A little over a year ago I started a new job. Including the retirement benefit, it represented about a $15,000 raise compared to my previous job. My very first day on the job however, I knew it was not the right place to be. I spent that week fretting, feeling anxious, and I even tried to get my old job back. Nine months later I was out the door, and I've been out of work since January.
The very day I lost my job, I received a text message about an opportunity I had been interested in for some time. It's in the field of retirement planning, which is something I'm personally interested in. Money, making it grow, and helping others grow theirs is something that I like and am passionate about. Yes, I want YOU to be financially secure and feel good about it.
I've earned about $600 since January, which is a far cry from the $5,000/month I was earning before. I no longer have health benefits, and the work I do is more nerve-wracking, but I'd rather do this than I would work a soul-crushing, time-sucking information systems job.
I also suffer from anxiety, which makes rejection a tough thing to deal with. You think I'd be used to rejection, since I only had four girlfriends between the ages of 18 and 27, and all but the one I married ended the relationship before six months (this isn't to mention all the difficulties in dating). But it's still hard to be rejected, especially when you genuinely want to help someone retire securely.
I've needed an outlet to express these feelings because I want to overcome them. I'm really tired of fear ruling my life. I don't mean to have this sound like a "pity me" post. It's not pity that I want. I want solutions, and I want to just feel better in general.
I believe that I can learn and do anything that I set my mind to. I didn't realize that until I was in my twenties. I want to succeed. There's also this fear component, which has impeded me for years. Even right now, a local business is exploding using an idea that I conceived twenty years ago. And another, a franchise in a location I identified ten years ago. I suppose had I moved sooner (and had the capital), those businesses would be mine.
Let this be a lesson to me: don't let fear stop you. Fear has killed more dreams than failure has.