So I've been thinking a lot about advice that we give mostly young people about their career. And I started thinking about what I consider to be the worst career advice I ever received. And I received it from so many people along the way. And it was follow your passion. Always know what you want to do with your career. Just follow your passion. Okay? My passion for a very long time was volunteering at an animal shelter on the weekends
Jenny Ward
@Jenny_Ward · 1:02
Oh, my goodness. I am very, very familiar with that advice. And I'm sorry that you had that experience, especially coming to a new country where you're being told, oh, you're in this new place. Stayed a job for two or three years, and then you find yourself in an environment where you're miserable and it's taking a toll on your mental health. But you're afraid that if you leave, it's going to impact your your future career
Jenny Ward
@Jenny_Ward · 1:21
But people as as it does are, you know, it's a form of nostalgia. Wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts, and recycling it for more than it's worth. I hope you ended up studying what you wanted to study and did that. Your career goes well and yeah, I just really wish you the best. And I'm so glad you chimed in on this conversation
Amy Murillo
@amymu89 · 3:05
One of the worst pieces of advice I ever received in my life was, are you sure you want to do this? Maybe this isn't for you. Maybe you should give up. And I'm so glad I never listened to that person because I didn't give up and now I'm teaching and doing what I love. So some people give very bad advice, that's what I'm realizing. But I guess my tip for everybody is do something that you love. You'll thank yourself
Calvin Davis
@Crippledthought · 3:12
Secondly, I was listening to your post about how you're saying everyone's passion isn't a monetizable one, and I have to agree with that. I think one of the biggest problems that we have as young people, especially when you're first coming out of school, be that high school or college, is that you think that your career is supposed to be your purpose
Because if someone is giving you career advice and they are not in a position you want to be in in 510, 15 years from now, ignore their career advice because this person does not know what they're talking about. This person has went into an entire other chosen field than what you're trying to do and they're trying to tell you how to go about things
Angela Kaye
@AnngieKaye · 2:00
And just for perspective, I've been here 20 years, I'm 46, and so if I stay until retirement age, honestly, I think that's another 20 years on my part. I'll have 40 years with the same employer, but in different job capacities, and I don't want to do that. One reason I want to relocate. And so I cannot work for the state government if I do not live in a state. So my goal of relocating will squash that
Jenny Ward
@Jenny_Ward · 1:30
You. I love your reply so much, Amy, because my mom was a nursing instructor and she taught clinical, and she worked with the younger generation. And I just love that you are doing the same thing because I know how powerful and important it is. A couple of things you said really stood out to me. The first is that people actually said to you, are you sure you want to do this? Why don't you just give up?
Jenny Ward
@Jenny_Ward · 2:45
I think the advice, I think, was your other uncle gave you that there is a separation between kind of what you're meant to do professionally and what you're meant to do in your personal life. And getting fulfillment from those things separately is really, really important. Because going out and volunteering repeatedly and never getting paid for it is a huge waste of time as far as I'm concerned. Not to say that volunteering is not important. Of course it is
Jenny Ward
@Jenny_Ward · 1:51
They resent that, and now they're projecting it in terms of who we take advice from. This is another very good point. We do have to be particular, and I think this is the importance in our career of trying to find some mentors early on, people who will have our best interests at heart, who will go to bat for us and support us, but also give us advice based on the job they have, assuming it aligns with what we want to do
Jenny Ward
@Jenny_Ward · 1:50
OOH those government jobs. You know, you don't ever want to leave those government I'm kidding. That is also very common advice. And you have obviously showed a tremendous amount of stability throughout your career. And it's reasonable that if you want to relocate, you want to do something else, and you are going to continue to get feedback of why would you leave a stable job? Why can't you just be grateful? Look what you have. Why would you walk away from that?
So when I advise my students, and I've had many, I say your chances of making it as a poet, even if you're willing to go into academia, even if you want to teach, are very, very small. Remember to keep your eyes open for the other opportunities that are around you. But if your passion tells you that right now, studying poetry, writing poetry is the thing that you must do, then go ahead and do it
And I went back to my hometown in Texas after that, which is a small city in Texas, and I realized the big artistic difference regarding opportunities in a small city in Texas versus Phoenix, where I got my second degree and there was an opportunity to come back. So I took it. And when I came back, I said in my mind that I was going to pursue performing arts or any kind of art no matter what. So I came back and I started with dance
