THE SAYING goes, “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” But does anyone really love working?

I was one of those people in college who wanted to graduate just to get things over with. Social media posts have cited such billionaires as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg who did not need a college degree to conquer the world.

Well, I feel like the target of those Facebook posts.

I never really believed in working a 9- to-5 job and retiring when I turn 60. That was why I thought working right after college was the right path—work hard now and retire early.
Financial security was my main goal. But after six months of slugging it out in a real estate sales position, I realized I could have been working while studying. Better yet, I could have been earning money even before I stepped into high school.

Money in the bank
After talking to clients and friends who give referrals to help me in my job, I realized that I was already being taught how to earn money with less work. A good friend kept telling me that he simply “left” his money in the bank where it grew. On many sleepless nights I thought about how he could have done that with- out actually robbing the bank.

But of course people have dreams, and so do I. It never really dawned on me that I would be chasing my dreams. I’ve met people who were so much into music in high school, they eventually hit the jack-
pot and had the chance to perform before large crowds in major events. You couldn’t help but ask yourself if you went in the right direction.

Things happen for a reason, and you are where you are because you aren’t giv- en anything you cannot handle.

So, is working right after college the smarter choice?
It depends on what you need. Some people like to travel around the world. You see their pictures on Facebook and Instagram, and wonder how they ended up where they are without spending too much of the money they saved up.

A friend would call it waiting for an opportunity to find the right job at the right time or “soul searching,” as cheesy as it sounds.

While traveling every so often sounds exciting, making it early in the business world is the goal of other fresh grads. Maybe their parents never gave them a choice or they needed the money; what- ever the reason, the batchmates you were used to seeing in cargo shorts and T- shirts are now in fancy suits.

Probably the biggest takeaway from watching people go in different direc- tions is that you should never, ever, spend a day doing nothing productive for your- self or your wallet. Even if you don’t earn money from what you are doing, you’re kind of investing in yourself by meeting people and learning new things.

I guess that is what I have to learn about myself as well—how I shouldn’t be so anxious about what the future holds and should concentrate instead on what I have to do now.
Making mistakes is part of the job. Here’s to all the fresh grads out there starting their journey in the “real world.”

Visit us on Instagram Inquirer2bU;  Facebook: 2bU; e-mail [email protected]