Not sure if this is the kind of stuff people want to read, but I know I am always interested in hearing others have the same problems as me and learning how they over come them. I hope that by writing articles like this and continuing to create the Madman of Magic Comic Book I will find an answer for myself. More importantly, I hope it helps those of you who are also struggling with making a decision of what to dedicate your life to.
Life Choices
To be honest, I think about my career constantly and have done this for a good chunk of my life. I recently looked through an old journal from Middle School and even then I wanted to be a Magician (which I am), biologist, chemist, in the military, stuntman, screen play writer, and others. These are all careers I mentioned wanting when I was in 7th grade.
Today I have a better idea of what I want to do with my life because of my experiences, but I still struggle with this question. In this article I hope to share with you my journey through this struggle.
After High School
Going into college I thought about opening a farm that people could live on for free in return for work. Similar to a Co op farm where people purchased shares of the farm in return for produce. It still seems like a cool idea but I realized early on the cost and in-practicability of it. I did grow up on a farm, so I had that but after the first semester of college my plans had already changed.
During College
After the first semester I wanted to be a Journalist and Photographer for National Geographics. This dream was short lived as I got a C+ in English Literature. So, I changed my major to what I was good at. That was Psychology.
My plan was to become a psychologist. It seemed fun, I enjoy learning about the brain, and why people behave as they do. During that time I worked for a camp that specialized in teaching kids tools to learn better (psychological tools), I worked at a psychiatric / neurorehabilitation residential facility for children, worked for a YMCA after school program, a teen center, and volunteered to work with kids in special needs classroom. It seemed like children psychology was going to be the field I went into.
After College
During college I met my good friend Jeff Lang. It turned out we both had a strong interest in magic tricks, variety entertainment, the circus and vaudeville. Because of him I started to get back into magic and we got a grant to go to an international clown training course for two weeks. There I learned people made a living as performers even if they were not famous.
During my senior year of college I sent out promotional postcards to ever theme park in the United States and it paid off. The day after graduation I worked my first day at Six Flags Theme Park near Chicago, IL. I did that gig for two years (for thousands of shows) and was convinced that was my calling in life.
It was about a year into being a full time magician that I started thinking I wanted to move into animation and film making. I continued performing because it was my income but constantly thought about getting out. When the economy caused Six Flags to be unable to renew my contract I attempted to expand my business into a performing arts center.
My thought process was I could make money with kids entertainment through ticket sales for shows and workshops while producing films for children. That business failed and took with it all my money from two years of savings.
Graduate School
Being broke again and unsure about my future I got married and turned to the thing I loved most in my adult life so far… I went back to school. First I studied film at UW Milwaukee, but I was turned off by the fact we spent more time reading books than making films.
I made the decision then at the age of 25 to study business. I have always ran my own businesses to make side money. Elementary school I sold candy on the bus, middle school I made money with sports cards, and high school I started doing magic shows and cutting grass for neighbors. I always liked the idea of not having a real boss and working for myself, but at the same time I always had a part time job to make up for the fact I could never get a business to be fully profitable. Getting my Masters Degree in Business seemed like a smart move at the time.
My other thought was I would start a full media company that made independent films, comics, podcast, etc and distribute everything online. I took every class I could on web design, graphic design, ecommerce, web marketing, etc. with hopes of having my online media empire, my dream.
Now
Today I am two classes away from my MBA. I struggle with the idea of finishing or not since the degree itself (the piece of paper) will not help me in any way. In fact, most of the classes were a waist of time because a MBA is designed for corporate employees who want to get a raise and prove themselves to their bosses on why they should get a promotion. 99% of them never want to run their own business.
The nice thing is that I still want to own a media company but now my struggles are more on the specifics. The options I see are as follow:
- Comic Book publisher and expanding into video. With most of the stories being action oriented.
- Create an animated comedy webseries with income coming from merchandising (like homestar runner)
- Create an educational webseries for kids that is funny and teaches things they will be learning in school.
This means I have to continue thinking and exploring my options, but at least I am starting the comic book and moving forward with something.
Conclusion
I am still debating where to go and what to do with my life. The truth is I have lots of ideas but I spend so much time trying to choose one I never make a choice. I know I want to run a business and I know I want it to be in the entertainment market. Where from there I am not sure.
In the past I thought I could do several things, but I realize now I need to focus on one business niche at a time. It would be even smarter to just choose one area for the rest of my life with the possibility of expanding into other media or genres by expanding, but only if it makes sense at the time.
Your Turn
What is your dream job or business? How do you know it is what you want to dedicate your life to? Do you have a plan to get there? Leave your answers in the comment section below.
