Am I working towards what I want?

I'm writing this post to not only help me but maybe it can help others. I'm constantly in a battle with myself wondering if I'm putting energy into places that will eventually benefit me in the future. I work full-time as a CNC machinist which involves me giving 40 hours of my week to the job. This job I know now is not for me in the long run, I've spent 5 years as a machinist, and I always end up feeling stuck wherever I work. The job simply becomes automated for me, I admit there's still soo much for me to learn in the industry but is this the stuff I want to spend my time learning????

Now I've only recently been using the term "to feel full" my girlfriend used it the other week when she said to me to go and have a weekend doing activities that'll fill you up, what a lovely thing to be told! so I did just that. I spent that weekend, skateboarding, playing music, cooking, and surfing. ill tell you now! after that weekend I felt bloody full!

My mum had a book called Ikigai hanging around her house which I read, I'm very happy I did because ever since reading that book it's got me eager to find purpose in my work. ikigai is a concept that has been rooted in the culture of Japan for centuries and simply means, “reason to live.” the book talks about an island in Japan called Okinawa which has been listed as a blue zone, these blue zones have the highest concentration on centenarians (people 100+ years old) they were asked questions on why they think they are living such long and prosperous lives, their answers were simple, find what you love to do and don't stop doing it.

Now I'm at the stage of wanting to make some changes to my life, hence why I've started this blog to help me channel these thoughts. I have a long list of hobbies I love to do but it's hard for me to perceive these hobbies as a job that will earn me an income. I know I love to cook, so one thing me and my girlfriend are working on is opening a small food stall at farmers' markets at the weekend. another part of ikigai was that when you do your passionate hobbies you enter into a state of flow when you're no longer thinking about the past or future but what you are doing at that very moment. so, I would like to transition into a place of work where I can find my flow state. pottery is certainly that opportunity for me again why I've started theshitshedshaper.com to put my creations out there. Now I know what i need to focus on I can be putting more time and energy into learning more and developing my skills to better my future. at 31 years old even though I'm still machining I'm feeling in more control of my future and I'm excited about the journey!