I feel like this question is geared towards younger people, the ones just starting out in their professional journeys. Having said that, if you’d asked me this question in my early twenties I’d still come up with nothing. I never really had a career plan and I do regret that now but it is what it is. I think you’re either one of those people or you’re not. Or if you’re not, then you have parents who maybe push you along so that you have no choice but to set some goals for yourself.

I’ve stated on WordPress countless times that even though I did go to College and became a nurse, I had no real sense of direction and was like a kite on the end of a string. It seemed like my life and the people in it took me places and I was not the one on the ground holding that string. For two decades I suppose. Eeek that sounds terrible when I actually do the math. It’s not that I was completely unhappy for twenty years, I think it just took that long to make me realize what actually made me wholly happy.

It was very freeing to come to the realization that after twenty-ish years of being a nurse, I needed a change. And it was okay to make a change. I was an adult after all. Nobody was the boss of me, I was an independant woman (I’ve always said). So I do what I want as long as I have an income to pay my bills . I loved that for me.

And so I sought out other job opportunities that had absolutely nothing to do with nursing. It didn’t happen immediately and not without some dead ends but today even though I still have a nursing license, I am working as a College Instructor. And I don’t teach nursing thank goodness, I am teaching the Health Care Aide course. So it’s health related but different from nursing.

It’s the best job I’ve ever had and my employer is all about furthering education and so right now I’m also a student, at a different college, taking an online course that’s geared towards learning how to teach adults. Since I’m not a teacher by trade, I’m learning the pearls of what it takes to effectively teach and I have three years to complete the course.

So at 47 years old I’m starting career number two and I’m back in school, I’m loving every minute of it and the word retirement is not in my vocabulary. I hope to work for at least fifteen more years, or more.