UNITED STATES—What do you do when you have work or job opportunities arise that you never expected? I’ll tell you, it delivers a curveball that you least expected. It felt like the pandemic, while a lot of bad transpired, I know so many people who quit their jobs and focused their attention on starting their own business. A lot of people developed skills and re-discovered skills they forget about and used it to make a dream come to fruition.

Yes it does seem like a daunting task, but it has happened more and more and as a result you are seeing more people become their own bosses and not allowing others to dictate how they live their lives and what they do. I mean if you can be your own boss why in the world would you NOT want to accomplish such a thing. The pandemic forced many businesses to reevaluate their strategy when it came to how they treated their employees and the recruitment of employees. Before 2020 most people were just forced to stick with forgive me for saying a sh*** job.

Today the options are endless and people are very selective and choosy in terms of what they decide to commit their time to when it earns money. I mean most businesses right now in my neck of the woods are offering at least $14-$15 per hour. That is indeed a decent hourly wage, compared to perhaps earning $10-$11 per hour before the pandemic erupted. Could this mean we’ll see more companies offer a livable wage to their workers?

One would assume yes, but what do you do when you have multiple options presented on the table for you to decide from in terms of your career trajectory? Are you thinking about money? What about your availability? What about benefits or health insurance? Paid vacations and time off? The flexibility to work from home or the office? These are a ton of things people I have chatted with lately have discussed and considered with job opportunities that have presented themselves.

I mean my sister has literally been offered 3 jobs in a week and she is weighing all her options and rightfully so. With one job she had been loyal to them more than a decade and they have not treated her the best during the pandemic and now that rumblings are being heard in the workplace that she might be leaving, NOW the big wigs want to swoop in and try to keep her in place? That is the problem with so many companies. They don’t realize a good thing until they no longer have it. That happened to me with one of my jobs years ago and it’s on the cusp of potentially happening again.

The pandemic taught me that time is precious and you’re not guaranteed tomorrow. You have to go for what it is you want while you have the opportunity to do it. Why be stuck at a job that you are miserable at? One that you dread getting up and having to go to daily? One where you don’t feel appreciated, overworked and just constantly stressed? No one wants that and I think the biggest decision comes to being able to do something that makes you happy. We all want that in life, but sometimes we don’t know the best way to go about it. Sometimes you have to consider your options and try things that make you uneasy, but at the same time provide you an opportunity to explore your capabilities.

When it comes to work, career trajectory or opportunities you can never say I can’t until you actually try something to discover if it’s your calling or something that brings you a bit of happiness. At the end of the day, when it comes to work, happiness is a top priority even over money.

Written By Jason Jones