I often listen to people's conversations when I stand in line. I don't do this to be nosy – the identity of these folks is totally irrelevant to me; I do it to understand people and to pick up ideas for stories and characters. I was taught to do this at UCLA by one of my excellent profs, Hal Ackerman, when I was doing my MFA in Screenwriting. Hal's idea was that writers are students of human nature and what better way to get to know humans than to pay attention to what they're doing and saying? It was a kind of cultural anthropology; Jane Goodall for people. It almost always yields great insights or great humour.
For the same reason I find Facebook fascinating. Not long ago, researchers released a brief study that showed that women are more unhappy AFTER an engagement than before it. They gleaned this by watching their status messages. Apparently engaged women post a lot of negative messages. The same was not true of men. Yikes.
I decided to do an informal survey of the status messages of my friends about their work. It's really, really surprising and a bit depressing how many people hate their jobs. From the brutal commute that Torontonian's endure, to wishing Wednesdays were Fridays – hell I've even seen Monday messages that say they wish it was Friday.
We are clearly not happy campers.
When you think about how many hours, days, weeks, months and years we spend in our jobs, not to mention getting to our jobs, this is a really sad state of affairs. If you spend just one hour each way on your commute (a quick jaunt for Torontonians who average a staggering 80 minutes each way ) you will spend 6 extra weeks of full time days every year “working” on your commute. This makes no sense to your body, your car, the environment or your sanity.
So why do we do it?
Plain and simple, it's fear. It's fear that keeps us in jobs we don't like. People will almost always say “money” is the reason, but if you dig down just a bit further, it's fear of not having money (and all the accompanying stress) that keeps us at jobs we don't like. It's understandable – we have mortgages, kids, loans, groceries. We need to keep the wolves at bay.
But here's something interesting to think about. Many of us have gone through a layoff in our lives. At first, it feels like someone has punched you in the stomach – you're winded, you're shocked. It's like getting dumped. Then, given a little time, it hurts less. You start to bounce back, get out into the world and look for something else to do. Another company to date. If you're lucky (and this is not going to seem logical) it takes more than a few days for this to happen. If you're lucky, you'll take the time to get to know yourself and figure out what it is that you really want to do. If you're lucky, you won't put your head back in the yoke and start slogging it out again immediately, complaining about what you do and wishing your life away as you look forward to your next weekend. And let's face it – those weekends are never as good as we hope they'll be.
So what does all this have to do with Successful Rebels?
“This is what we want for you – to find your true, authentic self, and have the “rebelliousness” to stay true to that vision of yourself, without being swayed by pressures from friends, family or society in general.
The most liberating part of the current economic (and soon to be societal) meltdown is that it has become clear that there isn’t one “right” way to do things, and that in fact those that have “toed the line” and “made the right choices” have been those worst affected. The time is now to cast off the shackles and be who you are, without regret. Let us show you those that have done this and are happy and successful enough to share their stories with you.”
It's not easy, quick or popular to radically overhaul your life. You will encounter resistance – it's all to be expected. You may have to sell your house, your car or everything you own. You may have to leave the big city, or a bad relationship. But at least you will have the life that you designed, and not one that you're “putting up with until Friday”.
Read more about people that live their lives authentically at www.successfulrebel.com
And be inspired...I know we were.
-- Melissa
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