From corporate drone to renaissance man
Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2020 1:29 pm
Hello all,
After your encouragement in my Intro post, I've decided to make a journal. I've pretty much run out of options for mentors and advice because most folks just don't see the world the way you guys do. I'm hoping that I will find more accountability and lifestyle authenticity by sharing solidarity with you fine people on this forum.
Thank you to everyone who shared advice over there. I'm especially grateful to @Classical_Liberal, as his journal is what initially led me to create an account and start posting here.
BACKGROUND:
30 year old male living in a HCOL city. Expenses are pretty high. Roughly 70% of income so far.
I was fairly frugal prior to January of 2020. The past 5 years in this town have been a slow grind. I had to learn to live light because I was pretty bad at my job (gotta be honest with you). I've trained myself to expect unemployment around every corner. The nature of my work is volatile, and it's not uncommon to see several six month to one year stints on our resumes.
I work in corporate sales, base plus commission. I performed well in my first two years, but I became burnt out after that and I quickly became a bottom-tier performer.
My saving grace is that I interview and network well. I'm really good at hiding in plain sight. Hate to admit that, but again, I want to be honest with you guys.
I've managed to secure and maintain a foothold in a sought after industry, perhaps the hottest one to be in right now. The problem is that I've built a staircase to the wrong house. My job doesn't fit my personality and it has become exhausting to play the role.
I've tried changing companies and industries. I've tried working remote. I've gotten a prescription for ADHD medication.
Nothing worked. I dread Monday to the point that I'm spending roughly $550 a month in bars to forget that 8AM is just around the corner.
All that said, I still feel like I'm being ungrateful. I'm from a small town with no jobs and a limited dating pool. I've managed to hold my own in one of the most competitive cities in the U.S. for 5 years. I think back to those nights when I was back home wishing for a clean office job in a fun city and I can't help thinking that I indeed got everything I wanted. I arrived at my goal, only it was the wrong goal for me.
It worked for my twenties. I learned a lot about areas of my life that I neglected back in my small hometown. I made a ton of friends, dated some great and not so great girls, and had a lot of fun while I just kind of floated along professionally.
The thing is, my values have changed significantly. I'm no longer interested in floating through life chasing feel good whims and I'm no longer under the spell of this city. The bars, the girls, the jobs are all fleeting. It's just been five years of one night bleeding into the next chasing distraction after distraction. None of it had any staying power. It meant nothing.
I've felt this rift widening as I approached thirty. Hence why I've lived light up to this point (Jan, 2020). I've been preparing to take some time off to learn a new skill. I need to find a way to actually contribute something of value to the market. I hate that I essentially hide for a living. I don't want squeak from job to job coasting on nothing but 'soft skills' for the rest of my life.
TODAY:
So here's where I am today.
I have 7 months left on my apartment lease (30% of income).
I can feel my current job slipping away. I'd be crazy to assume job security for longer than a two-week forward looking period. I work for a startup. Very early stage. Meaning a lot can go wrong. There isn't much margin for error, one of those errors being a sales guy drawing a base salary that isn't closing deals (luckily I have a bit of a buffer. The senior reps who were hired before me are pretty much in the same boat).
Anyway, it's a very unique product that to my knowledge has never been sold before. That sounds great until you try to convince someone that they need something that almost nobody else is using.
I've asked around and everybody is feeling the heat, so I don't think I'm being paranoid in entertaining the idea that my income could drop to zero tomorrow.
See why I want out of sales?
Anyway, I knew that this was going to be a tough role from the beginning. I didn't care when I received the offer back in November. All I knew was that I had a solid heads up that layoffs were on the way and I needed to make a move fast. This new gig was remote and it came with a nice pay bump, so I ignored the risk and jumped in. I figured if it went south, I'd at least have a couple months to work from home and clear my head before S*** hit the fan again.
Having said that, and having experience three months of working from home, I can now say that as long as I remain in a sales role my head will not clear.
MY PLAN:
This is my last "hoorah" in this city. I'm packing up and leaving this place in October. I plan to return home (as in living with my mom) and learning a skilled trade or medical. (Ideally I'd like to learn one of each. The local college has a one to two year wait for medical programs, which would be enough time to complete a basic trade certification.)
This move makes a lot of sense, but good god it is going to be tough. She needs help fixing up the house, plus I want to hang with her while she's still young and active. My dating life is going to plummet, though. That really sucks.
Which is why:
I'm not watching my finances too closely. I want to really dig in and get the last drop of fun here. I want to do this because I have a bad habit of lying to myself when I get lonely and reminisce about the good ole days. I only remember the highlights. I'm the guy who will pine over an ex who once admitted that she wished he died when he got into an auto accident (true story). I'll do the same thing with cities and jobs. I never remember the bad.
That's my mission right now. I need to beat this place out of me. I need to etch into my memory the traffic jams and the frat bro sales managers practicing their handshakes in the mirror and their bachelorettes puking on the corner at 2am.
That said, I am going to try to cut back and get my saving rate to 50% by the end of March. I can do that by cutting out bars from my life and getting rid of out of control subscriptions. For example, I pay $90/month for yoga. I can do that at home. Dumb. I also have a storage unit that costs me $90. If I just get rid of the junk in there I can chop that expense as well.
Job Goals:
I need something hands on that will hold my interest for at least five years.
Fast paced.
Not in front of a computer.
High future demand.
Minimal to moderate human interaction, or at least the option to reduce it. Night shift, for example.
$55k+ earning potential.
Training cost less than $20k
low damage to the body
Currently considering:
Nursing: Seems to meet the criteria above from what I've read. I'd hopefully be able to shave some time off the degree attainment time as it would be my second bachelors and I have a couple semester of prereqs completed. Or, I might go the 2 year degree route and get the BSN after getting some experience in the field. Can anyone advise on this strategy?
X-ray tech: Seems to fit the above criteria, however I do worry about the profession's future. This is pure speculation, but I wonder if innovation in imaging technology could disrupt this in the future. Anyone with experience have any ideas?
Trades: I'm open to suggestions!
I'm only considering skilled trades that I can leverage into a small business later on in life. I don't necessarily want to do a trade as an employee, because from what I've seen/heard those guys get worked to death for insanely low wages given the hell they put their bodies through. I would ideally like my primary income to come from a medical profession but I'd like to supplement it with skilled work on the side. Or projects.
Action Items:
Cancel yoga membership ($90)
Cancel storage unit ($90)
Quit going to bars (~$500)
Figure out a way to take the financial hit if you lose this job. Your lease is active until October. That's one hell of an expense that would take outa good chunk of my savings.
Ideas:
-Start applying to sales/customer service jobs just in case.
After your encouragement in my Intro post, I've decided to make a journal. I've pretty much run out of options for mentors and advice because most folks just don't see the world the way you guys do. I'm hoping that I will find more accountability and lifestyle authenticity by sharing solidarity with you fine people on this forum.
Thank you to everyone who shared advice over there. I'm especially grateful to @Classical_Liberal, as his journal is what initially led me to create an account and start posting here.
BACKGROUND:
30 year old male living in a HCOL city. Expenses are pretty high. Roughly 70% of income so far.
I was fairly frugal prior to January of 2020. The past 5 years in this town have been a slow grind. I had to learn to live light because I was pretty bad at my job (gotta be honest with you). I've trained myself to expect unemployment around every corner. The nature of my work is volatile, and it's not uncommon to see several six month to one year stints on our resumes.
I work in corporate sales, base plus commission. I performed well in my first two years, but I became burnt out after that and I quickly became a bottom-tier performer.
My saving grace is that I interview and network well. I'm really good at hiding in plain sight. Hate to admit that, but again, I want to be honest with you guys.
I've managed to secure and maintain a foothold in a sought after industry, perhaps the hottest one to be in right now. The problem is that I've built a staircase to the wrong house. My job doesn't fit my personality and it has become exhausting to play the role.
I've tried changing companies and industries. I've tried working remote. I've gotten a prescription for ADHD medication.
Nothing worked. I dread Monday to the point that I'm spending roughly $550 a month in bars to forget that 8AM is just around the corner.
All that said, I still feel like I'm being ungrateful. I'm from a small town with no jobs and a limited dating pool. I've managed to hold my own in one of the most competitive cities in the U.S. for 5 years. I think back to those nights when I was back home wishing for a clean office job in a fun city and I can't help thinking that I indeed got everything I wanted. I arrived at my goal, only it was the wrong goal for me.
It worked for my twenties. I learned a lot about areas of my life that I neglected back in my small hometown. I made a ton of friends, dated some great and not so great girls, and had a lot of fun while I just kind of floated along professionally.
The thing is, my values have changed significantly. I'm no longer interested in floating through life chasing feel good whims and I'm no longer under the spell of this city. The bars, the girls, the jobs are all fleeting. It's just been five years of one night bleeding into the next chasing distraction after distraction. None of it had any staying power. It meant nothing.
I've felt this rift widening as I approached thirty. Hence why I've lived light up to this point (Jan, 2020). I've been preparing to take some time off to learn a new skill. I need to find a way to actually contribute something of value to the market. I hate that I essentially hide for a living. I don't want squeak from job to job coasting on nothing but 'soft skills' for the rest of my life.
TODAY:
So here's where I am today.
I have 7 months left on my apartment lease (30% of income).
I can feel my current job slipping away. I'd be crazy to assume job security for longer than a two-week forward looking period. I work for a startup. Very early stage. Meaning a lot can go wrong. There isn't much margin for error, one of those errors being a sales guy drawing a base salary that isn't closing deals (luckily I have a bit of a buffer. The senior reps who were hired before me are pretty much in the same boat).
Anyway, it's a very unique product that to my knowledge has never been sold before. That sounds great until you try to convince someone that they need something that almost nobody else is using.
I've asked around and everybody is feeling the heat, so I don't think I'm being paranoid in entertaining the idea that my income could drop to zero tomorrow.
See why I want out of sales?
Anyway, I knew that this was going to be a tough role from the beginning. I didn't care when I received the offer back in November. All I knew was that I had a solid heads up that layoffs were on the way and I needed to make a move fast. This new gig was remote and it came with a nice pay bump, so I ignored the risk and jumped in. I figured if it went south, I'd at least have a couple months to work from home and clear my head before S*** hit the fan again.
Having said that, and having experience three months of working from home, I can now say that as long as I remain in a sales role my head will not clear.
MY PLAN:
This is my last "hoorah" in this city. I'm packing up and leaving this place in October. I plan to return home (as in living with my mom) and learning a skilled trade or medical. (Ideally I'd like to learn one of each. The local college has a one to two year wait for medical programs, which would be enough time to complete a basic trade certification.)
This move makes a lot of sense, but good god it is going to be tough. She needs help fixing up the house, plus I want to hang with her while she's still young and active. My dating life is going to plummet, though. That really sucks.
Which is why:
I'm not watching my finances too closely. I want to really dig in and get the last drop of fun here. I want to do this because I have a bad habit of lying to myself when I get lonely and reminisce about the good ole days. I only remember the highlights. I'm the guy who will pine over an ex who once admitted that she wished he died when he got into an auto accident (true story). I'll do the same thing with cities and jobs. I never remember the bad.
That's my mission right now. I need to beat this place out of me. I need to etch into my memory the traffic jams and the frat bro sales managers practicing their handshakes in the mirror and their bachelorettes puking on the corner at 2am.
That said, I am going to try to cut back and get my saving rate to 50% by the end of March. I can do that by cutting out bars from my life and getting rid of out of control subscriptions. For example, I pay $90/month for yoga. I can do that at home. Dumb. I also have a storage unit that costs me $90. If I just get rid of the junk in there I can chop that expense as well.
Job Goals:
I need something hands on that will hold my interest for at least five years.
Fast paced.
Not in front of a computer.
High future demand.
Minimal to moderate human interaction, or at least the option to reduce it. Night shift, for example.
$55k+ earning potential.
Training cost less than $20k
low damage to the body
Currently considering:
Nursing: Seems to meet the criteria above from what I've read. I'd hopefully be able to shave some time off the degree attainment time as it would be my second bachelors and I have a couple semester of prereqs completed. Or, I might go the 2 year degree route and get the BSN after getting some experience in the field. Can anyone advise on this strategy?
X-ray tech: Seems to fit the above criteria, however I do worry about the profession's future. This is pure speculation, but I wonder if innovation in imaging technology could disrupt this in the future. Anyone with experience have any ideas?
Trades: I'm open to suggestions!
I'm only considering skilled trades that I can leverage into a small business later on in life. I don't necessarily want to do a trade as an employee, because from what I've seen/heard those guys get worked to death for insanely low wages given the hell they put their bodies through. I would ideally like my primary income to come from a medical profession but I'd like to supplement it with skilled work on the side. Or projects.
Action Items:
Cancel yoga membership ($90)
Cancel storage unit ($90)
Quit going to bars (~$500)
Figure out a way to take the financial hit if you lose this job. Your lease is active until October. That's one hell of an expense that would take outa good chunk of my savings.
Ideas:
-Start applying to sales/customer service jobs just in case.