Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum Career decision/regret

I wish I would've opened my own business. I'm about as close to self-employment as I can get, but I'm still under someone's thumb, still subject to someone else's ideals and workflow.

But I didn't have the knowledge or maturity to all those years ago when I could've taken the risk Now I have the knowledge (maturity still questionable), but can't afford to take the risk anymore.

I don’t regret going to college and grad school, but do wish I would have been smart enough to get into the trades. Particularly either electrical or welding. Could have my own operation by now if I’d have started then. And after dealing with electrical contractors on a daily basis I feel confident I could handle the business side of things well enough to be successful.

I left a big corporate job after 20+ years to try and spend more time at home. We moved from the big house in the city to our farm and I took a promising job with a small company close to home that seemed like the right move. Lots of promises that didn't come to be.. Should have stayed in the air conditioned corp world...getting ready to make another change soon. Huge investment and I'll have to work another 10 years or so to ensure my son has a good handle on the biz but it'll all be worth it.

if I could go back id have joined the military and done my 20 and moved on from there.

I have enjoyed almost every job position I have had over the course of 33 working years but the co workers/ managers/owners at them have really sucked and made them unenjoyable.
I turned in my 2 week notice to my employer of 14 years in June and went to work for a customer of theirs who offered me a position. So far after 3 months I couldn't be happier. My stress level went from a constant 8- 9 to almost zero. I took a pay cut and gave up a company vehicle but I don't wake up and dread going to work now. Doing something you enjoy and not stressed by is something far more people should seek out.

Genesis 3:17-19 (KJV) And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Here's my philosophy on it - it's called work for a reason. It's not supposed to be fun. The idea that your job oughta make you happy is an Americanized idea that is fairly recent. For most of our past, and for most of the world now, you work to put food on the table and support your family. Do that well, and then maybe you will have some extra money to have fun. So instead of finding a job that makes you happy, find something you are good at doing and that will also make enough money to support yourself and your family. But I am an old vocational educator, and the elite folks insisted we weren't needed and that everyone should go to college and get a liberal arts degree so that they could become self-actualized.

I did read an article once about a study that found that job that had the highest satisfaction rate was dozer operator, and I can understand that. Move a bunch of dirt and you can see that you accomplished something.

I have no regrets except not getting a 4 year degree piece of BS paper that said I got an education in most things that don't pertain to a job. Funny how that paper is valuable by the group idots that have one, but are stupid as heck.

I dont really know if I regret anything or not since it seems to have worked out ok. I went to college and got a BS in Businss Administration and Accounting.
I never did really use it , but it opened some doors I think. I worked as a truck driver for a while after college, Accountants didnt make much in the 70s without being a CPA,
Took the test and almost passed it. Never took it again . Worked for the railroad a while until they moved me up north. Came home and worked for the government and now retired. Thank the Lord.

I wish I'd gotten in the business I'm in now , 10 years sooner.

I served in the military so no regrets there. It was an experience that would probably be good for most folks to have had. I never had even a remote desire to make it a career.

I did a lot of construction work in the summers before I went in and always enjoyed designing and building things. After i got out I tried several things and took a job at a small engineering company my Dad worked at after his construction company went bankrupt. (During the Carter administration I believe that home loans were going for about 18% interest if you can remember or imagine that. So not many people were building houses.)

I started with that company making $3 an hour running errands, running blueprints and scrubbing (Making corrections to) engineering drawings. That was about 40 years ago. Now I am a Civil Design Project Leader for a large utility company and make as much salary and have as much responsibility as folks with Bachelor and Master's degrees in Civil Engineering.

I do regret that I never finished my Civil Engineering degree. But I can't complain, I love my job, I love what I do, I love the people that I work with, I even love my company (Although I still bitch about it sometimes ) they have been very good to me. I love the feeling of accomplishment and pride that comes with daily tackling a complex problem, designing a solution, working out all the details, managing the project, seeing it come to fruition, and finally being there when it's all built and working like it should. I'm constantly faced with new challenges everyday, and I love that stuff. It keeps my mind sharp.

I think a lot about whatever you do is attitude. I remember my first job... Pumping gas at the Citgo in Cahaba Heights. I had my blue shirt with my name sewn on it, and I would go out there, talk to those Mountain Brook women, fill up their tank, check the oil and transmission fluid, wash their windshield (getting all the bugs off) and check their tires. I was probably one of the best gas jockeys you have ever seen. Even though I was pumping gas I took pride in what I did, and I still do that today almost 50 years later.

Being happy is where its at...I went to college n moved to Trussville for a retail manager job for a few years and it sucked...not the job but corporate...bought a grocery store from a guy my grandad sold to in 2010 kept it going till 2018 and it was rewarding but stressful, I couldn't keep afloat last couple years and sold it...I now work for my grandad on cattle farm and excavation biz and will take over when he passes, I don't make as much money now but I'm very happy with what I'm doing now

It isn't as rewarding when you're ate up with arthritis. It's nice to see the results of your efforts happening right in front of you, but once you get beat up for a few hours, the gratification dwindles.
Now, if we're using instant gratification as our benchmark, then you have to place a pressure washer right up there high on the list.
Whether it's a brick wall, driveway or cattle trailer, the amazing pressure washer delivers immediate, almost climactic, satisfaction.
I don't think my wife will ever understand the love affair with my pressure washer. But I keep telling her if I could marry a machine this would be it.
I can play with it for hours, it doesn't argue, it never criticizes my work, and most importantly I can turn it off when I'm tired of hearing it!

Pushing down trees was actually more gratifying to me than moving dirt. I never got very good at smoothing dirt, but I learned how to push down a tree in the first few minutes. I had a chinaberry in a field that had been plaguing me for decades, and it sure was satisfying to push it into the woods.

My pressure washer is a Northern tool piece of junk and it gets me soaking wet every time I use it. I wouldn't wanna marry it, but it is fun to play with on a hot summer day.

I wasted the better part of a decade living in rebellion from Christ while all the while claiming to know Him, but living in open, perpetual sin. No telling how many people I led astray with my hypocrisy... It keeps me awake at night.

You can't blame yourself for the life decisions of others. God's grace covers us all regardless of our past and present transgressions. The love of God's grace is a wonderful thing.

Yes! Romans 5 tells us that our faith brings us peace. and we can rest assured that Christ has removed all of our guilt along with our iniquities. We are actually called to feel no more guilt after we become redeemed, however, I feel it lingering sometimes, and my flesh still struggles with it.

I regret going to college. All we heard growing up is if you don’t get a degree you’ll end up in that cotton mill. Well that was a lie they closed every mill down before we were 30. I graduated with honors and yes I make decent money but having a degree also gave me a sh....t life. I work for a billion dollar company and I am salaried. I have no say, none in my career or life. The corporation owns me. My department works 6 days a week most every week and we all lose about 60 to 80 hours of vacation every year. 0 overtime or comp time. If I had a do over I would’ve learned a trade or made sure I had a union job where my time couldn’t be exploited for profit and what’s acceptable by the employer and is legally binding.

Real estate has been a gamechanger for me and my family. I hopped back in it in late 2015, became one of the top agents in Tuscaloosa by 2017 and started my own company by 2018. Today my company has grown to over 30 agents and I don't even sell anymore, all I do is coach the agents I have and recruit new ones to join us. I'm 34 and by the spring I will have somebody running my Tuscaloosa location so I can focus on finding business partners in other cities to start new locations. We've got a Pensacola branch opening up on January 1. If I won the lottery tomorrow I would keep doing what I'm doing because it's challenging and rewarding and I've ended up being pretty decent at it. 20 locations by 2030 is the goal and then I won't know what to do with myself once I get there but I'm dang sure gonna try anyways

Double edged sword. If I hadn't gone down my initial career path I would have never met my wife, so I wouldn't have the 2 awesome kids I have. Although, I regret every day I spent in the poultry industry.

My initial career choice was to be a contractor. That's what I should have done. I enjoy building things.

I really enjoy what we do now and I can tell you that after 7.5 years of being self employed, there's no way I could go back to work in a profession for someone else.

I already have my retirement job lined up. I'm going to work at a local hardware store.

I had a job with Al Power on the traveling crew. I turned them down I had just gotten married and didn't want to be away. I worked 4 years at US Pipe and then found the job that I am in now. 16 years with Nucor so far....

Absolutely on the local hardware store.

My dream is to work 2 days a week at the local Ace and 2 days a week at the local gun shop.
Now I just need to make it a reality, hopefully 15-20ish years.