Big Changes Ahead?
Notice the title of this blog is YELLOW's Green. Yellow does not mean we are chicken. Yellow is what both Erik and I score on Dr. Hartman's Color Code Personality Test. On the front page of his website, you'll find that Yellows "are the fun lovers. Fun, or the joy of doing something just for the sake of doing it, is what motivates and drives these people. They bring great gifts of enthusiasm and optimism and are generally charismatic, spontaneous, and sociable."
Of course he's going to say only positive attributes on the front page. In the book, you'll also read that in the career/financial world, Yellow's are the least likely to succeed. It's a result of being a fun-seeker. In college, I studied music composition because it's what I enjoyed doing. (No surprise, I didn't enjoy it nearly as much once it became something I had to do.) I even knew I didn't want to be a movie/tv score writer - because then I'd still be at the mercy of creating something to fit what someone else wants. I didn't want to be a teacher, or a professor, so really composing as a career was out. So why did I do it? For fun. When it was no longer fun (due to a piano faculty that attempted to vampire my musical soul) I got out. I like to think of my General Studies degree a certificate of creative problem solving. (Problem = how to still get a degree after five years of ever-more-expensive college while circumventing the wrath of the nasty professor.)
Erik has a degree in German Language. He's fluent in both French and German, and has a working knowledge of Spanish. He LOVES languages. To him, they're fun. He was smart to get in some great travel time while he was young. (Read the "I Will Teach You To Be Rich" series on what to do while you're young.) Erik has also been through auto mechanic's school, but isn't interested in being an auto mechanic as a career, because it fixing cars all day doesn't sound like fun. Buying cars, fixing them, and selling them did sound like fun, though, and he was self-employed doing just that. (The largest non-cash portion of our net worth is our cars.)
I've mentioned my changing thoughts on being a teacher. From any teaching experience I've had, I now think that as far as careers go, it would be fun. But I'm not certified, and I'd have to go back to college to do so. As we're in the "start your family" stage of our lives, and I highly value stay-at-home motherhood, NOW is not the time for me to go back.
Erik, has the natural skills to make an excellent engineer. Especially with the usual salary attached, it sounds like a fun career to him. Unfortunately, a degree in German does not an engineer make.
He has to take same college courses for work anyway, to acquire a journeyman's license and move up the current pay ladder. So, he's been looking into what kinds of engineering careers he could pursue, and what it would take to go back to school part-time while still working to support our family. He figured it will take about ten years to do it. Would we be better off if he instead just worked an extra job now? Is it just for the money, or really the desire for a fulfilling career? What does that mean for the next ten years?
In any case, it looks like our education savings fund is about to earn a bigger allocation...
Wish us luck in whatever we decide!
Of course he's going to say only positive attributes on the front page. In the book, you'll also read that in the career/financial world, Yellow's are the least likely to succeed. It's a result of being a fun-seeker. In college, I studied music composition because it's what I enjoyed doing. (No surprise, I didn't enjoy it nearly as much once it became something I had to do.) I even knew I didn't want to be a movie/tv score writer - because then I'd still be at the mercy of creating something to fit what someone else wants. I didn't want to be a teacher, or a professor, so really composing as a career was out. So why did I do it? For fun. When it was no longer fun (due to a piano faculty that attempted to vampire my musical soul) I got out. I like to think of my General Studies degree a certificate of creative problem solving. (Problem = how to still get a degree after five years of ever-more-expensive college while circumventing the wrath of the nasty professor.)
Erik has a degree in German Language. He's fluent in both French and German, and has a working knowledge of Spanish. He LOVES languages. To him, they're fun. He was smart to get in some great travel time while he was young. (Read the "I Will Teach You To Be Rich" series on what to do while you're young.) Erik has also been through auto mechanic's school, but isn't interested in being an auto mechanic as a career, because it fixing cars all day doesn't sound like fun. Buying cars, fixing them, and selling them did sound like fun, though, and he was self-employed doing just that. (The largest non-cash portion of our net worth is our cars.)
I've mentioned my changing thoughts on being a teacher. From any teaching experience I've had, I now think that as far as careers go, it would be fun. But I'm not certified, and I'd have to go back to college to do so. As we're in the "start your family" stage of our lives, and I highly value stay-at-home motherhood, NOW is not the time for me to go back.
Erik, has the natural skills to make an excellent engineer. Especially with the usual salary attached, it sounds like a fun career to him. Unfortunately, a degree in German does not an engineer make.
He has to take same college courses for work anyway, to acquire a journeyman's license and move up the current pay ladder. So, he's been looking into what kinds of engineering careers he could pursue, and what it would take to go back to school part-time while still working to support our family. He figured it will take about ten years to do it. Would we be better off if he instead just worked an extra job now? Is it just for the money, or really the desire for a fulfilling career? What does that mean for the next ten years?
In any case, it looks like our education savings fund is about to earn a bigger allocation...
Wish us luck in whatever we decide!
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posted by Amberlynn @ 8/02/2006 06:17:00 AM
1 Comments:
At 8/05/2006 1:40 PM,
Anonymous said…
Having a career that is fulfilling is a really big plus no matter the salaray. Taking two jobs that are not so fun just wears you out forever and doesn't get you ahead unless the extra money is earmarked for something that will get you ahead in the future.
A long term perspective is worthwhile...even if it means you have to give up a little bit of fun in the short term.
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