Thinking back to 2007
Today is the end of the year. I am thinking back over at this moment to what happened in my life this year. There were so many things...so many things happened...The biggest thing for me was I changed my job. That changed my life a lot.As some of you might know, I had been thinking about my career. "What I wanna do, where I wanna work, what kind of person I wanna be..." I asked myself those things over and over. Well, I knew what I wanted to do but I did not know where. I did not know where I can make the most of my personality and experiences. That could be the place I was at or there would be another place...
Since I wanted to contribute to people's financial plans and lifetime, I started my career as a sales staff in a financial firm. I was willing to work for the company and liked my coworkers. I also liked meeting and talking with the customers. But I could not be proud of what I was doing.. As a sales, I "had to" achieve my sales quota (goal/norma) by selling products, which is just the normal thing for a profit company. I knew it, but...It was ok to work as a sales, but I did not feel comfortable with the company's way honestly. Thinking about "have to" made me weight selling more than giving financial advices. So, I wondered about if I should be there or find another place.
And through the job, I also realized I want to work for somebody else or support someone. And I preferred to be at an international environment for my working place.
Around a spring season, I strongly felt I wanted to become a flight attendant, which was my teenage dream. I wanted to fly away, see the world, meeting people from all over the world and do a hospitality job. I really wanted to do that. At the time, I thought I might be regret someday if I do not even try to become a flight attendant, so I decided to try. I also started to go to an airline school at the same time. But you know, I could not quit working to live by myself, so I kept working and focused on applying to only foreign airlines which I was interested in and were worthwhile working for me. And I set the "deadline" as well. If I cannot become a flight attendant till the end of this year, I would give up. I decided it.
I was working, going to the airline school and taking interviews with airlines. Of course I was busy but I felt good compared to the time when I was just working. Maybe it was because I was seeing something bright for my future by making my dream come true. But it was not easy to become a flight attendant as I imagined. The job is still so popular here in Japan, and I am not tall enough to be a flight attendant. Every time I did not pass the interview, I was down and cried at times. But I tried to be positive.
I continued trying to become a flight attendant untill around the end of fall. But I started to think there would be another place where I can contribute. I did my best for a flight attendant, so I thought I will not regret anymore. I could think in that way, and the timing was good for me. One of my acquaintances who works for another financial firm asked me if I am interested to work as a sales assistant for his company. When I was asked about the job, I thought that might be also what I was looking for or I can make the most of my abilities.
As I knew about the company and the job, I got interested in working for the company as an assistant. I got the opportunities to meet the people and take interviews with them. Everything went so smooth at the time. It was like "meant to be". When I received the job offer from the company, I almost decided to work for the company.
It was really hard to quit the company because I needed to discuss with my supervisors and boss. I discussed why I want to change my job with them for hours everyday. It was my first career change, so I did not know if my decision was right or not. I considered it over and over. Well, I knew I want to change my working place and position, but could not have the confidence for my decision. Many people gave me advice, which I appreciated. Finally my boss accepted my feeling toward my career change.
I left the company at the end of Oct and began to work for another company from Nov. Especially this couple of months, many things happened to me and my life changed a lot. Now I feel I am doing what I want to do. People in my company and working environment are great. I do not feel stress at all. I even enjoy my work. Things got much more better than I expected. Of course, I need to work hard and learn a lot of things though.
If you are making your dreams come true, it is very hard to give up them. Nobody wants to regret your life, you know? As long as you decide for yourself if you keep chasing your dreams or go to another road in your life, I think you will be satisfied with the result. As for me, I was glad to try to become a flight attendant even though I could not make it. Now I am satisfied with my decision to stay in a financial world and to change my position at another company. Follow your heart...
I was loosing my smile when I was wondering about my job, but now I can smile. I finally found my place.
Tough time makes us grow, don't you think? 2007, it was the challenging year for me.
posted by Maffie @ 9:31 PM
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