Bored to Death

As everyone probably well knows, I recently started a new job. It’s my first grown-up job.

When I was going through the hiring process, I was asked this specific question twice: “Where do you see yourself, career-wise, in five years?” I’ve come to dread that question almost as much as I hated when people asked me what I was going to do after college. I honestly don’t know where I’ll be in five years. And I’ve finally come to a place in my life where I’m okay not knowing. Yet people keep asking.

I needed an answer, so I was honest with my interviewers. I simply told them I’m not sure. I don’t have a major career goal that I need to pursue. I also told them I feel like I can be good at a lot of things, so I’m going to follow whichever opportunity comes my way, and I’m going to work hard at it.

It was in that moment that I made a realization about myself and my goals. My number one goal in my career is to not be bored. Simple as that. I need to find something that will keep me engaged, perhaps for ten years. That seemed to be the right thing to say.

As I was telling my mom about the interview and how I answered the questions, she chuckled. She found the answer to my five-year plan strangely familiar. Then she reminded me that almost all through my schooling I was complaining of boredom. I started kindergarten a year early because I was bored in preschool. When my grades slightly slipped in high school, it was because I was bored and stopped wasting time on homework. I picked up music pretty quickly too, and rarely practiced my instruments. Honestly, it wasn’t until college that I was challenged. (And I hadn’t really learned how to be a good student, which definitely hindered me. But that’s a different post altogether.)

So far in my new job, I’m learning a lot. I only hope I can keep it up. I definitely don’t want to be bored until I die. Any suggestions for how to keep myself from turning off?