JUNGLE JIM

By: Cynthia Litman

Pearl of the day: Beyond Bacon

I’ve often heard the pearl Do What You Love And the Money Will Follow and like many people find myself in stark conflict with this as the bills mount up and I find myself going, sure, okay but when?

The moment you conceive your ideal career path is inspired genius. Yet the time it takes until you can actually earn a living from your dreams could lead you down a dark spiral of doubt.

Living your dream is not for the faint of heart and usually, like buying real estate involves compromise. The cardinal rule is not to forfeit location, yet many men find themselves tied to the never-ending hamster wheel. Most men concede their passion in order to get a job that pays the bills and keep food on the table.

The traditional pressure is still on the man of the house to bring home the bacon. In this day and age, I wonder whether men can have it all? We often ask that of women as women balance having babies while maintaining careers but what about the dads? They too want a quality family life while maintaining a profitable and fulfilling career.

Too often men feel their day in the life is like a rerun of GroundHog Day (film, 1993). Churning out the same old stuff day in and day out and chasing that carrot on the end of the stick so they can get a slice of pie. A fellow entertainment lawyer colleague of mine, Jesse Rosenblatt, Esq. refers to this as a “pie-eating contest where the prize is (….wait for it…) more pie.” Eventually you get sick of pie (even yummy apple crumb sweet potato pie with marshmallow topping).

It’s no wonder men have major mid life crises! My family went car shopping and while my son tackled the “BUMBLE BEE” Camaro (from Transformers, 2007) and refused to get out, I caught my husband eyeballing a shiny Corvette to which I said, “you have a few years for that honey.”

We both laughed but I kind of saw him marking his internal calendar for when he can get his mid life car (in all fairness, my midlife car will be a purple Porsche). I then wondered if the crisis was avoidable and if we’ll hit mid life in stride.

I experienced the quarter life crisis and had a mini preview mid life crisis this month. During both, I felt myself advancing into my next phase and doing an evaluation and assessment of my life thus far (e.g. family, friends, career). I took an evaluation cue from Jeffrey Gitterman’s book “Beyond Success: Redefining the Meaning of Prosperity” (Amacon, 2009) and asked myself “am I living within my means.”

Panic struck me. Then I remembered how my grandfather lived extremely frugally and tucked away money for a rainy day, he epitomized the mindset towards money of his generation - scrimp and save.

Our generation is not like that.

Yet, as you move through the phases in your youth you live in the present and spend like there is no tomorrow, as a parent it’s worrying for tomorrow, as a retiree it’s living off all you’ve earned in your past lifetime. 

What if you do not like the means that is making your living? Does it matter in your present, your future and when you reflect on your past? Who cares if you bring home bacon bits, lean turkey bacon, or thick cut smoked bacon and do we care about the bacon’s origin? In our present age of organic farming, I say yes, it does.

Despite your tax bracket, Jeff also suggests that “if you can make a living doing work you don’t enjoy, you can get much more out of life doing work that you love.” Wow, more bacon! Perhaps a whole pig farm!

My husband always says, “the more money you have, the more money you need.”  In other words, Mo’ Money Mo’ problems – oye!

So if it’s not just about “making money” how do we equalize our hunt for the dollar with our happiness?  

When everyone else around you says your crazy do you still have the courage of your conviction to listen to your heart and inner guidance, which may be pointing you down a road less traveled?

I’d like to think when I say to my kids, you can be anything you wish to be as long as it makes you happy, they’ll pursue their dreams which will fulfill their present, future and reflective selves and cover all their wants and needs!

The men who reach the highest pinnacles of success, often have similar versions of the same basic story - either rags to riches or they threw caution to the wind and took a leap of faith. With lots of work, perseverance and commitment, you'll emerge from the jungle with a whole feast!

For more information on carving a life built upon your notions of success please visit: http://www.beyondsuccessconsulting.com

Copyright © 2010 Cynthia Litman d/b/a Tigris Imprints. All Rights Reserved.