What is a "Slash Career" and Why You Should Care
I have never thought I would have enough time in this life.
Now, I realize that I could die tomorrow in a car crash heaven forbid, or live until I am 104 years old and I tell you – it’s still wouldn’t be enough time.
I remember first being aware of this at a very young age, making lists of the things I MUST do and the places I must see while I can. A lifetime is just not enough to accomplish the things that God has put on my heart.You see, the world seems so big and so small all at once. So big that I could never possibly visit all of the places that I want to go and experience those cultures, incorporating some of that wisdom into my daily life. So small that I am limited to the choices I can make. When I was a little girl I thought of things like becoming an astronaut, fighting for justice at the supreme court, speaking out about causes for which I feel deeply, and working with animals on a daily basis. I wondered how I would choose. How could I do all, not either?
I am discovering there is a type of person similar to me. I am not alone. It may not be you, and that is perfectly OK. No type of person is better than another in my book. I was interested though the more that I read and discovered to find people with minds like mine. My mind is always busy, always assessing, exploring, hoping, and planning. My mind is never off. I am bored easily. I am the type of person who sees 1 million possibilities and is frustrated when I have to narrow those down. I am a big picture person to the exponential degree. I would rather you told me to pick 2000 places that are worth visiting than to tell me I could only pick one. That's so limiting! I would rather you ask what 10 careers would I enjoy most than ask me to pick one. Health care provider, teacher, writer, designer, veterinarian, psychologist, marine biologist, guidance counselor, nurse, & lawyer (that took about 12 seconds I kid you not as I considered college professor-but that's a similar category to teacher, or lawyer/judge). My mind is on rapid-fire most of the time.
I am the type of person who loathes mundane, every day tasks. If you were to watch me for an hour or two you would see things like this: I do my hair and make up a little bit at a time, curling a few pieces of hair then putting on my eye-shadow, curling a few more, applying mascara. I literally don’t do one of them first, because I just can't. When I cook it is the same way. I’m actually not that bad of a cook though I joke about it all of the time because Barrett does the bulk of the cooking. My kids are typically excited on a night that mom cooks because there’s always a main dish, one or two side dishes, and dessert even when we are eating healthy. I will have all of these preparations going simultaneously hopping between one or the other until dinner is ready. I clean house in a similar fashion starting in one room, getting distracted and heading to another, and getting a few things done before circling back. I’m the type of person who listens to school lectures on my commute, who paints her nails and looks at a magazine while sitting down and watching a movie with the family, the kind of person who is often multitasking in someway or another because I can’t help myself. I read books the same way: 2 novels and 2-3 non-fiction I am switching between depending on my mood.
I used to think I needed to try to slow my mind. My multiple tries at meditation were dismal at best. I would sit there and try so hard to think about clearing my mind and then I would think of how much I suck at trying to clear my mind! While I know that there are some areas of my life where I could maybe slow down a little bit at times, I am also embracing the person that I was meant to be. I believe we were all made to be a certain way to best accomplish the goals we were put here for, and to touch the lives that we can. Often for me, my mind is a million steps ahead telling me "buckle up, and hang on!" My best ideas come when I am just letting go...I venture to say that busy brains are not misbehaving brains that we must rein in!
It was just a few days ago that I told Barrett I didn’t just want to be a nurse practitioner. I know from my previous marriage that statements like this with the wrong partner can be opening an entire bucket (not just can) of worms, especially when it may appear that I am ungrateful for where I am or what I am currently working on. Obviously FNP school is what I am hyper focused on at the moment, but working in any job 40 hours a week seems very, very dull to me. I told him I want to work as a nurse practitioner three or four days a week and hopefully I can find a position that will accommodate that, and then I would like to teach a graduate course every other semester or so in either a nursing or nurse practitioner program most likely online. After a few years of experience I would like to go back to graduate school and add my psychiatric nurse practitioner certification to get me closer to my big goal of working in adolescent integrated health care. What is that? Well I’m glad you asked. Integrative health care could be offered once I am certified to not only see teenagers for routine check ups, sports physicals, and sick visits, but also for mental health.
Take that one step further and I would like to get therapy certification for our German Shepherd Thor, and make him available even if it’s just one day a week for appointments. There are volumes of research studies showing that kids are more likely to open up when there is an animal even present in the room.
I also would like to book a few speaking events per year speaking regarding mental health and teenagers-as that is my passion-just at local high schools, nursing conventions, and churches. I would also like to write a book someday.
All of that aside in a few years I would like to open my own small business doing color consulting for interior design, party planning and what to wear to events. No idea what to wear to your husband’s big office party? I can help you with clothes, make up and hair style. Want to redo your kitchen? I can choose paint colors and decor. Want to throw an amazing Harry Potter themed birthday party for your kids? Give me a budget and I can produce. I told Barrett this idea and instead of telling me I was insane he was very encouraging. He knows that a busy, creative, thinking wife is a happy one. He gets me. I already do these things for my friends on the side a few times a year. I will start putting together a portfolio so that when I develop my business and a website people can engage my services. It will be on a very part-time basis probably working out to just 1 day a week, but it will be so much fun!
Oh and in my “free time" I want to learn how to scuba dive, continue to travel the world setting foot on all seven continents, ride in a hot air balloon, and go skydiving just to name a few things.
I will have a "slash" career. Upon being excited about my ideas: nurse practitioner/color consultant/speaker/author… I came across some amazing books and resources.
Not a new concept! In fact, this was more than normal 100 years ago than it is now when people would do different types of jobs sometimes depending on the season or work they could get, or simply just how busy one was keeping them. I picked up a wonderful book below, and have been inspired by all of the stories of police officer/landscape business owners and chef/teachers, minister/attorneys, artist/computer programmers. It isn’t for everyone but it seems like for people like me and my personality, it's actually far healthier and leads to more happiness to split your time between multiple activities. I never could choose a career that I could throw 100% of myself into. This makes perfect sense to me. When I was working the same job I work now five days a week I was totally burnt out within a few months. So much so that I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a nurse anymore. Working just two 10 hour shifts a week currently I can honestly say I enjoy my workday.
FYI, another term you might see is multipotentialite. Read here: What to Do When You Have Many Interests, and a great (all time favorite) TED talk here: Why Some of Us Don't Have One True Calling.
Now obviously people need to make money and often there will be one primary career such as being a nurse practitioner with the bulk of the income while other jobs may bring in a fraction of the annual income. Some people have been able to split their slash careers completely down the middle, most often though there are times when one gets more attention and then it will be cut back a bit and the other thrives. I highly recommend this book and just doing some snooping around online. For many people slash careers and their pursuit invigorate multiple facets of our personalities/lives and allow for more balance and fulfillment.
Are you in a "slash" career? I know a few office assistant/photographers and lawyer/authors out there. Tell me about it!
Now, I realize that I could die tomorrow in a car crash heaven forbid, or live until I am 104 years old and I tell you – it’s still wouldn’t be enough time.
I remember first being aware of this at a very young age, making lists of the things I MUST do and the places I must see while I can. A lifetime is just not enough to accomplish the things that God has put on my heart.You see, the world seems so big and so small all at once. So big that I could never possibly visit all of the places that I want to go and experience those cultures, incorporating some of that wisdom into my daily life. So small that I am limited to the choices I can make. When I was a little girl I thought of things like becoming an astronaut, fighting for justice at the supreme court, speaking out about causes for which I feel deeply, and working with animals on a daily basis. I wondered how I would choose. How could I do all, not either?
I am discovering there is a type of person similar to me. I am not alone. It may not be you, and that is perfectly OK. No type of person is better than another in my book. I was interested though the more that I read and discovered to find people with minds like mine. My mind is always busy, always assessing, exploring, hoping, and planning. My mind is never off. I am bored easily. I am the type of person who sees 1 million possibilities and is frustrated when I have to narrow those down. I am a big picture person to the exponential degree. I would rather you told me to pick 2000 places that are worth visiting than to tell me I could only pick one. That's so limiting! I would rather you ask what 10 careers would I enjoy most than ask me to pick one. Health care provider, teacher, writer, designer, veterinarian, psychologist, marine biologist, guidance counselor, nurse, & lawyer (that took about 12 seconds I kid you not as I considered college professor-but that's a similar category to teacher, or lawyer/judge). My mind is on rapid-fire most of the time.
I am the type of person who loathes mundane, every day tasks. If you were to watch me for an hour or two you would see things like this: I do my hair and make up a little bit at a time, curling a few pieces of hair then putting on my eye-shadow, curling a few more, applying mascara. I literally don’t do one of them first, because I just can't. When I cook it is the same way. I’m actually not that bad of a cook though I joke about it all of the time because Barrett does the bulk of the cooking. My kids are typically excited on a night that mom cooks because there’s always a main dish, one or two side dishes, and dessert even when we are eating healthy. I will have all of these preparations going simultaneously hopping between one or the other until dinner is ready. I clean house in a similar fashion starting in one room, getting distracted and heading to another, and getting a few things done before circling back. I’m the type of person who listens to school lectures on my commute, who paints her nails and looks at a magazine while sitting down and watching a movie with the family, the kind of person who is often multitasking in someway or another because I can’t help myself. I read books the same way: 2 novels and 2-3 non-fiction I am switching between depending on my mood.
I used to think I needed to try to slow my mind. My multiple tries at meditation were dismal at best. I would sit there and try so hard to think about clearing my mind and then I would think of how much I suck at trying to clear my mind! While I know that there are some areas of my life where I could maybe slow down a little bit at times, I am also embracing the person that I was meant to be. I believe we were all made to be a certain way to best accomplish the goals we were put here for, and to touch the lives that we can. Often for me, my mind is a million steps ahead telling me "buckle up, and hang on!" My best ideas come when I am just letting go...I venture to say that busy brains are not misbehaving brains that we must rein in!
It was just a few days ago that I told Barrett I didn’t just want to be a nurse practitioner. I know from my previous marriage that statements like this with the wrong partner can be opening an entire bucket (not just can) of worms, especially when it may appear that I am ungrateful for where I am or what I am currently working on. Obviously FNP school is what I am hyper focused on at the moment, but working in any job 40 hours a week seems very, very dull to me. I told him I want to work as a nurse practitioner three or four days a week and hopefully I can find a position that will accommodate that, and then I would like to teach a graduate course every other semester or so in either a nursing or nurse practitioner program most likely online. After a few years of experience I would like to go back to graduate school and add my psychiatric nurse practitioner certification to get me closer to my big goal of working in adolescent integrated health care. What is that? Well I’m glad you asked. Integrative health care could be offered once I am certified to not only see teenagers for routine check ups, sports physicals, and sick visits, but also for mental health.
Take that one step further and I would like to get therapy certification for our German Shepherd Thor, and make him available even if it’s just one day a week for appointments. There are volumes of research studies showing that kids are more likely to open up when there is an animal even present in the room.
I also would like to book a few speaking events per year speaking regarding mental health and teenagers-as that is my passion-just at local high schools, nursing conventions, and churches. I would also like to write a book someday.
All of that aside in a few years I would like to open my own small business doing color consulting for interior design, party planning and what to wear to events. No idea what to wear to your husband’s big office party? I can help you with clothes, make up and hair style. Want to redo your kitchen? I can choose paint colors and decor. Want to throw an amazing Harry Potter themed birthday party for your kids? Give me a budget and I can produce. I told Barrett this idea and instead of telling me I was insane he was very encouraging. He knows that a busy, creative, thinking wife is a happy one. He gets me. I already do these things for my friends on the side a few times a year. I will start putting together a portfolio so that when I develop my business and a website people can engage my services. It will be on a very part-time basis probably working out to just 1 day a week, but it will be so much fun!
Oh and in my “free time" I want to learn how to scuba dive, continue to travel the world setting foot on all seven continents, ride in a hot air balloon, and go skydiving just to name a few things.
I will have a "slash" career. Upon being excited about my ideas: nurse practitioner/color consultant/speaker/author… I came across some amazing books and resources.
FYI, another term you might see is multipotentialite. Read here: What to Do When You Have Many Interests, and a great (all time favorite) TED talk here: Why Some of Us Don't Have One True Calling.
Now obviously people need to make money and often there will be one primary career such as being a nurse practitioner with the bulk of the income while other jobs may bring in a fraction of the annual income. Some people have been able to split their slash careers completely down the middle, most often though there are times when one gets more attention and then it will be cut back a bit and the other thrives. I highly recommend this book and just doing some snooping around online. For many people slash careers and their pursuit invigorate multiple facets of our personalities/lives and allow for more balance and fulfillment.
Are you in a "slash" career? I know a few office assistant/photographers and lawyer/authors out there. Tell me about it!
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