Quote sourced from a prior post about Careeable Founder, Katie Smith,
I was waiting around for someone to realize how cool I was. I wanted to be famous. Advertising didn’t do it. Being a hostess at a hot restaurant didn’t do it. Being (or attempting) to be an actress didn’t do it. So I went to law school and went into entertainment law. I figured I would be around famous people. It was so pathetic. I had no sense of what I enjoyed. Imagine what I would have discovered if I had spent more time looking inward for validation than outward. If i took the time to realize I am cool enough.
I hated law. I would close my door and cry everyday. Or call my mom and complain. It took 20 years of complaining to do something about it. I went to a career counselor. I tried to make a rational decision based on a personal assessment test vs a feeling of what I would like to do. That didn’t work. I kept coming up with I wanted to go to parties and play tennis. Then I took a writing class. It was so fun. And I was good. I started thinking about leaving. I took a second class in magazine and newspaper writing. I started pitching stories and getting assignments. I got this assignment for a bigger article and I shut my door and wrote and I wasn’t miserable. I eventually got the confidence to quit. Now I am not famous per se. But I have my byline and I have my self worth. – a 40-something, journalist
Lesson learned: don’t go chasing fame or the shiny object. Figure out what makes you shine. And take classes!