The definition of the word ‘career’ today typically relates to the main stream of remunerative work we do through the course of our lives. If you think about the concept of career in terms of the history of mankind, its a strange little thing that has only been around for a couple of hundred years. It is an aberration. It only arrived with the organization of large corporations.

Given the ongoing development and advances in telecommunications and the consequent decentralization of global workforces there is no good way to tell just how much longer the idea will persist. In all honesty, if you really think about it, it is evident that the only thing a ‘career’ denotes is a person’s meandering through a series of skills and opportunities that another person set forth for them; a sort of dictated notion of where to fit in and what a person’s value is.

I always thought it interesting that ‘care’ was in the word career. It is as if these corporations have agreed to take care of us during our working life. They have agreed to baby sit us, so we do not make decisions, progress in our own time or decide our own value. Apparently we cannot be trusted with our own development and cannot be trusted to measure our own worth. This is why we need our ‘carers’ to map our way and only let us proceed when they believe we are worthwhile (and when they can afford it, and only if they can find another person to fill our current role)

Considering all this, it’s no surprise so many people hate their jobs. All it is is work work work, completely based on someone else’s directives and vision of the future, all geared towards building their life and not one’s own. Nonetheless, we all continue to use the term ‘career’ as if it were the end all and be all of human existence.

I can remember back to being a kid: when my parents would go out at night, having to be babysat was surely not my favorite moment of the week; what I really enjoyed was being able to go and play with my friends and brothers. What part of that changes as adults? When is it that we decide to let someone else’s criteria determine our own success and value? Why do we abdicate the driver’s seat in someone else’s favor? What is it that convinces us of the importance of careers so badly?

‘Making a living’, now that’s more talking my language. I’m not sure if you noticed, but the term is simply about life. And that’s what careerists often forget I think. We are on this earth to live. Not to be babysat. We are here to learn our own lessons, in our own time. We are here to experience, grow and love. We are here to find and define our own value, not have someone do it for us. That is what making a living is about, its making life.

Which is why I have found the idea of working in internet marketing so appealing over time: though you surely need to learn a lot and acquire skills you lacked previously so as to be able to write successful, money-earning sites that are SEO-savvy, that’s not that hard and can really be done by anyone.

The main thing I love about making a living on the internet though is that the only type of business that works on the internet, are businesses about things you are passionate about. The reason is simple. Every topic in the world carries to some degree, its own language. It is only when you are passionate about a topic that you will understand this language. It is only when you know this language that you will be able to reach the people who share your passion and sell them the real value you have to offer. This, for better or worse, is the internet way.

Which is what makes this such a beautiful industry: to find success, you first have to find your passion. And in that sense I do not consider myself to have a career, but rather to be someone that merely makes a living. Even including this article, everything I work on I am passionate about. I never wake up dreading life anymore, but rather jump up out of bed eager to tackle a new day. No more fretting about missed opportunities or promotions I didn’t get, etc. etc. I measure my own value according to the web creations I make, the contribution they make to my back account, the lifestyle I get to enjoy and the extra time I have on my hands.

Given such a beautiful scenario, I could never bring myself to do anything else.

As a new father, Damian Papworth recognizes the constant battle for time, which rages between his career and his home. He always tries to invent a way to enhance family life. Recently he researched baby high chairs, doing some specific analysis of portable high chairs.

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