chinaco
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2007
- Messages
- 5,072
Wow... as I get ready to wind down my working career... I have a couple of retrospective thoughts...
I can see how things could have turned out much differently for me... It has been a lot of work (extra effort). Some people get lucky... and things fall into place easy and fortune smiles on them and it just seems to work out. My road to successful FIRE (and survival) has been more oriented towards perspiration than inspiration.
How about you?
- I clawed my way through several degrees (including graduate school)... most of the time I worked while in school... It was like working two full-time jobs. But it kept my financial situation solid.
- I made it a point to get a technical undergrad degree (high pay) with a management graduate degree (higher pay). Fantastic combination if you are in almost any technical field. It is valued and pays very well.
- I always tried to actively position myself for the best job opportunities available to me (not always the easiest) .
- I made it a point to make myself valuable to my management (whoever it was). I am valued "not because I make the boss feel good" but "because I make the boss look good". I know how to get the job done... even the more difficult jobs that others seem to avoid.
I can see how things could have turned out much differently for me... It has been a lot of work (extra effort). Some people get lucky... and things fall into place easy and fortune smiles on them and it just seems to work out. My road to successful FIRE (and survival) has been more oriented towards perspiration than inspiration.
How about you?