Career Quicksand, How Deep Are You Sinking? Staying At The Top Is So Hard, And Bryan Freakin' Adams!

I hope you are having a great week so far! It went from fall to winter here in Northern Canada in 1 DAY so I'm still adjusting to that. Every season here has it's own beauty, it would just be nice to get some notice before it changes.

Business

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, let go of 11,000 employees this week. That's 13% of their entire workforce. Wow just wow! It got me thinking about this post from a few years ago. If you are fortunate enough to have avoided the wave of layoffs over the past year, that's awesome. But if you've been meaning to "get out of the quicksand" that is your current role for months or years, because you are not happy, maybe your time is now?

I have been lucky enough to work out of a home office for many years. The last time I had an office to report in to, I would get stuck in traffic daily. It gave me many opportunities to look at other people’s faces, as their days were off to very “slow” starts too.

Some looked sad; others looked angry or frustrated, some had blank stares or even looked dazed. On occasion, some were smiling, while others where actually singing! It blew my mind how many people looked unhappy though. Is it realistic to believe that all of them looked that way because they were unhappy going to work? Of course not. Some must have been dealing with other issues too (some were of course frustrated by the continual traffic jams).

Most studies report that 7 or 8 out of 10 people do not like their jobs! One study in the sales profession showed that more than 50% of people should not even be sales at all! Are you one of those people getting out of bed dreading the next 8 to 12 hours every day?

Internet marketer Gary Vaynerchuk changed his entire career path because he was only 99% happy in his situation at the time. To me, that was an incredibly powerful statement. As people become more and more unhappy with their jobs over the months, years or even decades, it is like they are sinking further and further into quicksand. The more unhappy they get, the deeper they sink. On the odd occasion that they try to change jobs, they try a little bit, then just stop trying all together.

People typically want to make the switch, but “life gets in the way”. A job search gets put on the back burner. Others lack confidence, and don’t feel that they are good enough to have a shot at “career satisfaction”. Too many people settle for the status quo, and don’t take action. Some stay in a career that they just don’t like, becoming a “work robot” completing the same repetitive tasks at nauseum, for what seems like an eternity.

The next thing they know, five, ten or 20+ years have passed, and then wake up one day saying, “What the heck am I still doing here?” I can tell you from experience that being comfortable in a role that “pays the bills” does not equal happiness. Not even close.

When you are in love with your career, you should rarely be counting down the minutes until the end of the day, week, or until holidays start. I had a manager tell me that you should be excited to go to work, from the moment your feet hit the floor each morning. So many people over the years have said that “every day should feel like a Saturday”, or “your work should not feel like a job”.

It can be a good practice to check in with yourself every now and then.

• How happy are you with your career?

• Is it heading in the direction you would like it to?

If you feel “sunk”, the good news is you can always change your path going forward.

Remember, “You don’t drown by falling in water. You only drown by staying there.” – Zig Ziglar

Sports

Former Winnipeg Jets NHL hockey 1st round draft pick Kristian Vesalainen had his contract terminated in Sweden this week, after playing parts of the past few seasons in Winnipeg. He is now going to play at home in Finland, in the hopes of resurrecting his career. 

It's always tough to see highly-touted athletes struggle, but staying at the top is not easy.

I remember an ex NHL hockey player was being interviewed once on the radio years ago. He was asked what his best advice was for young, up and coming players.

"Getting to the top is difficult. Staying there is even harder".

That is so true. These athletes spend so much of their childhood and teenage years working toward their ultimate goal of turning pro, but staying there takes persistence, perseverance and a whole lot of internal fortitude.

I could not find an article about a top draft pick that struggled, disappeared, then came back on the scene a few years down the road. So I shifted my attention to undrafted players that had long and successful careers.

If you are hockey nerd like me, you'll see a lot of names from over the years that look very familiar. Click here for all the details!

Music

I've had the distinct pleasure of seeing Bryan Adams perform live many times over the years. He seems to be getting better with age, as he turned 63 last weekend. He's one of the only 55+ vocalists that I've seen over the last few years, that still sings most songs in the key that they were originally written. He sounds so impressive, close to how he did when he started over 4 decades ago.

One of my most memorable concerts was at a concert hall, with less than 2000 people. It was just Bryan on guitar, and his keyboardist on a grand piano for well over 2 hours. That is the type of concert where you really seeing vocal and musicianship shine.

If you grew up in Winnipeg, Canada, you probably claim that you were in attendance that incredibly wet August day in 1992 when Bryan played with Steve Miller, Extreme, Sass Jordan, and Deadbeat Honeymooners. What a day that was, even though I was soaked and frozen! Bryan was literally pulled off the stage, when the weather turned severe, but he still was able to play a selection of hits that are still on constant rotation to this day!

Acoustic performances really highlight his vocals. Here are some of my favourites I've been watching recently.

Run To You

The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You

Straight From The Heart

Extra Innings

On this Rememberance Day I wanted to share a quote,

"In Flanders fields the poppies blow. Between the crosses, row on row. That mark our place and in the sky. The larks, still bravely singing. Fly scarce heard among the guns below." - John McCrae

Thanks as always for reading and watching!Enjoy the rest of your week!

Tim