Quse56

I lost my medical license (suspended) several years ago due to my addictions, and have been working in sales for many years. Up until this point I have done very well and have enjoyed it. We had a meeting today, and I was sad. I no longer feel like my values are in line with the comapnies, nor do I feel any fulfullment from gaining the competative edge. I am confused about my future and afraid that I can't do what I don't enjoy anymore. This company had graciously seen me through 2 rehabs so I feel as thought I owe them a debt and I want to be a good employee but... I don't feel connected with this industry anymore. Not to mention the fact that many people are hard drinkers here. Has anyone else had to make a career change in recovery as a quality of life issue?

Anna

Hi,

I totally understand what you are saying.

I changed direction in my life, but not the way you are talking about. I was working in an administrave/office job, full-time, lots of pressure and long days. The stress, depression and insomnia contributed to my starting to drink. I realized in recovery, that I HAD to do what I enjoyed and I had to be able to say 'No'. I work part-time now and I am very lucky to be able to do that. It's what I need in order to maintain the balance in my life.

I think you should follow your heart, and do what feels right.

tommyk

I can be in sales (and I am) but I really, really have to 'believe' in the product(s) I sell.

If I have even the slightest hint that the sale might not be good for the customer, I have to stop that particular sale.

There is a thin line between manipulation for personal gain and salesmanship benefiting both parties.

When I fel the sale is good for the customer and good for me, it's a good sale.

Being in sales and being honest can both happen, making a profit is not sinful.

(P.S. I left a lucrative career in Washington DC, moved far away out to the country, and started my own company... so yes, a career move/change in recovery, and for recovery, worked for me. Hopefully you will find your answers... turn it over to your Higher Power. ))

Fubarcdn

I was in sales for many years before I retired and I can relate to the problem with the drinking part.
I lost my license in 87 and although I didn't quit drinking I quit drinking and driving. I was with a major corporation and it was expected of us to entertain customers when and where they wanted and most of it involved feeding them drinks.
The only advice I can give you about the career move is give it a while of sobriety to see if it is a good fit and do not make a rash decision that you might regret.
I have a couple of suggestions on the entertaining issue if this is one of your concerns.
I always went to the place I would be entertaining and gave the server I arranged for $20 (company money) and told him to bring my drinks with no alcohol. So if I ordered a rum and coke he would bring a straight coke or if it was beer a non alcoholic beer.
In this way I didn't have to deal with drinking and driving issues and the customers were no the wiser.
Good luck on your sobriety and your career choices.

shaun00

i was in civil engineering for years....

A great job for a young un.........travelled alot throughout Europe and spent long periods of time away.....

bad job for a young trainee alcoholic.....my day went like this.

work...shower...bar...bed.........for years.....peroids that i did get home was tough to stay sober..

fast forward a few years and I'm full blowned chronic alkie.....

when i got sober i thought id change my career...i needed to..i couldnt go back to that life style..but it was all i knew.

so i thought id be a counsellor/therapist....i liked the idea of it....
but one year into college i realize i ain't no counselor.

i couldnt face listening to others problems day in day out...im just not built for it...lol..lol

my wife said do something you always wanted to do....

i thought about that a long time...........when i was a kid i would go down to the local motorway bridge to wave at the trucks.

those rigs would rush under my feet ....blasting the air horns.

dirt and dust would rush up...........man i loved it....it really left an impression on me......and i knew what i wanted to do.

so i went done to the local training centre and a few months later passed my class 1......to drive big rigs/trucks.

Ive never been so happy........im doing something i always wanted to do.

and i still wave and blast the horns for the kiddies.

so my advice would be...........DO SOMETHING YOUVE ALWAYS WANTED TO DO....i did and never regretted it.

JFRUIT

Very interesting delimma, I have been is corporate sales for 28 years and quite frankly I think my profession is the major case of my addiction. High pressure, your only a number, what have you done for me lately, expense accounts, travel, alcohol, cocaine, women,jets,limousines and unethical business practices.

I have been a functioning addict, married, kid in private school,fancy cars,vacations a upper middle class lifestyle. In January I went on a binged a spent $1800 in cocaine. Told my wife I needed to go to rehhab to deal with my deep issues. She agrees but realizes the enormous finacial burden that would place on my family. You see she doesnt work and my son is in a highly acclaimed private school and they dont derserve to suffer no more. Since January I relapse on April 7th ( my family was away for spring break) spent $150 and used. By the grace of god I am 113 days totally sober.

As a addict we look for places to place blame for our addictions, I started working out, eating proper, sleeping and not going to happy hours or places that could trigger my use.

Just last week a unethical manager took a sale from me because he was buddies with the VP. It disturbed me tremendously to the point where I wanted to use, highly stressed , couldnt sleep , but didnt use.

In sobriety I am starting to get to know who I really am and each day of sobriety it gets clearer and clearer as to what my triggers are. For me instead of changing careers I have taken it upon myself to change. My sobriety has become the most important thing to me and there is no amount of pressure worth living like that again.

Its a indiviual choice do whats right for you.

Quse56

I love all the advice, thank you! I will share that the only things I have ever wanted to do are sing, dance, act, perform - not very stable or lucrative career paths, unless you're lucky - lol! i am way to afraid to "follow my dreams" so to speak, and am not left with much else that I have a passion for... still getting to know myslef, ya know? I will pray about it for sure, and do nothing right now, jsut be the best employee I can be. Thanks!

kj3880

Yep, I can relate. I was advised by my first sponsor to quit my job, because it is very high pressure, lots of overtime and stress. But it didn't make sense to quit when I thought it through. I have only 6 years to go until I can retire with a nice pension and benefits. The salary is good, the morals are in line with my own, and it is a job that is interesting and challenging. I like it a lot.

I do have to forego meetings at times. I never did get to do "90 in 90" like my first sponsor wanted. But I'm still clean and sober, 15 months into it. Don't make a rash decision. Especially in these times!

What a lot of sponsors out there may not be considering is that unemployment can be far more stressful and can lead to a relapse much quicker than a somewhat stressful job in lots of cases. It is individual. Think it through.

Love,
KJ

vegibean

I actually do sales at my job right now. I used to be a bartender.

Dee74

I used to be a performing musician...I found that way of life, at least with the people I knew, was fundamentally incompatible with my new sober life....so while I still play, I stopped performing.

I figure when/if the right people come along, I'll jump back in

Good luck with finding a solution Quse!
D

Charmie

hello quse56.i was cook then chef for the last 5 years up until christmas.i didnt have formal training and was self taught and found i had a terrific flair for this job.i was fairly well known in the area i live in and always managed to get good jobs.i could not have imagined doing anything else for a living! i got made redundant just before christmas (which at the time was like winning the lottery,i was end stage sick of being sick alcoholic and not functioning).i stopped drinking on the 1st of january but alas was to pick up again on the 6th of feb just to make sure i was alcoholic,that would have been an affermative! since the 7th of feb i havnt had or wanted to drink.the worst thing i can imagine is going back to the environment i was working in before.dont get me wrong i still love cooking and anything to do with food ,but,,,,everything in my life is changing.since honestly stopping drinking i have mainly concentrated on sobriety (lots AA meetings and 12 step work with a sponsor,,coming to sr an chatting to other alcoholics) and doing a bit of voluntary work for the red cross.i have applied to be a befriender which means being paired up with an elderly person that has no family or friends to visit.and yesterday i offered my services (paid this time!) to my uncle,he just got a new guest house and his housekeeper walked out.this will only pay enough to get by and pay the bills.thats fine with me! sorry for rambling on,,just my experience! there is a whole world out there to discover!,,let us know what you decide! ps,,,i have heard many times round the rooms in AA of people making a complete career change after getting sober!

shaun00

its a difficult one isn't it..........

for me there had to be a balance.

between: support my family with enough cash and doing something i wanna do...

i could have gone back to civil engineering and earnt more money than trucking.....but realizing that life is for Living and being happy in what you wanna make of it...

luckily i had enough cash to re-train.....for some it aint that easy and there stuck in jobs they dont want to do but need to keep doing because of commitments.

ive been pretty lucky in that i decided to do a childhood dream...and had the time and opportunity

my dad spent 4 years doing a carpentry apprenticeship.
then he spent 45 years doing something he didn't like all that much.
because he had 3 kids and a mortgage..

those people deserve a medal in my book.