I recently received an email with the subject line, “Three Cheers for Change.” It is the story of Erin McElvaney, and her interpretation of Goal-Free Living, based on her own experiences. For Erin, it means leading a life of adventure. For now, that is her compass setting. I predict that through her travels and new experiences, she will find something that really gets her jazzed up — something unpredictable — that will become her new compass setting. Something that will become a full-time entrepreneurial endeavor. Goal-Free Living is about playing full out in the game of life. What is the game you want to play?
By age 23, I was the poster child for “success” in the eyes of my family and friends. I had a great job at a leading technology company, where I had been working for a little over a year as a software engineer. I was making more money that 99% of the people in my graduating classes. In order to get there, I worked my butt off for years through college, maintaining 4.0’s and honors and taking internships and jobs all year round. I felt locked into my lifestyle. I *had* to take that job or *had* to apply for the *best* positions.
But work was not inspiring. None of my colleagues were happy. They worked 50+ hours a week and didn’t have much going on outside work. Morale was awful. The company didn’t care about us as employees. And you would be hard pressed to hear an interesting conversation on the whole campus of 10,000+ employees. After seeing how crummy full-time employment in a big tech company can be, I started to make some REAL changes…and I quit my job.
You should have seen their faces when I left. My boss assumed I had another job lined up. But I didn’t, and I couldn’t have been happier about it. In fact, what I had lined up was what I called “QUITFEST 2005″ — a string of celebrations and travels to commemorate the fact that I stuck through that job for a whole year.
I bought a one-way ticket to Europe – without a destination. I found out where I’d fly into on the day of my flight. I spent two months traveling Europe, mostly by myself. I started work on my own website that relates to travel. I’d love to help others plan their own trips abroad. Or help them NOT plan their trips. If you have too many goals in your travels, you miss out on some of the best parts –the adventures, mishaps, and meanderings.
Two months later I flew home for the holidays and have been working part time jobs doing marketing promotions. I am so happy to have social interaction in a job for once! I work as a photographer and promoter every weekend a few nights for an entertainment guide website. I also worked at a restaurant for the first time in my life. I loved it! I met some wonderful people who live amazingly real and happy lives, without all the stresses and goals of the people I spent so much time around in college and in my other job.
I am so excited about my present and my future nowadays. Years ago I was always looking for that future. It was as if I was planning for retirement before I even began my career! Now that I’m through my initial life-altering change, I’m looking forward to years more ahead of me. My daily activities have gone from “sitting at my desk, hating my pointless work, accumulating money in the bank because I have no vacation time to enjoy myself with” — to – “looking for odd jobs to help pay the bills, learning some Italian and planning my next adventure, after which I’ll be out interacting with strangers and meeting new people.”