I recently went though an icebreaker where everyone was asked what their first job was and what they learned from it. It was interesting because I didn’t realize how much of what I seek in my job now comes from my first jobs in middle & high school. My actual first job was canning six packs of drinks in a freezer in the summertime. That only lasted a day because I quickly realized I did not want to spend my warm summer in a cold freezer. I then thought “why not just work at the places I liked to hang out?” At the time it was the roller-skating rink (and later the movie theater). Those two were my stable employment throughout high school until I got to college. I didn’t realize it at the time but that early on mentality solidified how and where I searched for work after that. My first internship was at an online brokerage. I was selected not because of my IT skills at the time but more because of my passion for trading and knowledge about the platform at the time. I was given a free account while working there so I was throwing half my internship paycheck back into the product I was working on. Since then, I have noticed that in all my career positions, no matter what I am doing, I always end off gravitating towards the tasks and projects that I would not mind doing in my free time too.
One other thing that my first pair of jobs taught me was how to work in customer service. While I always had multiple positions in both the theater and the skate rink, I tended to end off at the cash register and concession stands tending to cyclical lines of customers. There were always a few peaks and valleys where long lines and chaos in the beginning, right before a movie started or a skating session opened. Then there would be a slow point where you could restock, regroup, and make any adjustments needed before the next wave. It is funny how my current job is like that where I have peaks and valleys. There are busy times where individuals need quick problem-solving solutions followed by having times to regroup implement lessons learned. A few years ago, I volunteered at a concession stand for a non-profit at a golf tournament. While it was long hours and I was standing for most of the day, I felt the excitement of my earlier years working the registers and the time flew by. It made me first appreciate the flashback of feeling like a high school kid again and secondly appreciate that I could do it for a day or two and not 40 hours a week.
Having seen how my first jobs shaped my working years, it has me wondering how it will shape what I do once work is optional. While I enjoy what I am doing now and have a passion for it, I anticipate family life and passions my change any maybe be my current work becomes the think I enjoy but then appreciate that I only need to do it for a month or two before I go on to the next passion project of where ever I spend most of my free time.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time now and could you imagine doing it full-time? Have you gotten to the point where work is optional? If so, how has that changed your outlook?