Most important lesson learned in 2008: Follow your passion.
“Don’t just go for the dough, do what you are passionate about and somehow the dough will come to you. Even if it doesn’t, at least you’re doing something you enjoy.”
When my friend Mark Bullett said that to me on August 2nd, 2007, he was merely elaborating on my saying the same thing, but the true beauty of this quote is that I wasn’t so much inspired when I more or less said it myself, but when I heard Mark say it back to me. This was my moment of enlightenment.
To preface just a wee bit, within a few short months of getting my degree in late 2006, I struck out in search of the lucrative career promised by all those guidance counselors over the years. As I bounced from one disappointing burn out to another, I began trying to land somewhere more aligned with my interest in cars. I was venting about how much I hated working at Enterprise Wreck-A-Life when Mark finally found the switch that made everything click.
Lovely day for a Guinness (and a chat)!
January 2008 found me getting much closer to following my passion, working in sales for Motorweb.com. The pay was less than I had made in years, but I spent my days working on 2GNT while chatting with car guys like myself on the phone about things that made cars faster. Had the company not been struggling with poor decisions made long before I was hired, I might still be there today.
By summer of this year, I found myself growing increasingly frustrated with Motorweb’s situation and began searching for something else. Much to my surprise, I found an opportunity posted on Craigslist of all places which listed as one of the requirements, “Experience with online communities.” Having been an administrator on 2GNT for more than a year at that point, I could not believe there might actually be an online community which had paying job opportunities. How many times have we applied for jobs which look good, but about which we aren’t necessarily excited? This was a thrilling prospect and I went after the position ravenously.
I’ve been with Toolbox.com for something like five months, now, and I’m still excited. I work with outstanding people and take pride in being a part of something bigger than myself. Social media is all the rage these days, and it’s like I’m on the front lines. User groups, blogs, wikis, and technical research all under an umbrella of forward-thinking management. It’s a corporate culture of encouraging employees to take ownership and initiative in a safe, supportive environment. Sure, they sold the pool table last month, but unlike the dot coms eight years ago, we actually needed the room for more people.
It turns out that I am truly passionate about people using the internet to improve the quality of their lives. It’s called “social media” these days, but I think this all came from those of us who were sharing information and ideas with friends we made in online discussion forums or the email lists that came before them. I can remember a few years back when, after installing the engine into my Talon for the third or fourth time, I realized (and told others) that I enjoyed “modifying the community more than modifying the cars.”
I’m still very passionate about cars, though. It might not be obvious now, but a month ago, this website was dedicated to one of my own cars. 2008 was a tremendously productive year for “195,” so, before I get into any new year’s resolutions, I think I’ve got some unfinished business on Tarmac & Gravel to address…
The last thing a Kia saw in February.