This is a guest post from Caleb Wojcik at PocketChanged.com

When I graduated college three years ago I thought I was doing the right thing by moving across the country and getting a desk job. I figured I “had it made” and now I just had to work until I was 65 so that I could retire.

I had always believed that the safe choice was always the right choice. Boy was I wrong. Despite the fact that my company compensates me well and I am treated with respect, I have always known that this career path isn’t for me.

The Grind

My passions don’t lie with my day job. They are aligned with helping other people do what they have always dreamt of doing, but for whatever reason I haven’t.

My 9 to 5 grind does not fulfill my passion. The countless meetings, emails, paperwork and corporate red tape are not what I want to spend the best years of my life dealing with. I am grateful to my company for the position that I have and I don’t take it for granted, but I recently made the decision to do something about defining my own future.

For the time being I still put in the required effort that my job entails. I put in long hours during the busy seasons, volunteer for additional work and genuinely cherish the relationships I develop with my coworkers. I don’t know of any other way to work than to keep at it.

It’s what I have done outside of work that has helped me escape the grind.

I used to come home from work and head straight to my couch. I would watch TV, play a video game or aimlessly wander around the Internet. This was time I spent to “unwind”.

I had always heard that it was normal to do this each day after work so I thought nothing of it. It only took about a month for me to tire of this same routine, so I enrolled in a twenty month long weeknight MBA program. A main reason was just for something productive to do with my time.

Another Dead End

Fast forward two years and I got another diploma. I wasn’t expecting a parade in my honor or anything, but deep down I thought a master’s degree would have the same impact on my life as the bachelor’s degree did. Literally nothing changed at work or for my career. It made me think to myself, what was all that effort really for?

It was at this point that I realized that a company is not going to watch out for me, see my talents, give me a challenging environment and promote my growth professionally. I don’t want to stick it to the man per say, as that guy has been pretty giving to me so far.

What I do want is to be the man. I want to be my own boss, make my own agenda, work when and where I want and work on the things that interest me most. It amazes me that this thought never crossed my mind in college.

It’s a constant struggle to put 110% into the job when it doesn’t fulfill my dreams of what I want to do with my life. Everyday it gets a little bit tougher to get out of bed, drive the commute and tell myself that everything is okay.

I know that I need to escape eventually for my own sanity, but how am I going to do it? The only way is by looking within.

Great Escape

I spent some time outside of work really thinking about where my passions could be used. I had developed a strong fascination for personal finance and development blogs. I mapped out what my own first few months of posts would be and really focused on my message.

One morning I woke up before work, wrote my future ‘Why I Write‘ page and bought my domain. Two weeks later I formally launched Pocket Changed.

My goal is to interact with readers that want to change their lives just like I have and am continually trying to. I want to help people get out of debt, build an escape fund and follow their dreams.

Through my writing and sharing my journey with others, I plan to fund my own escape. I would rather enjoy my work and make less money doing what I love than work a job that doesn’t align with my life’s passions.

I hope to be back at Ending the Grind in the near future writing a success story from the other side of the fence having helped countless people change their lives and built a sustainable business in the meantime.

Caleb Wojcik writes at Pocket Changed and is working to change how people handle their money, view their work and follow their life’s passions. Follow him on Twitter @calebwojcik.

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