I'm not settling... Am I?!

Our world is filled with encouragement, whether it comes in the form of corporate logos, inspiring stories or just plain pats-on-the-back from your friends and family.

Nike tells us to "Just Do It," the Army tells us we can "Be all [we] can be," school teachers tell us to go to college because that's how we're going to be successful. Encouragement is all around us, telling us to strive to be better than we were yesterday, last week, five years ago.

What happens when you are trying to better yourself and you find yourself stuck in the mud? You're trying to "just do it" but there's a roadblock. You're trapped.

Man, am I in this spot right now or what?

As I have made it pretty darn clear, you all have probably figured out that I'm pretty stuck when it comes to my current employment. I literally just spent 15 minutes playing with the Rubik's cube on today's Google homepage (which was stupid by the way because I have no idea how to figure out a Rubik's cube). I would consider that situation stuck and I'm not even talking about the puzzle.

My current job has made me reevaluate my strengths. It has made me question my abilities. It has put me in waist-deep mud with a little pink Baskin & Robbins sample spoon to dig myself out.

I have applied for a countless number of jobs in the last two months. FINALLY, I got a call back and an interview scheduled for a job that was kind of a fall back option, not because it's a lame job, but because it does not require much education and is in a field that I never considered as a career path. Retail. I don't want to go into too much detail since it isn't for-sure yet, but here's my dilemma. The job is salaried, with WAY more benefits than I currently have and (most likely) has a higher pay grade. The company gives back to the community and supports programs that I participated in as a kid. The company has many locations and what I would assume to be a pretty large opportunity for growth.

You're all like, where's the dilemma?! This is where I have reached a conundrum (LOVE that word). I don't know what I want to do with my life. There... I said it. I'm totally lost. I don't know what I want to do with my life. This position that I will be interviewing for is in a direction that I never really anticipated and people that mean a lot to me have sort of snubbed their noses at it. Not intentionally, but it has happened. That doesn't mean the job is bad, or good, but it makes me think about how I will get to where I want to go in my career. I have narrowed it down to a general field of what I want to do (community relations with an organization or corporation/business), but I don't know how to get there.

Well, actually I do. I have to start from the bottom, right? With all of the encouraging words surrounding us in marketing and in our personal lives, I feel that there is a negative stigma with starting at the bottom. People assume you're settling for something because it's easy and convenient. Now here's the difference between settling and starting: Settling is a verb, it's getting complacent, it's lacking the motivation to grow and become a better employee/person; Starting is a noun, it's the point at which you begin your growth, where you learn the basics in order to grow them. If you really think about it, how are we supposed to instantly beat out the people who have worked the lower ranks and climbed up the ladder? It's not fair to them and it's not fair to us.

Like I've said in prior blogs, we are NOT a generation of entitlement, therefore we cannot expect to be entitled. 

I'm not going to lie, I can see myself kicking butt at this job. I thrive on customer interaction and I know it would be a good fit for me, but can I get passed the negative stigma in starting lower on the totem pole? Can I see myself in a total career change? I guess we'll find out after the interview. Maybe they'll sell me like crazy? Maybe it will be a fantastic fit?

My advice to friends and e-friends is that it's never a bad idea to start at the bottom as long as you're not settling for something less than you deserve.

Don't get used to the bottom. 
Push for the top. 
Stay motivated and don't let yourself get stuck, because getting stuck sucks.

What do you think? Do you agree? Or do you think you should hold out for something better? I'd love to know!!!

Until next time. Sending good vibes to you and yours!