Grown-up Sandbox: Get a Life, Not Just a Job

As my kids moved quickly through their teenage years, I always explained to them that, when it's time to be a grown-up and support yourself, make sure you choose a profession you enjoy.

Get a Life, Not a Job is a book written by Paula Caligiuari Ph.D, a Psychologist and Professor at Rutgers University. If you need to work 40 hours a week, you damn well better love what you do, or you could be setting yourself up for a life of misery.

For the last 37 years, I wake up every morning looking forward to going to work. You spend 94,365 hours of your life working, which is nearly half your life. A recent Gallup Pole found that only 32% of U.S. workers enjoy their jobs, and, sadly, 50.8% are just putting their time in, using minimum energy to get the job done.

I consider myself very lucky because I've known, since the age of 15, exactly what I wanted to be and I-95 helped make that dream come true. What about a teenager approaching college age who has no idea what they want to do or be?

According to Professor Caligiuri's book, narrow down your choice of college majors by identifying your strengths, hobbies, values, and interests. There are also many high school students who decide to forgo college to pursue a trade like plumbing & heating or auto mechanics, by attending schools like Abbott Tech or Kaynor Technical High Schools.

Obviously, making enough money to support yourself when it's time to leave the nest is the goal, but imagine if you're able to find a job that you can't wait to get to. Even on a Monday morning. Lou and I equate our job to "Going to play in our grown-up sandbox!" We hope you find your sandbox.

Listen to Ethan Carey on the Ethan & Lou Show weekdays from 5:30-10AM on 95.1 FM. You can listen online at i95rock.com/listen-live/ or by downloading the radioPup app for your mobile device.