Midlife Crisis at 34?
I decided to make my blog closed to the general public for a variety of reasons. First, I have held back venting about my career for the most part. In this day and age of Google, I can't trust that anything I write here won't get back to my employer. I want the freedom to write FREELY. So for now on you'll have to login with a Google account to read what I write. Trust me, it will be worth it since I am going to write much more confessionally. Those who used to read my Geocities Thoughts page will recall the days of the early 2000s when I wrote extremely openly. It was almost too openly so I made it private in 2003, again from a fear of my employers or potential employers. So here goes! Welcome to the 2010s and the new, fresh, confessional Anthony is back.
I often wonder how the term "midlife crisis" came to being. The definition on Wikipedia states, "For the approximately 10% of middle aged adults who go through an age-related midlife crisis, the condition is most common ranging from the ages of 30-60 (a large study in the 1990s[5] found that the average age at onset of a self-described midlife crisis was 46). Midlife crises last about 3–10 years in men and 2–5 years in women."
At 34, I think I am going through a midlife crisis. Some would say this is an "early onset" of the condition. When I think of a midlife crisis, I often picture a 45-year-old guy driving down the street in a red convertible sports car with a 20-something woman in the passenger seat.
I'm just questioning everything that I am doing now. I'm severely questioning my career and where it's headed. I don't want to be stuck in a marketing specialist position for a technology company forever. I'd rather work in marketing for something I have passion for like natural and organic foods, baked goods, tennis, running, fitness & health, art, photography, culture, LGBT rights, public radio, etc. The problem is most of these types of jobs are very difficult to find and when I do see an opening for something related to it, they want experience within that industry. My marketing experience within software and other technology companies puts me into a box. I can't get out of this box no matter how hard I try. I guess it's all about positioning myself. Unfortunately in this job market it's extremely difficult to make a transition to a new industry. There are so many people with experience in that specific industry that all of the people like me, who have the passion and the skills, are shut out.
I regret taking this job in OC. I should have waited and been more patient last March when I lost my job in San Diego. I had a great severance package. I had unemployment as well. I had very cheap rent and I was the apt manager so I had even less expenses. I could have made it work. But what did I do? I played it safe, like I do so often. I took the only job offer I got after 6 weeks of job searching. March of 2009 was probably the worst part of the The Great Recession. I didn't trust that I would get any other offers. Of course a few months after moving up to OC I got several calls for contract positions in San Diego. I am sure some of those would have transformed into full-time positions. I never even got a chance to pursue them. I know that if I had stayed in San Diego I would have made it work somehow.
So that brings me to my current strategy. I decided to purchse a short sale condo in San Diego. I put an offer in and now I have to wait for the bank to approve my offer. It make take a few more months. It's been about 3 weeks since the offer was submitted. My goal is to be living in this condo by June. I already told my work that I would be purchasing the condo. I asked to be a remote employee for 3 days a week and drive into the office 2 days. My boss wouldn't allow it. He will let me work remote on Fridays. So I'll have to rent a room in OC Mon-Thurs AM. I already found a woman who has a room in Irvine. I'll have to pay additional rent to her and also pay my mortgage. Hopefully I won't have to do this very long. We'll see. I have an opportunity I am pursuing within the natural foods market. It's a big risk but it could pay off immensely.
I often wonder how the term "midlife crisis" came to being. The definition on Wikipedia states, "For the approximately 10% of middle aged adults who go through an age-related midlife crisis, the condition is most common ranging from the ages of 30-60 (a large study in the 1990s[5] found that the average age at onset of a self-described midlife crisis was 46). Midlife crises last about 3–10 years in men and 2–5 years in women."
At 34, I think I am going through a midlife crisis. Some would say this is an "early onset" of the condition. When I think of a midlife crisis, I often picture a 45-year-old guy driving down the street in a red convertible sports car with a 20-something woman in the passenger seat.
I'm just questioning everything that I am doing now. I'm severely questioning my career and where it's headed. I don't want to be stuck in a marketing specialist position for a technology company forever. I'd rather work in marketing for something I have passion for like natural and organic foods, baked goods, tennis, running, fitness & health, art, photography, culture, LGBT rights, public radio, etc. The problem is most of these types of jobs are very difficult to find and when I do see an opening for something related to it, they want experience within that industry. My marketing experience within software and other technology companies puts me into a box. I can't get out of this box no matter how hard I try. I guess it's all about positioning myself. Unfortunately in this job market it's extremely difficult to make a transition to a new industry. There are so many people with experience in that specific industry that all of the people like me, who have the passion and the skills, are shut out.
I regret taking this job in OC. I should have waited and been more patient last March when I lost my job in San Diego. I had a great severance package. I had unemployment as well. I had very cheap rent and I was the apt manager so I had even less expenses. I could have made it work. But what did I do? I played it safe, like I do so often. I took the only job offer I got after 6 weeks of job searching. March of 2009 was probably the worst part of the The Great Recession. I didn't trust that I would get any other offers. Of course a few months after moving up to OC I got several calls for contract positions in San Diego. I am sure some of those would have transformed into full-time positions. I never even got a chance to pursue them. I know that if I had stayed in San Diego I would have made it work somehow.
So that brings me to my current strategy. I decided to purchse a short sale condo in San Diego. I put an offer in and now I have to wait for the bank to approve my offer. It make take a few more months. It's been about 3 weeks since the offer was submitted. My goal is to be living in this condo by June. I already told my work that I would be purchasing the condo. I asked to be a remote employee for 3 days a week and drive into the office 2 days. My boss wouldn't allow it. He will let me work remote on Fridays. So I'll have to rent a room in OC Mon-Thurs AM. I already found a woman who has a room in Irvine. I'll have to pay additional rent to her and also pay my mortgage. Hopefully I won't have to do this very long. We'll see. I have an opportunity I am pursuing within the natural foods market. It's a big risk but it could pay off immensely.
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