“Do you actually make any money?”
Um, excuse me?
This question didn’t come from an inquisitive stranger, but a family member.
Ever since I went full-bore entrepreneurial, my living-making has been neck-and-neck with my baby-having during conversation amongst my extended family.
I suppose I’m seen as a rebel or pioneer by them. Or maybe they see me as a bum that wears pajamas and hangs out at home watching Real Housewives all day.
And frankly, I don’t care.
Why?
Because my career is nobody’s business but my own.
Same goes for you.
Here’s why:
1. How You Spend Your Time Is Your Business
If I wanted to sit at Starbucks all day playing Candy Crush, that’s my biz. The only people I have to answer to are myself, my husband, and my cat (yes, I consider him a person).
You own your hours and no one else gets to have a say about how you spend them. If you make millions of dollar or zeros of dollars, that’s your prerogative. Period.
2. Who’s Paying You Anyway?
Last time I checked, my clients were my meal ticket. And my family members, were not.
So why try and make sure people who will never be your clients, completely understand what you do for a living?
3. It’s Not Your Job to Make Your Family Comfortable with Your Decisions
Let your career be the gossip topic at Thanksgiving dinner and family reunions. It’s not your job to make your family comfortable with your career path, decisions, choices. Being OK with your own decisions can be work in itself.
4. You Can’t Clarify for Someone Lacking Their Own Clarity
Sometimes the people questioning your career choices are doing so because they don’t even understand their own career path. You can try and clarify what you do until you’re blue in the face, but if the person inquiring doesn’t have their own clarity, everything you say is just going to add fog to an already foggy situation.
5. They’ll Never Get It Anyway
In our ever-evolving world, where some jobs that existed a couple decades ago have been completely obliterated by the advances in technology, many of us have pretty non-traditional gigs. And with or non-traditional gigs changing frequently, by the time we’ve finished explaining what we do to our nosy family members, things will be different.
So why bother even getting on the explanation-merry-go-round?
Despite their sometimes inappropriate questions, I love my family. But I also love my work and my business. For now it is my baby. So I’ll always be protective of it.
Your career is your business. Nobody else’s.
Photo Cred: Universal Pictures
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