Turning Point of Misery

by Tara Agacayak on May 24, 2010

Antalya is a place that served as a major turning point in my entrepreneurial life.

It was while dining with two ceramic artist friends of ours in Antalya, Turkey five years ago that I realized how much I hated teaching English and how much I loved the company of creative people.

That juxtaposition provided me a way out of the career misery I was in.

I didn’t know what I was going to do or how I was going to do it. I didn’t know where the money was going to come from or what the work would look like, I only knew that if I kept doing what I hated I was going to run myself right into the ground and be no good to anyone.

The opposite of doing what I hated was doing what I loved.

The first step? Begin by categorizing things into what you enjoy and what you loathe. These categories become a kind of road map, steering you away from disharmonious career territory toward a path that enables you to soar.

And like using GPS, each turn in the road comes with a new set of bearings and direction. You make constant adjustments as you approach your destination.

But of course, it’s never about the destination, is it?

Getting yourself moving toward doing what you love is as much about finding a job as it is about finding yourself.


All photographs taken May 2010 at the Seramika workshop in Antalya.

Previous post:

Next post: