Tough decisions have to be made

Tuesday, 10th of May 2022

When I was a teenager I always thought that getting a great education and finding a good job is something that will make me happy. I will be earning good money right? With money I will be able to afford more and that will be enough to lead a happy life.

After finishing Uni as a young adult I was keen to start my working life. Every new job would be a better one and better paid. Indeed I was able to afford more and fulfil many of my dreams.

As the years were going by, one burn out came after another and I came to the conclusion that working in a corporate world is making me really unhappy. I was doing my best, working long hours and money was great, but I was spending a lot of that money on physiotherapists, because stress cause huge chronic pain in my neck and I couldn’t help but wonder if there is another, better way.

I really disliked getting up crazy early in the morning, being timed on every task I did as well as having a boss telling me what to do and when. And 4 weeks of paid holiday? Who on Earth can work all year round with just a few weeks of holidays to look forward to?

Since 2016 I was jumping out and back into the corporate jobs. While working I would save up some money to be able to not work for a while and while not working I was always leaving it too late and my debts would grow. A constant cycle of brief happiness and freedom and back into the misery of daily work.

Last time I walked away from a job in engineering was December 2019. The plan was to only take a month break, but then pandemic came in 2020 and I haven’t been back to work since.

While everyone was really unhappy with lockdowns and not being able to work, I was actually very happy. Banks were giving payment holidays very easily and I was happy to take some time off to think about what I really wanted to do.

I decided to take a wild step and become self employed. I had a few ‘great’ ideas… maths tutoring, creating and selling plants arrangements, writing articles, trading crypto. A friend of mine also suggested I would be great as a foster parent and since I have 2 spare bedrooms in my house, the conditions would be ideal.

So the year of 2021 and beginning of 2022 I was working of developing my self employed business as well as going through the complex application process for fostering. Just when the fostering panel was so close I received an email that the panel has been postponed due to more documentation needed.

In New Year I had several meetings with my assigned social workers and the list of things still needed to complete the process was huge! Due to me living in 2 different countries some documents I was unable to deliver and I had to make a tough call to suspend the fostering application.

Yet again I had to re-evaluate my situation and decide on my next steps. Crypto market going bearish and many bad investment decisions didn’t make it easier.

After weeks of stress and I came to the conclusion that I need to go back to ‘normal’ work. Still, for a few more weeks I was resisting taking this step. Going back to a corporate world seemed like such a failure.

What to do though? Bills need to be paid and debts are growing instead of melting. I was toying with the idea of getting a part time job in a local garden centre, but after calculating everything I decided this is not going to cut it. If I’m going back to work, it might just as well be a well paid, full time job in engineering, which will help me clear my debts at a much faster rate.

So engineering here I come!

Today I attended my first interview at a local company. 20 mins drive is the shortest I’ve ever travelled to work. After a nice 1.5 hour chat I came back home in great spirit. After an hour I received the call from the recruiter with a job offer and a salary bigger than what they were initially willing to pay. Looks like they liked me.

Well, I liked them too. I also liked that they are close to home and I can do my 40 hours in 4 days, leaving me 3 days long weekends. So still plenty of time for my daily online activities. I’m not too sure about 6am start though! That will be a challenge.

I haven’t said yes yet, as I still have 1 or 2 companies to see for interviews, but whichever one I will decide upon one thing is sure… My daily life is about to change in a big way. Wish me luck guys. I’m gonna need it to survive this madness called job 😅

Until next time 💙