How an All-Pro's Failure Can Help You Find the Right Career

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

-Albert Einstein 

Stupid is how we feel anytime we're forced into a job  that lies outside our strengths.  The excuse of "it's my first day/week/month" expires before you realize that you're really not cut out for that line of work.  I think many of us just starting out in the post-college, "you must find your dream job ASAP" world are feeling this especially.  But what if what Einstein says is true, and we're all just fish trying to climb trees?  What would that look like?

Emmitt Smith was a terrible television analyst. Think of watching an inexperienced anchor on a small market, low budget evening news broadcast, then imagine them reading off a teleprompter that was covered in grease. That's how uncomfortable Smith looked as he desperately tried to recap a game we'd all just watched. However, outside of his brief stint in TV, his overall body of work:

• Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2010
• The NFL's all-time leader in rushing yards 
• Three time Super Bowl champion 

Those are just the highlights. That is, the three big accomplishments he'd mention in the "summary" section near the top. He could fill out the rest with:

• MVP of Super Bowl XXVIII
• Eight Pro Bowl selections 
• Four time All-Pro 

Emmitt Smith gave us a great idea of what happens when a genius in is placed out of their element. The calamity that ensues leaves no idea of the aptitude the individual has for greatness, albeit in another line of work. 

So if Smith could do perform so well in one profession and so poorly in another, it's reasonable to assume that we're wired similarly. If you're a bad cashier, that doesn't mean you wouldn't make an excellent dance instructor.  If your job in the corporate world isn't going well, maybe you'd make a great youth pastor.  That terrible waiter at your favorite restaurant could find great success as a graphic designer. One person's nightmare is another's dream job.  

If you're performing somewhere between average and awful at your day job, it doesn't preclude you from greatness in another area. The daily struggle of just trying to make it through another day can make us oblivious to that fact. By all means, do your best at wherever you've been placed at the moment. But if your best in that area doesn't quite measure up to greatness, remember this: the most decorated running back in NFL history was an awful TV analyst. You're not alone.  Find what you're good at and chase your dreams.

When Work Feels Like Prison: A Lesson From Shawshank

"I remember thinking it would take a man 600 years to tunnel through the wall with it. Andy did it in less than 20."
-Morgan Freeman as "Redd" in 1994's The Shawshank Redemption

Earlier this week, on a typically dismal Monday, I joked that my job was starting to feel less like an early career stopgap and more like a prison sentence.  As the week went on, I found that the parallels between the last two years of my employment-- feeling unjustly confined to a place I didn't belong, the bittersweet feeling of seeing peers leaving for a life outside these walls-- made me think about the themes presented in The Shawkshank Redemption.  Each character got to prison differently and survived in various ways, but they all shared one thing in common- everyone wanted out.  The notion that working a 9-5 job is anything like imprisonment certainly seems hyperbolic, but in some ways it's actually not.

Who doesn't think that finally leaving your dull and uninspiring day job for a dream career would feel that great?

Here's a quick recap if you haven't seen the film:

Banker Andy Drufresne is falsely convicted of murder and thus sentenced to an eternity--two life sentences-- in Shawshank Penitentiary.  Through most of the film's 142 minutes, we see Andy suffer through the hardships we've typically come to associate with prison life-- assault, embarrassment, and-- after a near legal escape is thwarted by a self-serving and ironically murderous warden--  reluctant acceptance of his ill fated circumstances.  

After serving in Shawshank for over a decade, Andy seems to find peace in his prison existence.  His rewarding job in the library and cult status amongst  fellow inmates cons viewers into thinking that the moral of the film could simply be to just make the best out of a bad situation.  For an average film, and an average life, that would suffice.  However, what makes Shawshank stand out is its incredible finish.  It's not just that Andy escapes, but how he does it, that we can all learn something from.

Andy Dufresne spent years literally chipping his way to escape.  Using a rock hammer that could probably barely chip a tooth, he gradually broke his way through the concrete wall that separated him from the outside world.  Andy didn't dwell on what should have happened; he didn't lament the life he deserved.  He chose to get active in busting his way out of prison.  

What can the everyday person toiling away in a job that they hate take from this?  Jobs can feel like an indefinite prison sentence, and in many ways they're exactly that.  You may not (and probably won't) find your way out in a day.  It will likely take much longer.  But by gradually clawing away at the massive wall between your current job and freedom, you ensure that the day of your release will indeed arrive.  

What does chipping away look like for us?  Maybe it's posting that great cake recipe you love to make at office parties as a start to selling them by the slice in a new business.  How about recording your #hotsportstakes and uploading it as a podcast? Instead of waiting to make that gift basket for a friend's birthday, try selling one to a coworker.  These are all simple steps that, if built upon through persistence, can lead to the breakthrough you've been waiting on.  Pray for God's assistance along the way through discouragement and setbacks, then watch Him help you as you help yourself.

You've probably guessed that writing this blog post was my way of starting to chip away at the wall to career freedom.  It is-- and I hope it serves as inspiration to get started yourself.