Having worked for most of my adult life in unsatisfying positions that left me with no sense of fulfillment or contribution, I could not explore other careers because I had to remain in this secure full time steady income position that was providing for my family’s needs, even though it was not providing for mine.
So much time had gone by, but one thing had remained the same, I was still unhappy. I began trying and did so for years but was having no success at changing my line of work. As I was getting older I was becoming weaker both personally and professionally. I was beginning to fear that I was not being considered for positions I was applying for and most likely for several reasons being age, lack of diversified work experience and education and perhaps, for the simple reason that I felt I didn’t have anything left to offer my current employer nor my possible future one since I felt so professionally exhausted.
I felt broken and perhaps, maybe others felt it too.
Having always been interested in the Real Estate Market, I saw myself spending nearly all my free time studying it, digging into it so to speak and so, I came to the logical conclusion that if I was spending so much time doing it for fun, why not study it more seriously, get licensed, and do it for a living!
Having been out of school for over 20 years, I was terrified that I would not be able to accomplish this higher goal that I was setting for myself, but I had to at least make the attempt and give it my best shot as remaining in administrative roles was no longer an option for me.
I enrolled as a student with the Ontario Real Estate Association in the Fall of 2019 and completed the Real Estate Program this last May during which I was also completing a 4 week training for a Mortgage Representative position that I had been recruited for.
Yes, you read that right, while I was completing my Real Estate Program, I was already hired as a Mortgage Representative which I ended up having to decline because Real Estate is my passion, but the point is, when you INVEST in YOURSELF, educate and specialize yourself in a specific field of expertise, you start believing in yourself and when you believe in yourself, others believe in you too!
My drive and motivation was that 1) for the rest of my working life, I never wanted to be looking for work, I wanted work to be looking for me and 2) if I hated my job I wanted to retire yesterday, but if I loved my job, I could work forever!
I had invested in myself and in my education, had specialized in not only one but two fields of expertise and I was now a qualified professional in a position where I could choose which career I wanted to pursue. Isn’t that amazing?!
Please believe me when I say ”Your greatest investment is yourself”
Notice that in ‘investment’ is the word ‘invest’ and ‘me’?
If you don’t invest in you don’t expect anyone else to.