One of the first indications that I had no idea of what I was doing in my youth with respect to a career was the fact that I didn’t even consider acquiring an educational degree – in anything. To make matters worse, I didn’t even have a good reason, such as being the son of a business owner that would one day be taking it over, learning all about it at the feet of the master. Of course, nowadays that is all the more reason why one should absolutely pursue a business, accounting, or some other helpful degree.
Further, if I was a budding entrepreneur who couldn’t wait to begin building a business because I would miss the opportunity of filling a niche that would be obvious to all – requiring quick action to ensure market share – not continuing with school would also be understandable. Besides, one can always return, right?
The same goes with those that simply are not or were not ever cut out to be in a classroom, or at least a classroom with four walls over four or more years. I, unfortunately, was neither of these either.
In summary, I had no burning desire to start a business of any kind, nor did I have the ability to see a service that was lacking in the world, let alone the wherewithal to imagine a solution I could provide even if I did see it. I also didn’t hate (high) school, but that was because I really only looked at it as a place to go as that’s where my friends – not to mention the girls – were.
What I was, was immature, and that ensured that I couldn’t see that I was also, at that time, officially and undeniably off track. To make matters worse, despite having moments of mental clarity then that spoke to me, telling me that I was falling behind – especially when I was among my friends (and those girls) that were attending college or university – I foolishly ignored those premonitions, maintaining the status quo.
During those days I had two great friends, both named Doug. One of them chose to attend college and was rewarded a good job upon graduating, near our hometown. With this, he secured his and his family’s future by taking all the right steps to “make more monie” and memories, enabling them all to have a beautiful home with a pool, toys, vacations, and of course, post-secondary education for all of the kids.
My other example is one that demonstrates that no matter how unassuming one may be (or appear to be to his friend), one is capable of doing great things simply by, well, just doing them.
During this same time, while I was wandering aimlessly through life – convincing myself that things would somehow work out – this Doug joined the Canadian Navy, beginning a life-long adventure that continues to this day. In fact, being a member of the Atlantic Fleet Diving Unit back then, which provided access to SCUBA equipment, facilitated his and his awesome wife’s “meet cute”. It seems our unassuming hero retrieved some valuable jewelry for his damsel in distress from the murky depths, and the rest is history.
A quick glance at his social media shows that after we parted ways, his traveling the world as a member of the Canadian Armed Forces, all the while shouldering increasing responsibilities – then being promoted and paid for it – undoubtedly provided him the time and perfect conditions under which he would gain life experience and its byproduct, maturity. It seems to me that if one has no one around to guide them, such as was the case with those like yours truly, maturity is what’s required to make astute life decisions.
Those decisions resulted in his attending not only the Royal Military College of Canada, but the Technical University of Nova Scotia and Saint Mary’s University as well, all resulting in him having a great career as an Aerospace Engineer at the Department of National Defence. Now, retired from the Armed Forces, carrying all of those great memories of his exploits, he travels the world as a consultant for them.
In betting on himself all those years ago, Doug hit the trifecta. He’s realized a way to live his passion while earning a paycheck, all the while collecting a pension. Not bad for our (not so) unassuming hero, eh?
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