustaining business gives me ample time to write. I see myself continuing to write non-fiction books in a variety of genres, while also writing shorter pieces for different venues.
The ultimate goal is having the freedom to craft and re-craft my career, without the confines of a “job description” that sets out expectations and priorities that may not match my own.
The next card asks about career goals, as well as job title, travel for work, who you work with, what the best part of your job is.
The greatest goal for ten years from now would be to be totally hustle-free. To trust that the right work is going to come my way. To know I don’t need to say yes to everything. To have time for rest amid the work.
I think that there’s still lots of good, maybe even great, work ahead of me. I enjoy working hard on things I care about. I want to still feel that drive in ten years. But I don’t want to feel a sense of obligation, a “should” weighing on me. I don’t want to feel like I “should” do anything!
As for job title, I get to give myself one, or many. Writer. Author. Career coach. Expert consultant. All-around person you want to know. (Time for new business cards, hehe).
Working with people I choose to work with (including myself, even though I’m a pain in my own arse sometimes) is going to be such a gift. The goal over ten years is, I think, to refine my gut instincts around those choices.
The best part of my job (or so I imagine) will be that I’m in charge of how I spend my time.
My last card this week is all about money: what is your relationship with money? How much do you want/need? What do you want to do with it?
As I’ve written about previously, I’ve been working hard on my relationship with money for some time. In ten years, I would like it to be less hard work. In my wee journal I wrote:
I have a conscious, open relationship with money. I tend it carefully but don’t control it too tightly. I check in on it and keep my responsibilities to it.
What I mean here is that I stay aware of my money (no being afraid to open the banking app!). I’m open about it with the people who need to know or who I share finances with. I’m not rigid about my budget, nor careless in my spending. I know what I need my money to do (e.g., support me in my retirement) and I do what I need to do to make that possible.
In terms of “how much” money, I want to strike a balance between feeling ease-full in my daily life, and secure in my long term goals. Like, I can buy an avocado toast and still imagine retiring before 80. I also want to feel comfortable being generous with my family, friends, and causes I care about. I don’t want to have to do a bunch of budget math to feel like I can treat a friend to dinner or donate money when there’s an urgent need.
Reflections
A common theme in my responses for this set of cards seems to be “ease.” No hustle. No overwork. No need for stress or tight control. Maybe I can loosen my grip on the reins of career and money and just trust that I set myself on the right path. Self-trust is a tricky thing (at least for me). Maybe it’s still the biggest goal of all!
What I’m reading: Yellowface, by R.F. Kuang. A positively savage take down of publishing, whiteness, social media… the whole mess. Makes me so glad I’ve cut back on social media use lately, especially the dreaded X.
What I’m watching: The latest season of Queer Eye. This one didn’t hit as hard as some previous seasons (meaning, I didn’t get my yearly cry on). But I would still really like a pep talk from JVN and for Tan to throw out all my clothes.