Several years ago, I hit the job wall. More appropriately: I crashed into it, hard and fast. Well, okay, not so fast, because it was a long process in which I finally realized I was desperately unhappy. And it was the lack of fulfillment in my career that was making me feel like a loser from some country western song. Call me Clem.
If Clem doesn’t have a fulfilling career, the rest of his life will suffer. More appropriately: Clem’s self-esteem will suffer. And that, in turn, will affect everything from Clem’s love life to the level of addictions he has to his possible fondness for that gay cowboy movie Brokeback Mountain.
I was addicted to the fantasy. Call it Lotto Fever. And it doesn’t matter if you’re actually playing the lotto, or dreaming of being in a rock band, it’s the mistaken belief that “success comes in the blink of an eye” that needs to be tossed out with the two-bit hooker you treated yourself to on Valentine’s Day.
In real life, a quick-fix get-rich scheme rarely works. Society wants us to believe it does – dangling the carrot in front of our noses in the name of capitalism. But what’s up with that, doc, is pure propaganda to keep the machine chugging along. I am here to tell you, brothers of the movement, that there is a way to work within the machine while doing something you love – or at least that you’re very good at!
THE GAME PLAN
Think Short
Super Bowls are rarely won on long bombs or Hail Mary’s. They’re won by the team that wins the little battles that go on between the lines. Microscopic moments – a snap here, a blocked field goal there, an accidental cheerleader nipple shot – that add up to victory or defeat.
You know what? Give me the f*cking tortoise over the hare in the next Super Bowl. Because the tortoise moves slow enough to see the big picture. And he has enough time to adjust his game plan on the fly, er, walk. And because he’s not racing to-and-fro, he understands that the game becomes about how to play it while existing outside the box. Joe Montana was a quarterback who existed outside the box. In fact, if he played inside the box, he never would have been one of the clutch performers of all-time and found Dwight Clark on “The Play.” Okay, so Joe Montana just may be a little faster than a tortoise, you got me on that one. But I guarantee you: he was brilliant at throwing short, and he definitely knew when to hold em’ and when to fold em’.
Breaking Through the Line
“Where your talents meet the world’s needs is where you’ll find your vocation.”
The first step in breaking out of the 9 to 5 cubicle (and I’m speaking metaphorically, because if you work in a cubicle, God bless you) is to rid yourself of the Greed Factor. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing evil about making money (actually, it can be quite enjoyable). But when we place it as our number one priority, we’re setting ourselves up for disappointment: we’ll always be striving for more, there will never be enough, and life will only suffer at the hands of one more selfish douchebag. Let’s get this absolutely straight: The number one priority in your life should be your happiness.
Moving on: the world is one big wheel, every cog is connected, and your cog cannot run efficiently unless there is cooperation from every other cog. You begin to break through the line when you figure out what your cog is all about: “Where your talents meet the world’s needs is where you’ll find your vocation.” Ask yourself what position you’re supposed to be playing. No, what position are you really supposed to be playing? If you’re an offensive guard, or the water boy, you need to acknowledge that. After all, not everyone can be pretty boy Matt Leinart (talk about clutch QBs!).
Trust me, you will be amazed to see how at the precise time you discover your talent and start applying it, the money will just fall into place.
XFL Stopover
“You have to be willing to give up the life you’ve planned for the life that is waiting for you.”
The life I had planned for was in the Big Leagues of Hollywood. Eventually, as I began to hit that wall, something in me knew that I wasn’t cut out for the Big Leagues of Hollywood – too many despicable people to deal with to get to the top, at which time, I probably would have become one of those despicable people.
After much suffering, I was finally able to let go of my pride long enough to consider placement in another league. That’s when the XFL came calling (actually, it was the dot.com boom). I saw an ad seeking sports and entertainment writers for a website, and a week later, my new league was supporting my nightly Top Ramen fests. Sure, I only got fifty bucks an article. But, by the time the dot.com crash came and the XFL sunk, I had enough experience to flaunt my game in another league. Let’s call it the Canadian Football League (which is still in biz, eh!). Or maybe, we should just call it the magazine business.
Reversing Your Field
In order to overcome your past failures, you have to be willing to be like that doofus from that old black-and-white football clip, the one who runs the wrong way. And you have to understand, unlike the doofus, who scored a touchdown for the other team, there will always be time to turn back in the right direction. But we’re scared to risk this play, because we think that if we run the other way, or take a time-out, we’ll never catch up to the game. The game will engulf us and we’ll, gasp, Lose. But reversing field takes major balls, my friends. That means, if you have enough courage to do something like go back to college for retraining, you’re way ahead in my playbook.
Think about it: if you can’t turn back now, and start again, what do you suppose you’ll feel like when you’re 65? An overworked POS, I imagine: toiling all your life in a career you detested, always thinking: “What if…” What if I would have followed my dream? What if I would’ve gone back to college? What if I didn’t sacrifice a third of every day in the name of doing something I despised? What if…you stopped thinking “what ifs” right now and start your new game plan today?
Sure, it’s going to take time and great effort. And, it’s true, not everyone in life will attain their dream job. But do you want to settle for being “everyone?” Or do you want to try to live a little more like Clem – who’s headed to the beach right now to share his Top Ramen with those a little less fortunate?
Next to SOAK Magazine, writer Rick Cipes’ recommended reading list includes: Zen and the Art of Making a Living.
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