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How did you find your calling? How did you find your calling?

09-28-2010 , 10:33 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Henry17

That is a perfect example of what I mean when I say this generation feels entitled.
This is not a new sentiment.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aristotle

The young have exalted notions, because they have not been humbled by life or learned its necessary limitations; moreover, their hopeful disposition makes them think themselves equal to great things—and that means having exalted notions.
How did you find your calling? Quote
09-28-2010 , 08:58 PM
Henry is still right in suggesting that there is something in particular about this generation that makes it have a greater sense of entitlement... Reality TV and the like makes people think anyone can be a star without working for it.
How did you find your calling? Quote
09-29-2010 , 12:03 AM
I think it is better to look at what industries you want to be a part of first, instead of what specific profession.

Specific profession is way way too narrow and you may never know.


But at least you have a starting point with whatever industry you want to join.
How did you find your calling? Quote
09-29-2010 , 04:48 AM
Things I've learned from this thread:

GW searches "Minnesota"

Things I want to learn from this thread:

TRIPOD





get in here Dom!
How did you find your calling? Quote
09-29-2010 , 11:21 AM
It was hard for Kevroc to miss his.
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09-29-2010 , 03:07 PM
I consider my self lucky. I always had a fascination with electronics and specifically computers. Even as young as 6 I was asking for one (in 1983 this wasn't a common request for a 6 year old ). Everywhere there was one I was on it , trying to break it, trying to fix it. to this day a lot of that still drives me in my job (for simplicity purpose I am an IT admin).
When I was younger I always wondered what it "be like" to be "great" at something. (Like Guitar or a sport) what I didn't realize till later is that my talent with electronics was that something. I still to this day haven't read a book or taken a test or class on anything IT. In fact I dropped out of college to pursue my career.

I think everyone has a feeling about doing "something" in life and gives you passion. maybe its opening a business, or working with animals maybe its jumping off of cliffs with a parachute. If somethings burning in you, work towards it imo.
How did you find your calling? Quote
09-29-2010 , 08:35 PM
This is a very interesting question/topic, I think. I will answer from the perspective of somebody who set out to do something specific, found something that they love to do, achieved it, and now feels like I am no different than anyone else.

I went to college having no real idea what I would do but I always figured I would invent something, write something, or figure out some way to help somebody that would be worth money and that would be how I would make my living. I think I probably felt entitled, and I disagree with Henry that this generation is much different from prior generations. I think that entitlement is something that many young people feel. It's because they are stupid. They are stupid because they are inexperienced and lack perspective.

About halfway through college I had a conversation with my boss which probably changed my life. He was about 30 years old, he was very smart, and I idolized him. He told me he wished he had gone to medical school because he would still be 30 anyway only he would be a doctor instead of nothing. It wasn't necessarily the most eloquent thing ever uttered, but it sure made a ton of sense. So I aimed toward that goal so at the very least I would have a medical degree by the time I was 26 or so and I could still do anything else that I would choose to do when I eventually found my "calling."

Halfway through medical school I found my calling. I was going to spend my life delivering babies and curing cancer and helping women. I can't imagine anything better to do. Everyday I'm there while somebody experiences the most important moment in their life. I get to cut out cancer regularly enough to feel good about it, and every once in a while I actually get to save somebody's life who is bleeding to death or whatever crisis is happening to them as a result of childbirth.

Still, I wake up every morning wishing I did not have to go to work. My work is repetitive, which it must be in order for me to master it. It is also stressful, which it must be in order for it to have value. I would rather go sailing, or hang out with my friends, or sit idly still and do nothing. I daydream about being able to do nothing and have nobody depend on me for anything.

But I am content. I am happy. When I can get away from work I have the ability to do just about anything I want. I have a wonderful woman by my side. I have great friends. I love my family.

I found my calling and I will tell you something about it: it is not as important as I imagined it would be. The decisions we make and the things we choose to do are far less important than the way we interact with one another and the relationships we develop.

Having said that, I would still recommend making good decisions. I would recommend getting as much education as possible. Avoid the police. Everyone out there who chooses to go to less school than possible or chooses to do things that result in the police showing up are making enormous mistakes in my opinion. They are mistakes because they will limit your options in the future. A person with limited options has lower quality relationships than somebody with more options. High quality relationships are your best shot at happiness.

In my opinion.

Irieguy
How did you find your calling? Quote
09-29-2010 , 08:46 PM
Solid.
How did you find your calling? Quote
09-29-2010 , 09:03 PM
Except for the lower quality relationships part. People of modest means often have excellent relationships. Unless we're counting criminals, maybe, whose whole way of life may be exploiting and destroying people. (And a great many people with many options to choose from choose to be frightfully cold.) But there seems to be too close a pairing of people with limited options and people who have police knocking on their doors here. The gap between good people and bad people, is equally wide at the bottom as it is at the top, and the potential for love is universal.
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09-29-2010 , 09:45 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Irieguy
I would recommend getting as much education as possible.
The problem with a blanket statement like this is that it assumes the individuals attending university are engaging in something useful and in the majority of cases they aren't. A good potion (at some schools the majority) of students are simply not smart enough to be at university. Certain disciplines are also of negligible value and those tend to be the largest departments at most universities. For these people attending university is just delaying their life and taking on debt.
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09-29-2010 , 11:33 PM
Solid replies guys. I picked up the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. I'm not to deep in it but it lit this passion in me to work and get busy. I got one job now, and another interview at a higher paying job tomorrow. If I get the higher paying job I'll put my two weeks in at the other place.

I'd like to return to school either this spring or next fall with a degree in finance. I figure the knowledge gained from this degree even if I do not pursue any work in the field will greatly help me. Come summer time I'd like to get my real estate license and continue to work until I finish school. After I get my degree I'd like to dip my feet into real estate and perhaps have enough money saved up to pay off most of my school debts (I only need 2 or less years of school since I have my AA) and have some side income while I weather out my first year in real estate.
How did you find your calling? Quote
09-29-2010 , 11:36 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by aarono2690
Solid replies guys. I picked up the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.
Burn it. The book is the biggest piece of garbage out there and Kiyosaki is a con-artist.
How did you find your calling? Quote
09-29-2010 , 11:56 PM
aarono you just want a job, you don't want to find your passion.

---

here is something that i saved from Tucker Max's old message board.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Boozy
That is why I wrote the lead-in explaining that the father was using the quote to impart that sooner or later all (most) men end up sitting quietly and desperate towards the latter part of their lives. I vehemently disagreed, but then I began looking around and seeing evidence that it is actually pretty prevalant that a guy will just get too tired to fight against the utter and total despondency he feels towards his own life, and will just sit there quietly taking it on the chin. I then started a thread to see if anyone else noticed or had any thoughts on it.
Look man, if you haven't realized it by now, you will realize soon enough that a lot of people out there tiptoe through their lives, unsure of who they are or what they want, blindly following the dictates of society, never truly finding themselves or their calling, until they arrive quietly at their death.

I refuse to tiptoe through life and arrive quietly at my death. I decided a long time ago that I would not be one of those guys. That no matter how much effort or pain or sacrifice it took, I refused to settle. I refused to not actively take part in my life, instead of just going with the flow and finding myself in a place where I looked up and thought "I am so unhappy with my life. How did I get here?"

But here's the thing: It is very easy to get there without realizing how you got there. Maybe our culture does a poor job of making its youth understand that getting life right is very hard. It requires a lot of skills to be a success, more than anything, it demands that you be two things: determined to find a path to your personal success, and courageous enough to take it, despite the consequences. Think to yourself: How many people do you know that you can really describe that way? Not many.

That's the bad news. The good news is that its a choice. Success truly is a choice. Every single day, with every single action and every single decision, you pick your own path. Do you read something that educates you instead of watching your tenth Seinfeld run-run? Thats a choice. Do you go to the gym like you want to, or do you just drink a Diet Coke and sit on the sofa? That's a choice. Do you go start writing like you've always said you wanted to, or do you just put it off for another day? That is a choice. Every day you make hundreds of thse choices, and when you are 40 and look up to find yourself in a ****ty life that you don't like, you have no one to blame but yourself.
How did you find your calling? Quote
09-30-2010 , 12:06 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Henry17
Burn it. The book is the biggest piece of garbage out there and Kiyosaki is a con-artist.
Haha, just typed his name into Google and noticed "Scam" was associated with his name in the drop down menu. Is this based mainly on the discrepancies found in his financial advice?

Quote:
aarono you just want a job, you don't want to find your passion.
I'd like to find my passion too. Right now thinking about possible things I could do to make money/find financial stability the plan I listed is the only thing really exciting me.

Last edited by integratedlift23; 09-30-2010 at 12:13 AM.
How did you find your calling? Quote
09-30-2010 , 02:54 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blarg
It was hard for Kevroc to miss his.
thacclapping.gif
How did you find your calling? Quote
09-30-2010 , 12:45 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Henry17
I think the disagreement is a matter semantics. I would likely classify you as someone who only mildly dislikes his job. The way i see it if someone actually enjoys their job they would engage in that activity even if they were not getting paid. When I compare what I do to all the other probabilities I think that I love it but that is only because everything else is worse. I don't actually enjoy it because if someone gave me $100M today I would never do it again. Unless people truthfully would continue to work even if they won a $25M+ lottery I don't believe they love their work. They just think they love it when they compare it to everything else they could be doing.
I agree with this completely, and as mentioned think that there are very, VERY few jobs/occupations where this actually applies. When people ask me how I like being an attorney, I tell them that it's better than any other job I can think of that is in the realm of possibility for me, but I'd still rather be golfing. I like being an attorney. It's intellectually challenging, I get to work with a lot of different people, there's a lot of variety, and even though I'm in a firm I have a lot of flexibility. That being said, if I won the lotto you would never see me practicing law again. Like, no chance.

You're pretty much going to have to work, so the best thing is to find something that doesn't make you want to kill yourself. Those whose work is their passion are lucky, and few.
How did you find your calling? Quote
09-30-2010 , 11:00 PM
Some of those with a true passion for work were singled out the other day by the Mac Arthur Foundation. Listening to a number of them interviewed on NPR, I was struck that they all have a passion for what they do.

I know I would rather listen to someone talk with passion about an idea, activity, or hobby--even if the subject usually bores the hell out of me--than listen to people talk about what I love as if it bores them.

I'm lucky. I get to walk into a classroom and say, "Here's what I love. Let me tell you about it."
How did you find your calling? Quote
09-30-2010 , 11:10 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by John Cole
I'm lucky. I get to walk into a classroom and say, "Here's what I love. Let me tell you about it."
Whoaa, wait a minute ... you're teaching a class on mint chocolate chip ice cream?
How did you find your calling? Quote
09-30-2010 , 11:26 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blarg
Whoaa, wait a minute ... you're teaching a class on mint chocolate chip ice cream?
Well, I'm not a fan of mint in my ice cream; I like it unadulterated.

Tonight in class I asked what is easier on the eyes for film audiences, action that moves left to right or right to left. Many knew that left to right is easier for Western eyes because we read text in that direction. One student asked about text that ran in the opposite direction. I told them that some ancient texts ran left to right and then right to left and back again. I gave them the word for it, "boustrophedon," and the etymology. Some wrote down the word. When they did, I told them to drop it on their friends. I'm glad I don't have to prepare students to pass standardized tests.

Words are fun.
How did you find your calling? Quote
10-01-2010 , 12:17 AM
aarono2690


If you want real estate knowledge go read that real estate thread in BFI that spex created.


You read 50 real estate books and they won't match that thread.
How did you find your calling? Quote
10-01-2010 , 02:09 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by aarono2690
I talked to a friend of mine who sells real estate in a smaller town through Century 21. He has a great sales personality so it was a natural fit for him. He's 21 or 22 at the most, drives a nice vehicle, started buying a house, and says that most of his limitations come from himself and not the work.

He told me he went to a one week class through Kaplan and then took a test and when he passed was granted his real estate license. I'm pretty sociable but I'm not the best salesman so I'd like to do a seminar or learn more about sales in general.

I figure I can work until the rest of my student loan debt is paid off (roughly 1k) and give this a shot. If I like it great, if not then perhaps by then I'd have a better idea what I want to do in university and go back..

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Seriously, don't waste your time. I've been there done that. I got my real estate license at 21 and then proceeded to waste a year of my life trying to help people and ended up with less money than I started with. I am a good salesman, I have been successful in every sales job I have done except for real estate. Sure it is a "sales" job, but real estate sells itself to an extent. The way to make money is having lots of clients. The typical home buyer is 30-50 years old and as a 21 year old I got no respect from older people and you probably won't either.

The other aspect is the market is very tough right now. There is a lot more for sale than there is buyers to buy the houses. The main reason for that is that the banks just aren't giving out loans very easily right now. If you have a good job and great credit and want a 250k loan you can get it, but if you have a decent job and fair credit that 100k loan is unavailable. Also, there are just too many realtors in the market right now. Everything about it was easier when I did it and it still was very difficult. Every class graduates like 30 people with a real estate license and 95% fail.

Take it for what its worth, cause i thought just like you do when I was younger. Right now you are much better getting a job with a consistent paycheck.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 11t
Minnesota is the **** though
Quote:
Originally Posted by Silly Skates
+1
+1 mirrion

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevroc
Things I've learned from this thread:

GW searches "Minnesota"

Things I want to learn from this thread:

TRIPOD





get in here Dom!
no i don't
How did you find your calling? Quote
10-01-2010 , 02:55 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by GiantWalleye
no i don't
lol, I was just teasing ya.

Don't tase me bro!
How did you find your calling? Quote
10-01-2010 , 12:27 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by GiantWalleye
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Seriously, don't waste your time. I've been there done that. I got my real estate license at 21 and then proceeded to waste a year of my life trying to help people and ended up with less money than I started with. I am a good salesman, I have been successful in every sales job I have done except for real estate. Sure it is a "sales" job, but real estate sells itself to an extent. The way to make money is having lots of clients. The typical home buyer is 30-50 years old and as a 21 year old I got no respect from older people and you probably won't either.

The other aspect is the market is very tough right now. There is a lot more for sale than there is buyers to buy the houses. The main reason for that is that the banks just aren't giving out loans very easily right now. If you have a good job and great credit and want a 250k loan you can get it, but if you have a decent job and fair credit that 100k loan is unavailable. Also, there are just too many realtors in the market right now. Everything about it was easier when I did it and it still was very difficult. Every class graduates like 30 people with a real estate license and 95% fail.

Take it for what its worth, cause i thought just like you do when I was younger. Right now you are much better getting a job with a consistent paycheck.





+1 mirrion



no i don't
Is it worth having the license just for the rental properties? I read somewhere that if you have a license you can own more rental properties. I think regardless I should get my bachelors done if anything though.
How did you find your calling? Quote
10-01-2010 , 12:50 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by aarono2690
Is it worth having the license just for the rental properties? I read somewhere that if you have a license you can own more rental properties. I think regardless I should get my bachelors done if anything though.
The number of rental properties you can own is in no way impacted by being a licenced real estate agent. There are some advantages but I don't think that for most people who want to get into rental properties it is worth it unless you plan to be an active agent.
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10-11-2010 , 12:04 PM
At first i was unsure too but then it was my turn and the button "call" came up, later i realized you can also click "call any" , im refering to pokerstars other i don't know.
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