Luckily for me, I love the work I do. I'm making decent money, and I look forward to work each day.
My sister (age 49), however, has embarked upon a very interesting odyssey that may offer some encouragement to you.
My sister is the mother of three, ages 28, 25, and 18 (the older two are married; youngest still at home, attending high school.) Six years ago, she chose to end her marriage, in which her husband had become increasingly abusive.
As a single mom, she was trying desperately to provide for her family (ex-husband paid a whopping $74 per month child support). I supplemented her income each month so that they could better make ends meet.
Our father had been highly successful in real estate investment, but he died the day before his 52nd birthday, when my sister was age 13. She had always wanted to follow in our dad's footsteps, but neither she nor I could underwrite such an undertaking.
Last year, however, following much due diligence in identifying the ideal mentors and training source, I underwrote her tuition to receive the proper training.
She has exercised wise and intelligent application of her training. She stays aware of opportunities that surround her. Since January (when she began her efforts in earnest), she has earned between $80K-$110K per month! She has paid me back, in full (including her tuition). She has fully funded her retirement contributions for both last year and this year (to the extent that the government allows). And she is well on her way to continued success.
Where she was not earning a great deal prior to her current successes, it did not require a massive leap of faith. (Had she been earning six figures previously, then THAT would have required a big leap of faith...to quit her day job in return for the prospect of increasing her income so significantly.)
It did, however, still require guts...To invest time and money in a profession that was new, and, for her, yet untested. She did set about learning the "secrets of success" that wealthy practitioners seemed to possess, and she had the courage to implement what she had learned.
Regardless of what endeavor you end up selecting, Dollie, as your new profession of choice, I believe that my sister's successes produce a reasonable model:[ul][li]Seek out successful practitioners who are willing to give back to their profession via mentoring sincere and motivated neophytes.[/li][li]Identify the behaviours that successful practitioners use to produce success/wealth in their field of endeavor.[/li][li]Identify risks/pitfalls and implement protections to mitigate/avoid those risks.[/li][li]Assemble a
team of wise people whom you can consult, to help you see both potential and pitfalls to your professional opportunities. (Your team can consist of family, friends, and professionals whom you respect as having wisdom in various fields.)[/li][li]Develop enough self-confidence to begin pursuing your dreams. (This does not mean that you must quit your day job. But it does mean
start doing what gives you more joy and happiness.)[/li][/ul]
I believe that you already have a built-in team of colleagues, here on Tek-Tips and in this forum, who are willing to provide free (and to a certain degree, wise) advice that you might find useful in your new endeavors.
Best of luck (which is simply matching preparation with opportunity),
Dollie.
![[santa]](/data/assets/smilies/santa.gif "[santa] [santa]")
Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services:
www.dasages.com]
![[chicken]](/data/assets/smilies/chicken.gif "[chicken] [chicken]")
about just taking the plunge, but the fact that I'm not advancing at all where I am now is looming large. If I keep thinking like this, I'm concerned that it really will affect my work.