An accountant is not feeling the day job, and dreams of a career in comedy instead.

Our elder is all in favor of pursuing your passions…

Dear EWC

I’m 23 and got a job at a public accounting firm doing auditing work last year right after I graduated. The job itself is good and the money is good, but the further I’ve gotten into it, the more nervous I’ve been getting about the rest of my life. As time has gone on, I’ve noticed that what I think I really want to do with my life is to entertain people, whether that’s through comedy, video games or just interaction through a different medium. The feeling I get from giving people a good time, laugh or experience is better than anything else that I’ve felt before. I’m nervous about progressing in my career, because I know the further I go, the quicker time will go by. You also hear stories of people who are successful in the segment of the entertainment industry I’m interested in and about how they started relatively young, most younger than me it seems. It’s just setting in more for me that the opportunity to do what I feel like I really want to do is slipping by me and that makes me feel really anxious because I’m not sure what to do. When I think about what I would like, gaining a following on either Twitch or YouTube comes to mind.

A big trick in the situation is that I’m also married on top of having this full time job. I haven’t spoken with my wife about this, but I’m also fairly certain that she would be supportive of anything I’d want to try. She’s definitely not the type to drag me down, as long as I was on top of everything, of course. I’m just really feeling the pressure to do something now, if I want to get into something I could really see myself loving every day. Any thoughts or pieces of advice for me? Whether it’s about how to get through this feeling or advice on how to start out? Anything would be appreciated.

Papa-Smokey replies

It’s important to pursue a career in something you have a passion for. You should discuss your feelings with your wife and see if you can come up with a plan to pursue your dream. A possible plan could be to maintain your current full time job and pursue your desire to entertain people part-time. For example, you could audition to perform at a local comedy club, which typically is open at night and shouldn’t interfere with a full time day job. This would provide the benefit of seeing whether you truly enjoyed doing comedy and also whether you are talented enough to be successful in this career.

Wanting to do something and having the talent to do something are two very different things. However, at your young age without having children to have to support now is the time to pursue your passions. By doing this part-time while still working you will not compromise your family earnings so there shouldn’t be a loss in family income. After giving this a good try you should get the feeling of whether you can make a career of comedy with the associated pros and cons.

I hope this information is helpful. Good luck!

Letter #: 434875
Category: Career