Getting older is no fun, although many would say that’s life and that is so true as we have no control over age, getting older, only what we do with our time here on earth. In my older age I have become increasingly observant of myself, the new generations of today and although I am not old, only 44, I still can’t help to look at others who I work side by side with, super successful people who are eons younger than me and, in my eyes, far more successful and who have done more in their short life.
I know we all have different walks of life, backgrounds, education, family dynamics that make up each of us, but I have FAILED. I should be a far better place in this life than I am today, and this is an area on contention I can not help letting go of. Do I attempt self-improvement, absolutely,
Am I well educated yes with both a bachelor’s degree and master’s in business administration and certifications. Do I have over twenty years of experience in the workforce, yes, but it has been a long hard road to get to where I am today. I am not saying people do not struggle to get somewhere, but it seems as though many reaches earlier success in career and life.
Constant Comparisons Today
I know we shouldn’t compare ourselves to others, especially those much younger than us, but it’s hard not to see that people seem far more successful in this life with less now.
I think at my younger co-workers who do the same job I am doing, making decent pay at such a young age, when I was their age, I feel I made peanuts. One could say well that’s your fault no one’s else’s, you have a choice of what you wanted to be in this life, maybe those people are better are choosing better career paths.
I know people are right, I choose career paths, I thought would lead to success, to better opportunities only to get the shaft as the employer reneged, laid me off or fired me, causing me to restart again, again and again. I am not getting any younger, actually time seems to be speeding up where I get to a point that I am no longer considered useful in this life, ill admit that many get here.
I Followed The Rules!
I ask myself did I follow the rules like so many in our generation was taught, get an education, as much education as possible and doors will open, your incomes will great compare to just a high school diploma. Sure, spend years and thousands of dollars getting degrees that most employers do not even require. It just happens I liked college, but still wanted to have degrees and pay for something that would have paid off and it hasn’t often worked in places with no degree requirements and no extra pay for having degrees.
I am led to believe and trust that it’s also the college I went to, DeVry and Keller Graduate School of management. Nothing inherently wrong with those schools, only that many employers considered those colleges as a form of joke.
Yes there were years when I truly searched and searched, job hopped in search of what I thought I wanted from a career, realizing late that I should have stayed put at a certain job until I figured things out but I didn’t do that, often changing jobs after a few short weeks and months, but that was when I was in my twenties no thinking that those years catch up to you. I see now that many who are successful at my age had a plan, stuck with a plan for building knowledge, experience and wealth and I didn’t do that, so I failed in my career.
I know we all have a restart, we can all have second chances to rebuild, enter new jobs and careers and its as if history was erased which is what I have been slowly doing but again I am not twenties, I am in my forties and the new generations appear to be far more intelligent, quicker than me.
I do worry in how I am seen now in this corporate culture, am I seen as an old fogie, ancient, outdated, a Boomer or am I seen as an equal. I have found that at my age I truly need to prove myself continuously to show I am worried to be in the ranks with the younger generations like Z’s and Millennials and eventually I will be seen like our older generations as out of touch but hope that doesn’t happen for many years. In our society we tend to discard older people especially the elderly but believe they have so much to offer we often overlook them, writing them off.
That is one of reasons I write so that one day my thoughts will be remembered, my voice and words can be read to see that I did have a voice because there may be a day where I may be stricken with disease or lose my mind due to dementia or Alzheimer’s which runs in my family.
Sadly, each day I see myself worse off as someone of value here and ask myself the question who I am, how did I get here and where I went wrong. These thoughts are regarding my career, not personal life although there are failures there too but today it’s about my career failures.
What is The Point
Some may wonder what the point of this post is, was it just to complain and NO. It’s meant to bring awareness of the value of time and how we need to choose how we use our time wisely each day especially when we are younger, because eventually time catches up with us and I can live in regret for those choices which will affect times in your time when building over the years pays off, especially when having families , bills and other cost of living in this life.
Today is me having a case of the Mondays, What else!
Joe Meyers Adventures 