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| Image courtesy of samuiblue / FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
In our day and age, where Generation Y and the Millennials are struggling to launch their dream career and are instead stuck in 9-5 jobs or education, it's no surprise that today's youth is getting more radical then ever. Young offenders are on the rise just as are the number of graduates. The competition out there is tough and, it seems, the lives of twenty-somethings can got in either of two directions - uphill or downhill.
Uphill, in the sense of getting a job of some kind after countless unpaid internships have drilled a whole in your parents' wallets. Or even better - getting a job somewhat related to your degree or future career. That is until you realise that actually you don't like it. Or worse - you don't like being chained to your desk from 9 till 5 (FYI: as most office slaves will tell you, nobody ever finishes at 5. You will be lucky to get out the office door at 6).
Many of my friends who have recently started their first "proper" jobs are actually wondering whether it is the right role/company/mode of working for them. Should they look for something that involves more out of office work? Something with flexible working hours? A bigger or smaller company? So many questions, so many decisions to make. It's not easy to survive in the concrete jungle and yet do a job you love.
So my question to you is how do you keep yourself motivated in this struggle? What helps you get out of the bed in the morning? To go to work, to go to the gym, to be committed to a hobby? What stops you from going in to a downward spiral?
I know some have quit the daily grind for more flexible working in search of happiness and dream careers. Yet I also know others who have stuck through the initial difficult first steps to reap great benefits.
Those of you who know me, know that I'm a pessimist (FYI #2: my psychology professor once said that optimists are delusional and it's the pessimists who actually see the realities of life), yet I wake up every morning full of hope. I hope that the weather will be good, that I will do better at the gym, that I will be one step closer to living the life I want to live.
I am a firm believer (to a fault, I admit) that one has to work hard to achieve their goals. So I wake up everyday, ready to face the world as if I was going to war. But I also get out of bed because I can't wait to have my porridge, to catch up with friends, to bask in the sunshine (on one of those very few days that we've got sun here in the UK!) and other such trivialities of mortal life.
What about you? What keeps you ticking? Any tricks for getting out of bed during your lowest lows (like a big hot chocolate on the way to work)?
Many self-help books will tell you to succeed you have to find the "why" that drives you. So let's go through this "search" exercise together - share with me in the comments section below :)