How to stop mental masturbation when shifting careers?

[jigga]

Hey guys, long time lurker and now first time poster!

So I'm 1 year out of college with a Computer Science degree, but I'm not very good at and hate programming. As such, I want to shift jobs/careers and I have a strong interest in blogging/vlogging, but I feel that doesn't pay very well.

Then whenever I'm considering potential careers, I tend to look at how these jobs tie into my blogging interest and not how I'd excel in that job. Take sales for example. My mind would say "Well sales would help me become a better communicator and more confident in my blogs/vlogs". And for business, I'd think "It'd be great to know how to monetize my blog", etc.

Having these recurring thoughts for each of the zillion jobs I could apply keep my mental masturbation skills at peak performance and make my real life execution skills worthless. I'm pretty much in a rut and I don't know how to proceed thanks in part to all the choices and my dreaming. I got into computer science without really knowing what the hell I was doing and now that I know I don't want to write software, I feel like my identity is somewhat broken and I'm having a lot of trouble proceeding.

If anyone has been through the same ordeal and wants to share their story, ideas for next steps, criticism, anything really at this point, I'd love to hear it.

Cheers
jigga

[Tim]

The most important thing to do is to follow your passion. I know that seems like trite advice, especially for an area which can take many years and many paths until you see the realization of what you've been hoping for. But in my eyes, there isn't any other way. I was just watching one of the videos in Mark's Connection program, and he said something that really struck me. Basically, he noted that modern society is set up to make us as comfortable as we can be, but at the same time it puts immense pressure on us to keep each other comfortable. To not say or do things that might cause other people to feel discomfort or be offended. The problem with this is that it leaves very important things unsaid.

I think this is incredibly true when applied to our careers. While using hard work, perseverance, and discipline to get to a good job are all rightly celebrated, the flip-side of boredom, frustration and self-doubt is rarely talked about. I think to get to a job you truly love you have to confront all three of these, and not shy away from them.

My own experiences have taught me a lot in regards to this.

Firstly, I slacked off hard at high school and college, and at times in jobs. What this taught me is that no matter what you're doing, whether it's studying or working, at something you enjoy or you don't, you should work hard. One of the very few things Tyler/Owen of RSD ever said that I agree with is that there are no practice rounds in life. If you have the mentality (like I did) that a job 'doesn't count' because it's not the one you want to be doing, and that everything will change when you start at one you do want, then you're going to learn the hard way that's not true. Either because you'll never find that job you do like, or even if you do, once you get there you won't have all those bad habits magically undone. And they'll be much harder to beat now they've been around for so long.

Secondly, unless you're very lucky, you're not going to stumble on your dream job first time around. I tried multiple majors at college before finding one I kind of enjoyed. I then had multiple jobs which varied between me hating them to just being bored out of my mind, before finally finding one that interested me even a bit. Now I've just started working at one that I'm far more excited about and that I love. I still don't think this is the finish line for me though (although I expect to be at- and enjoy- this one for years to come). Going through all this creates a hell of a lot of self-doubt. Luckily for me there was no other option really. I knew I couldn't let myself get into a job in politics (my major) or handle a lifetime of jobs just to pay the rent. So I had to keep trying. I worked jobs I didn't like to pay for travel, so that I could live in another country, and then I moved back in with my parents and worked for minimal pay so I could work a job I actually enjoyed. And then I managed to get to the one I'm in now. I still have that self-doubt though. I think that's just something you have to live with until you get there. If you can accept that, you'll have a much better chance.

To go back to what I was saying before; modern society doesn't really tell you about these things. Your teachers, professors, and even friends and family might tell you to work hard and to persevere, but the boredom and self-doubt is something people don't really talk about. If you want to find something you really love though, I promise it exists.

[Thor]

I work in I.T however I am looking at setting up an online business on the side which specialises in adventure holidays in europe because I love hiking and travelling. Another area I am looking at is software consultancy as I actually enjoy this branch of I.T. My vision is to beable to work 4-5 months of the year and spend the rest of the year travelling around the world. So what I am doing is making use of my strenghts to create the lifestyle I want.

Theres a great book called "What should I do with my life" by Po Bronson definitely worth a read if your at the cross roads.

[IdEngager]

Having a CS degree and being a programmer is actually very useful skills wise for your career no matter what you do. Since you did manage to make it through a CS degree, you're probably good at problem solving and thinking analytically (even if you don't think you're a good programmer, this still puts you ahead of most people), so switching to another career where you have to problem solve isn't a huge leap. Secondly, since everything is so tied to computers these days, if you're ever running a business or managing people, you'll be far far ahead as far as being able to understand the technical side. And also, there's a lot of consulting or short term projects in the software biz, where you can make money but have more freedom as far as setting hours for other projects.

My advice, keep pushing whatever projects you really love as far as you can take them, but don't quit your day job right away and use that programming to make ends meet when you need it to.

[Jon]

A few things

1) You said you want to be a blogger or a vlogger. What would the blog be about? Sports, politics, self help, tech? Would it be a reported blog (where you go to events and use the blog to report on them, like you would a newspaper) an opinion blog (where you comment on things and give your own opinion) or an advice blog, or some combination? If you do not know the answer to these questions then ask yourself why you want to be a blogger.

2) CS is a useful skill for a blogger to have. It will make it easier for you to understand new web technologies and come up with ways to use them on your blog. As a blogger, you will be using software to distribute information. Having a CS degree means understanding how these programs work, and how to spot glitches, and provide tweaks.

3) you can also use your CS background to leverage your way into some good blogging opportunities. There are probably a lot of established bloggers who would love an intern with a good technical background.

4) Start blogging now. You don't need to get paid to do this. Do you already have a blog? If not, why not?

[Tim]

(05-28-2012 10:15 PM)Jon Wrote:  4) Start blogging now. You don't need to get paid to do this. Do you already have a blog? If not, why not?

Oh yes, totally forgot to say this! This is the most important point!

[jigga]

@Tim
One of the reasons I think I'm feeling so overwhelmed is that I thought "Follow Your Passion" meant you had to "Follow Your Passion fulltime". This put an incredible amount of pressure on me which didn't help much. As for working hard at something, I think if you do something, you should do it right. I personally realized this after getting fired last summer. I basically had the mentality you described of "this job doesn't count" and didn't take it seriously and I know that won't be happening again. It sucks that modern society doesn't talk about these things and I think it's harder for men in some aspects as we're "always supposed to know". At least women tend to have a support group with whom they can talk about these kinda things with. And I'm not sure about dream job already existing, but if not I guess I have to create it.

@Thor, IdEngager
While I can read code, I'm not great at writing it. I've realized that there is a side to CS that isn't all about writing code like Usability Engineering. I'm going to explore that in more detail maybe I'll give that a go. I'll also check out the book "What should I do with my life" and I really like this line.

Quote:Push whatever projects you really love as far as you can take them.

@Jon
My current ideas for the blog/vlog will be like infotainment and will primarily focus on social experiments. Not very clear after this point so I think I have to address that. I'll start by doing that later today.

Thanks for the perspectives guys and advice fellas. I think all I really needed was a place to share my thoughts and receive some sorta feedback other than "You'll be fine" and "Don't worry about it" which was what my fam and friends kept saying.

---

Also to address the original question of "How to stop mental masturbation when shifting careers", this is what I did since the posting and it may help you.

1. Take stock of your thoughts and get them OUT of your head!
Create a forum post like me, write in your journal, talk aloud, whatever. Offload them somehow so you don't go crazy. A forum post was great for me because I had to be clear on what I wanted to communicate to others. If it's just rambling, a journal or talking might be fine.

2. Write down a list of ideas you have of jobs/careers.

3. Get as clear as possible about these jobs.
First step is to check google. Then read job descriptions, glassdoor.com, indeed.com, blogs about the job, etc. Then utilize your personal network - facebook, linkedin, parents, friends, others to for informational interviews to get real life accounts. Lastly if possible, try to get some shadowing done. This will be your best bet. I was able to shadow an inside sales rep and I immediately knew that Inside sales was out as a job b/c I didn't want to sit on the phones all day and worry about quotas.

4. Visualize yourself a day on the job.
- What do you do first thing in the office?
- What are your primary responsibilities?
- Imagine doing these duties step by step. What do you like/dislike about them?
- Can you see yourself doing this for a couple of years?

5. Start Applying
At this point, I'd narrowed my list down to 4 jobs. Yes there's still self doubt, but at least I'm much clearer on the various jobs and how I match up to them. At this point, I'm significantly better off than where I was and have to start applying to move forward.