I Hate Your Job

My Story

As the author of this site, I’ve kept my personal story out of the content for the most part. For a while, I even tried to hide my age for fear of being dismissed as too young. On top of that, I didn’t see my story as being all that relevant or interesting until now.

I think it’s time I more fully shared my background with you, and I imagine most of you can relate to at least some aspect of the story, maybe even all of it.

High school

I went to a public high school and made A’s and B’s. I was bad at doing homework but great at tests. My parents were frustrated at my laziness, and I knew I could do better if I really wanted to. A typical cop out.

College

I’d learned to work hard at the end of high school, and in college, I took that to an extreme. I was a member, leader, or founder of everything I could find, I tried to befriend everyone on my 30,000 person campus, and I read everything.

If I underachieved in high school, I was trying to make up for it in college. For those who are interested, I was on scholarship for music and graduated with a degree in Philosophy. I also hope my football team wins tomorrow as I am a huge fan. [Edit: They won: UGA 42-UF 30]

Work

Deciding against a PhD in Philosophy, I took the only job I felt qualified for: A sales job on the phones. I worked like mad, and I was incredibly successful for a while. In a large company (3000 employees), the CEO, along with most everyone else in management, knew me by name and by sight.

Failure and Quitting

I quit after a year and a half, but my boss wasn’t too upset about it when I did. I had trouble selling in my new territory once I was promoted outside, and I was ready to move on for about a dozen other reasons as well.

I stay in touch with some great friends I made there, and I learned a lot. It also inspired this site, though, so it wasn’t all roses.

Wandering Around

I earned money as a freelance writer while working with some people on various business ideas. I started this blog in conjunction with one of those ideas: a career assessment business. While initially a marketing effort for that business, I quickly realized I was much more interested in writing than I was in the nuts and bolts of the business. I told my former partner, thanked him, and we remain friends as he’s having success with other ventures.

Present Day: Writing

Through all of this, I’ve learned that I want to write professionally. Fiction, nonfiction, columns, articles, posts, copy–you name it. This blog is a part of working toward that goal. I also have another blog I just started for all thoughts not related to work. Its location is a secret for now because it’s raw, but I’m loving it.

I work part-time to cover rent, my wife teaches school, and we are very happy if not wealthy. All other hours I spend writing.

While I’m usually confident and optimistic about what I’m doing and where I’m headed, I have doubts about my ability to achieve success in writing almost daily, even if only for a moment. It’s exciting and frightening at the same time.

I just added some commercials to this site to try to take another step toward writing as a living. The money step. Since design and coding do not come easily to me, I’m somewhat limited in realizing my vision for this site, but I think it’s making progress over time.

That pretty much brings you up to date on my journey.

Your Future

So far I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know some of you pretty well, and many more of you have been kind enough to pause and let me know when a particular article has been helpful to you. I appreciate that greatly.

Really, this site is about you and your future happiness. I want you to be in the best job possible for you and your situation, and I want you to have some fun along the way. Life’s too short to do otherwise.

-Chuck

Other Posts You Might Enjoy:

• We Have A Winner!
• Twenty Years From Now: Regrets or No Regrets
• Like A Phoenix, Rise From The Ashes of A Sucky Job
• Why do I hate your job?
• 5 Job-Related Reasons to Stay Connected to Your Friends