If you could start over again, what would you do?

Rich

We`ve had the chance to ask a number of very successful people what they`d do if they could start all over again. Some say, "the same thing." Some come up with a quick answer - "something completely different" from what they ended up doing in their career. Others are simply stumped. I think they freeze upon hearing the question because daily life has a way of taking over. Momentum has a way of ruling our minds and energies. We just don`t go down those mental roads after a while.
Lately, I`ve been thinking a lot about what I`d do if I started over again. It`s really hard for me to even get in this zone - I`m such a maniac about StartupNation... there are so many things we have yet to do to grow this company to its full impact! And I`m insanely committed!
But still, sometimes I think about doing it COMPLETELY differently. As crazy as it sounds, I might consider something agricultural...
If you could do it all over again, what would you do?Rich2006-4-26 16:12:5

Nuevolution

If I could do it all over again, I would have never worked for the many technology companies that I did, Especially around the 9-11 tragedy, it was hard for me to find a stable job. I think if I would have started my business at an earlier time, I would already be at phase 3 of my business plan

Rich

So you`d do what you`re doing now if you could do it all over again? just be farther along?

Nuevolution

Well YES, Aside from going into depression because of so many layoffs in the semiconductor industry, It would have saved me the therapy, the money I spent would have been used to fund the business, and my business would have been farther along, or perhaps I would have taken a drastic turn and started a record label ( I`ve been in the music industry for years)

Rich

a record label. now THAT is cool. take it all the way. why not be a "rock star"?!

theswaynester

I think I would have bought Intel, WalMart, and Microsoft stock in the 1980s-90s. Maybe some Berkshire-Hathway, too.Seriously, I would have gotten into physics or materials science, maybe nanotechnolgy. Of course, I would have actually had to have math skills, too.My only caveat here is that I would not want my personal life affected. It hasn`t been an easy journey, but, I can`t imagine life without my wife now.Was that a little sickening? Yeah. I was afraid of that.
Matt

Peter

I would build a beachfront villa resort in a tropical continue like Vietnam, Thailand, etc...  Something I`d enjoy doing and it`d feel like a vacation everyday.

Melissa

Love this question. 
I definitely would *not* have gone into accounting.  I`ve been successful, but I knew in my junior year of college that it wasn`t the right fit.  And, yet, I persisted thinking "I`d grow into it."  I contemplated culinary school or teaching accounting/business in a university setting before graduating, but really was ready to be done with school and see where my wings would take me.
After a little less than 10 years of trying to learn to love accounting, I finally came to the conclusion that I was wasting my life away doing something I hated.  Harsh words, but true - I loathe my current career. 
So, here I am in the process of opening up, of all things, a wedding and event consulting business which is, actually, a good match for someone with an accounting background and a perfect fit with my interests.  I made my situation work.
Had I never taken that accounting route, though, and had money not been a factor, I would have loved a career singing or in theater...perhaps both on Broadway. 
I can`t complain too much since I wouldn`t have met my husband if I`d not taken the path I did...

Showboxers

To do it all over again, as opposed to going into a law enforcement career, I would have either pursued acting and modeling or I would have been a trainer for animals performing in movies and sit coms. Now that would have been a blast!  

TrueGRITS

That`s such a deep question, Rich! lol  I am so happy right now and I got to where I am in life through some very unusual choices, and I don`t think I could get here again without repeating all those twists and turns, no matter how much I disliked them at the time.  I`ll sum it up like this:
 per ardua alis volat propiis
 

VickiJ

Great question, Rich!
I`m moving in exactly the direction I want to move now. I can`t complain about my choices, really. I decided when I was a senior in high school to attend journalism school and I haven`t regretted it. Except that newspaper work is very low-paying - at small newspapers anyway. I can remember reading "Teen" magazine when I was kid and thinking, "I want to write articles like that." Now I am. What more could I want? Now I want to publish a magazine - and I will.
Oh, Rich, I`m a farm girl and I`ve been writing about agriculture for lots of years. What you do here is related to farming in a round-about way. Today`s farmers have to find ways of adding value to their products to make money. Many people are doing this by specializing in a certain product and starting a related business. You can help them do that.  

Rich

trueGRITS,
virtus semper viridis, that`s what i say, and that`s why it`s good to think about these kinds of things.
Vicki,
thanks for tying in farming to StartupNation! very creative!

LogoMotives

I would still be a graphic designer, but I would have followed my passion within the field much sooner.Beginning to work independently was not originally part of the plan when I got out of school in 1980.  The week I moved to Portland several ad agencies and design firms literally shut their doors in horrible economic times.  Other designers were getting laid off all over town.  Taking on contract projects was the only way to go at the time.  By about 1995, I was getting burned out.  For over 17 years (two while still in college) I had been taking on any and all design projects that were coming my way.  I thought that was what a designer was expected to do.In discussing my situation with my sister - who owned an advertising and PR firm - she asked one question:  "Why aren`t you doing what you really enjoy the most?"  I looked at her with a big "question mark" on my face and she said "logo design."It was a "hit myself in the forehead, should`ve had a V-8" moment.  She was right - I should have been doing what I enjoyed the most.  I should have given myself permission to turn down the projects that were of the least interest to me.  I should have followed my "gut instinct" and altered the focus of my business to what I had considered nearly a decade early when I had first considered a possible business name for my design efforts.Since adopting the business name Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, and changing the focus of my business to identity design, my work efforts have been fun, exciting and challenging.  I`m now considered an expert in my field on designing logos. If I had to do it all over again, I would listen a bit more to those little voices in my head that were attempting to help me chart a path for my career by telling me to follow my passions.- J.

FrostingFashions

Great idea Peter -- and it may not be too late! I was just in Vietnam and there are beach front resorts being built all over Dalat and Nga Trang! Also - the Vietnamese government is now allowing Viet Kieu (Vietnamese living overseas) to buy property.  Let me know when you get it built ... Ill definitely be there!
-Van

Peter

I was in Phan Thiet few years back.  It was beautiful!  There were alot of foreign owned resorts already there.  I`m going there next year and will actually be scooping out for some beachfront land.  If I`m lucky enough to have the opportunity to purchase some land, it would only be for personal use.You are right!  It`s never to late.

mach777

I would not have done anything differently.
Obviously this is a starters-up page.
People who post here have come to (or passed) the point in life where they know they are capable of making it on their own. That is, they have a mindset which includes a high self-responsibility level, and most importantly: the belief that their trade IS OF VALUE.
I don`t believe I would have gotten to that point without the corporate madness that is my current crazy daytime job, its that simple.
Yeah there were many paths that could have taken, with many outcomes. Some might have been better, some might have been worse, but really, for me this question boils down to: Are you happy with who you are right now?
Yes I am.
Andreas