What Happens When You Settle?
Most of us have settled in life. The question is was it worth it?
I remembered the first time this year I settled my happiness. I worked hard and was able to turn settling to be a Customer Service Representation from a known retail chain into becoming a Data Reporting Analyst for their Operations Department. I tried hard to find another Data Reporting position, to continue what I love. I had recruiters reaching out to me to share Data Analyst opportunities with Macys.com and Salesforce Data Specialist with the FinTech company Klarna. Both desiring a college degree. I also applied and gain interviews with a known financial firm to be a Financial Advisor. They liked my resume enough to consider me for an interview, but without a degree, I was worthless…
Till I settled… I finally started to applying to Customer Service Representative positions again. I landed with a striving digital learning platform for Charter Schools across the US.
Settling…
I settled for the position. I was happy to work for a company striving and navigating through the digital education space during the time the virus was challenging a debate of the future of education in our nation.
Although as the honeymoon phase ended, so did my desire to be in a customer service role. I remembered the idea of loving a company I worked for. The idea of loving a position that challenged me. Having the feeling of working in a career orientated environment.
Employment applications from employers were telling me that a 4 year degree with no experience in the workplace was the only way to truly start a career in society. As I created an analysis of the US economy, and its future, I let my mindset settle for the safest option, rather than challenging myself, to build the life I want.
Learning To Not Settle…
For the last four months, I have been watching endless YouTube videos from Meet Kevin, Graham Stephen, and Andrew Jikh, about Real Estate, Stock Market Investing, dividend income, and FIRE (Financially Independent, Retire Early). I always watched these videos. Watching all of them, take their minimum wage jobs or careers in Real Estate, to produce over $11 Million dollars in net worth, as I continued the position, I settled into.
I took their tips and created a better financial pathway for myself. Although, I was still settling. I continued to work a position, that wasn’t going to path its way to a career I wanted, to settle for an opportunity to just get a paycheck. I settled for a paycheck… I stopped working for a position that would mentally challenge myself and push me to be better for my future goals, for a paycheck, I didn’t truly need.
Long term, at 40 years old, I want to own my own Financial firm where I help people of all incomes to leverage both real estate, securities, equities, and bonds to their life goals and change how people look at money.
By 40 years old, I want to be financially independent to open my own business. Where the success of that business won’t mean if I’ll be able to pay my bills or not. Just to expand my way of life longer, and create wealth opportunities to those in need.
Not Settling…
Today, I woke up in the morning, and drank a caramel frappe from McDonald's. Happily, it wasn’t enough energy for me to push aside my desire to read my Real Estate textbook I recently bought to learn more about Real Estate before purchasing courses.
For so much of my life as a low income, person of color, female, I have heard that you need a college degree to get a chance and a good career. That you must work small dead end positions before you can get a chance for a career. To aim for secure yearly income with benefits, pension, or 401(k) contributions.
As someone whom desired to go into a career into Finance, a degree felt like the engine needed to start my life. Although as I continued to watch individuals that never had a college degree transform their lives into successful businesses, I realized settling, was holding me back from a career, more than following the path.
While studying for my degree in FinTech, where I am taking IT/Computer Science, Business, Finance, Psychology, and Mathematics based courses, I decided to start my career in Real Estate as a Real Estate Salesperson. Starting off in Real Estate Sales, I will be able to learn hands on how much real estate values, sells, and the complete process. I will be able to manage my own business, and use CRM systems like Salesforce to build my own analytics.
I can learn how to take the courses I am learning and applying it to my business to grow personal capital. While building the necessary skills when becoming a Financial Advisor and grow relationships and networks. So instead of getting my degree, and starting my career, I can grow in my career.
What I Have Learned From Not Settling…
I know during large life events like right now many people may feel like they don’t have the ability to not settle. The idea of a stable paycheck taunts us. Knowing at the end of the week will get a certain amount of money owed to us. Although long term, becoming an expert in these roles, make us dependable on a company, that will find us disposable when it no longer helps them. You become disposable, because letting your work that helps make a company work, be a set hourly, or yearly rate is caping your potential.
It’s even easier to settle for a position we don’t want, that doesn’t align with our goals when its stable. Nothing is really stable. We invest so much of our lives for a stable paycheck, that is truly disposable. So would you rather invest your time in something you want to do with the rest of your life? Or continue to throw away times you will never get back.
There is always a way to make more money. There is never a way to make more time. Sacrificing time for a stable amount of money, that can be replaceable, is like starting saving for retirement late. We tend to invest in ourselves last, forget to, or don’t care too. We taught people to not invest in yourself in the future, but the present.
Settling is accepting the now; and not seeing the potential of the future.
Not settling is seeing a model of your future self, and wanting a chance to meet them.
Never settle. It’s harder to do than say. But, you are worth more than that. You are worth not settling for. Invest in your future goals and self.
