If you could do it over again, Would you change your career?

[Bulls Beers]

When I met my wife 24 years ago she was so afraid to fly. Over the years we traveled so much that she over came her fear. She started to like flying so much that every Christmas and Birthday, I started buying her a few hours of flying lessons. We got to talking recently and she said if she could do it over again, she would've studied be a pilot. Personally, I like doing what I'm doing, But would you change your career?? She's an accountant, BTW...

 

[Inkleg]

I would have become a proctologist and not misunderstood my mother when she said I should work with a**holes.

 

[Yooper]

I always knew I wanted to work in the medical field, but the twists and turns my career took were definitely unplanned! If I had it to do all over again, I would have changed things right at the very beginning. But that is one of those "if I knew then what I know now" kind of thoughts- I did the best I could with what I knew then.

 

[mongoose33]

I would have studied chemistry. It would have given me a leg up in brewing.

 

[applescrap]

Yeah, but 6'5 280 wasnt in the cards for me. Idk, once something fun becomes work is it still fun. Great question.

 

[sillbeer]

Wouldn't change a thing. Grew up in aviation maintenance through the Air Force and a short stint building turbine engines at Honeywell. I'm a FAA inspector now and love what I do.

*If I had to do it over again I suppose I would have financed my house and all my worldly belongings about 3 years ago and invested 100% in Bitcoin.

 

[Zimm9]

I always said I wouldn't be like others who gave up on their dreams. Ironic that I now work with computers when I despised them in my "I'm going to be a wildlife conservationist and nothing will stop me" days. Sometimes I wish I'd resisted the allure of finishing my degree faster and stuck with zoology instead of switching to information systems.

 

[spittybug]

I had parents that taught me to pursue a degree/career in something that I could feed myself with. Stark contrast to the 'follow your dreams' parenting too common now. I got a BS in a core science (molecular biology) and went to graduate school to study immunology on a full ride for my PhD. I bailed after 1 month because I quickly realized that endless research wasn't for me. I got into medical sales, then gases, then commodity chemicals. Selling, then product managing and when the company started to crumble a slow death, on to consulting. I got an MBA along the way. It was stressful, long hours in some nasty places (Saudi Arabia on 9/11 for example...) yet rewarding. I 'retired' at 48. My wife hates that word, hence the quotes. I still dabble in consulting, but nothing major. I couldn't wait to pull the plug working for someone else. Arrogant bosses, apathetic coworkers, political agendas, stress..... but my parents were right; make hay when the sun is out and don't try to keep up with the Jones in your lifestyle. Putting up with the crap paid the bills and gave me the freedom to spend this second half of my life doing what I WANT to do, not what I need to do. I make great beer, drive a Delorean and travel this magnificent country in our RV whenever we choose.

I wish I had done some things differently in hindsight, but the trajectory was as good as I could have ever asked for. I didn't love what I did when I was doing it, but I love it now. I've been fortunate in life but I've also worked hard to get here.

 

[JohnSand]

Not much. I spent 6 years in the USCG, 6 years in NYPD, 16 years in OBCPD, and loved most of it. I went to sea, rescued people, seized drug smugglers, made arrests from DWI right up to rape and murder. I got to help people with their troubles and encourage them to help themselves. At the end I got tired of being stuck in a small village and retired. Now I cook, sail, brew, and fix things. I have plenty of time to spend with my lovely wife.
Don't mess with success.

 

[auburntsts]

Yep. I originally was going to be Navigator in the USAF and lost my slot when I failed my commissioning flight physical in 1988 due to a heart murmur diagnosed as Mitral Valve prolapse. I was given the opportunity to switch career fields to ICBM Launch Officer (which I did), got commissioned and when on to have a successful USAF career. However, in 2004 while going through another flight physical in order to qualify to attend Jump School, diagnostics had improved to the point that they determined that I didn't have Mitral Valve prolapse or a murmur. Don't get me wrong, I have no regrets, but I would have liked to have had that opportunity to earn my wings.

 

[jimmayhugh]

In my adult life; I worked as a Crypto Repair Specialist in the Air Force, a Weapons Specialist in the Air National Guard, a Tank Commander / Platoon Sgt. in the Army National Guard, Commercial Broadcast Equipment Engineer, Computer Hardware and Software Design, Civilian and Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor, and finally a Marshal.

In my teens; I worked on my Grandfather's farm as a paid farmhand, in my Father's Auto body shop in engine / body repair, and as a Commercial Broadcast Equipment Technician after I got my FCC 1st Class License.

I've had a blast, and wouldn't change a thing, other than getting a college degree in something.

 

[MaxStout]

I like practicing law, and wouldn't change the field I'm in. But I went to school for that later in life, and if I had a do-over, would have pulled the trigger on law school when I was much younger.