Dear Determined,

You already know the answer to your own question. There’s not much I can tell you that you don’t already know and feel in your heart. What I can do is make some observations and you can use them to make up your own mind.

Look around you, most people are miserable. Ask them how life is and they moan and groan. Why do people spend so much money (and time) buying lottery tickets? I’ll tell you why, they are buying hope and a dream. That dream is to get out of their present life.

There are a few of us that love what we do but the more I ask around, I realize that we are in the minority. The thing is, rightly or wrongly, in our culture, your job is who you are. You’ll end up spending more of your life there than any other place. It ends up being part of your identity. One of the first things people ask you at a party is “so___, what do you do?” and they use that description to figure you out.

Picture yourself at that party. On the one hand you answer the question with a “I’m a ___ (what you really want to do).” On the other hand you answer with “I’m a ___ (what you really don’t want to do).” Try on both answers. How do they make you feel?

So, you’re considering a career in which one in a million people actually “make it.” What’s the difference between those that make it and those who don’t? It’s usually confidence and perseverance. You will have to believe in yourself and know you can do it. It also helps if you are surrounded by supportive people that believe in you. Talent plays a role, but sometimes not so much, sometimes it just boils down to the size of your cajones.

Most of the people that succeed in these types of careers were just like you in their teens. They probably had people telling them to ‘be realistic.’ When you hear them interviewed, they usually say “I always knew it was what I wanted to do, and I risked everything to succeed because I believed in myself.” This is usually followed by stories of years of hardship and suffering, sleeping on friends sofas, being dirt poor, but persevering because they always knew their big break was just around the corner. Could you do that, do you believe in yourself enough to stick it out through really hard times?

Let’s discuss regret. This answer won’t be the same for every person. Which would you regret more, not trying or trying and failing? Somebody, don’t ask me who, said “I’d rather regret something I did than something I didn’t do.” I personally think those are words to live by. There is no guarantee on success. However there is one thing that has a 100% guarantee; you definitely will not succeed if you don’t try.

Whatever you end up doing, be happy about why you’ve chosen it and don’t look back. There are obviously many factors to consider and as long as you weigh them all and choose carefully, you shouldn’t have any regrets at all.

Good luck!



Alexis Brown