I decided to become an architect when I was 10 years old. I made the decision and never looked back. Another career was never even considered. Every step to become a licensed architect was calculated and scheduled for the result that has become my reality.
I have always looked at this as a gift.
I never needed to worry about my future. Not once did I doubt what I might do with my life. High school courses were selected specific to my inevitable destination. The shortlist for colleges was so simple to compile. The plan was so certain.
I know many architects with similar stories. It is not uncommon to ask an architect her backstory and have it begin with, “I always knew…”
I, myself, always knew I wanted to be an architect… but,
What if I was wrong?
What if my prepubescent certainty lead me down the wrong path? Is an architect what I am truly meant to be? Is this truly God’s plan for me?
For every architect I know with a childhood origin story, I know another who may be better off doing something else. Architecture is a difficult profession and not every one of us who has obtained our ultimate goal have found it to be the life of our dreams. Some of us would be more successful and in fact, happier, doing something else.
The time and effort to become a licensed architect makes this possibility unacceptable to many. The truth is buried under more than a decade of preparation, examination and execution. After so much dedication to one’s only dream, how could it be possible to give it up and start anew?
Being an Entrepreneur Architect leads me to explore ideas and concepts unrelated to architecture. I seek to discover alternative paths to success. I strive to learn what I may from entrepreneurs pursuing success from countless industries and professions. I read books, listen to podcasts and learn how successful entrepreneurs have found their true purpose in life. Many of these people have pursued multiple paths, “failing” over and over again prior to finding their true calling.
So, how do we know? How do we know if this path we have chosen is indeed the path that is meant to be?
Q.U.I.T.
Here are four steps to confirm our curent condition and determine the proper path to our future.
Question
When we lock into our future so early in life, we tend to be single-minded in every decision we make. Take some time to look at your life and business with fresh eyes.
Are there better ways to do what you are doing? Do you actually need to be doing everything you are taking time to do? Can things be done better? Are you good at what you do? Are you happy?
Question everything.
Understand
Understand where you are, where you are going and where you have been.
How far have you come? Have you grown and improved your systems? What is your plan for the future? Do you clearly understand how to get there?
Review the Entrepreneur Architect Academy blog series and summarize your current status for each post. Do you understand each fundamental element of a successful business?
Income
Review your Profit and Loss Statement.
Are you earning enough income to be profitable? Where does your income come from? Which services make you the most money? Which services are costing you more than they are making? How much do you need to earn each month in order to be profitable? How much more can you make? Are there other products or services you should be offering?
Do you even have a budget?
Time
Time may be the most important step to consider.
How long have you been in business? Are you financially successful, or have you been struggling to stay in business from the day you began? Do you limp along, from project to project, expecting next month to be better? Has there ever been a time that you felt that everything was running smoothly and you were confident that you were on the right track?
How much more time do you need?
We may be passionate for our profession. We may be dedicated to our dreams. Architecture may be the perfect path to our purpose.
Could it be though, that maybe there is another path we should be pursuing? Maybe our true calling has yet to be discovered?
If we don’t stop and consider the possibility of quitting, we will never truly know that our path is, in fact, aligned with our purpose and that we are indeed meant to be architects.
When did you decide to become an architect? Have you ever considered quitting?
***
photo credit: Jillian Corinne via photopin cc
Reading this is a sucker punch to the gut. Never expected, maybe deserved.
As the old aftershave commercial exclaimed, “Thanks. I needed that.”
. . . and not least, Mark, a very nice piece of writing in itself.
Thanks Andy. Just trying to keep us all on our toes : )
This is true of so many Architects today, if they want to admit it or not. I recently took these steps myself and determined it is not my true calling. Though I love construction and architecture, I don’t like that I have to do it to make ends meet. This alone is so contradictory to the old adage “we don’t do it for the money” that I am sure many of us heard through school. What a load of crap that is, the only way we could not do it for them money, with the hours involved, is if we were all trust fund babies. I am in the process of transitioning out of Architecture, while staying in the construction/built environment field, but something much more lucrative that will also provide me with much more family time!!
Having made this discovery several months back, I have found myself raising the question to many others in the field, and all too often getting that “but I really love Architecture”. Then I ask, “is it really providing you with all you expected, all you want?”. This really makes them think. I ask similar questions as those written in the article, and more times than not the answer is a resounding “NO”.
As Mark stated, I think the time spent becoming an Architect makes it really hard to walk away, so much has been invested. However, looking to the future, for my family’s sake, I have to say, I can not invest anymore to a career that I do not feel good about waking up to in the morning and coming home pissed off every night. Especially when the time/income ratio is so much lower than most professions out there. I too have studied the entrepreneur method, being a “business owner” I had to ask myself, do I own the business or does the business own me. I found the later was the case, and speaking to my colleagues (fellow firm owners) I discovered that not one could say their business could run just as well without them there. I am now moving to “owning my business”, and not letting a business or career own me.
Great article Mark, always enjoy your post.
I’d love to know more about what you are planning for your future.
I love to know the rest of your story. Did you really leave architecture. Did you find what you were looking for in another path?
No. I will never leave architecture. I am following MY path and pursuing my purpose. Architecture is a very big part of it all.
Thanks for bringing this question up, Mark. Personally, though I thought I wanted to be an architect since the 7th grade, I did poorly in algebra in school and instead went into Fine Arts, getting a BFA and MFA and teaching for 3 years first. I finally made the switch to Architecture at age 30 with a M.Arch 1 at UCLA in 1986. I absolutely loved my time in school and in the profession.
When I had a young family I started my own firm so that I had the flexibility I needed to be a football mom and still build a successful practice. All was good until the great “recession/depression” hit. Now 5 years later, struggling mightily, I wonder what else can I do? It’s hit us very hard in California, and it didn’t help that I specialized in affordable housing, subdivisions and multifamily housing. They all went down the tubes very quickly. There is such a back log of approved designed projects out there, that it will be many years before there is new work in my area.
I tried painting again but no success. I did a little teaching, but it was a tiny drop in the financial bucket. I keep plugging away at resurrecting old projects with the hope something new will come along. It has really hurt my generation. We should have been earning the most in the last 5 years towards saving for eventual retirement. I never thought I’d actually retire, since our field is something we can do into our 90s. But, it gets more and more challenging every year what with code changes, ADA interpretations, Storm Water mitigation etc.
I don’t think I’m alone in this predicament. I’m curious if there are others out there that find themselves prematurely retired against their will. I know others like me that signed up for Social Security just to barely makes ends meet. I plan on doing so in November when I qualify. I believe we are through the worst of the downturn in the economy but I see very little movement on the horizon. Anyone with good news or suggestions out there?
Thanks for sharing Katherine. I do think there are many with similar stories. My hope is that by being honest and sharing our experiences, together we’ll find some solutions.
Big developers and small time clients want us to believe we slave on their projects for the good of humanity ;not for money.We believe them due to our education and egos.
It is hard to sell something when people do not really need it or willing to pay for it.
The most clients are willing to pay these days is the minimum fee.
With that kind of budget, it is impossible to do any decent project; and forget about any profit. The additional time ( and risk) an architects need to deal with any under budget projects make 99 % of such projects impossible to do.
It is a pure waste of time. Passion about architecture is not enough.
All those fancy software are over complicated for most projects.
I think the best way out is for architects and engineers to become builders and stop buying fancy software and hardware for the next 10 years.
I dont think our knowledge as Architects should be that of a “slave mentality” as owners would want, I think we are in the best position to have a major impact in the world of construction but we have been trained by our predecessors everything about making money in this profession is “TABU”. I think our clients have taken full advantage of this “starving artist” mentality prevalent throughout the field of Architecture. In addition, we have put it on ourselves, accepting all the risk with very little reward other than the ability and pride to say, “I built that” to our kids and grandkids. I would rather be the guy who says I built that, and I have the keys, want to go take a look inside. See the difference?
I am starting to take ownership in what I do, starting to generate a passive income stream through ownership of my projects rather than just being the grunt who puts it all together. This passive income stream through ownership will certainly take time to build, but will consistently pay. This will allow me be selective in the clients and more importantly the fees I “CHOOSE” to accept. In truth, I will be my own client.
As Architects we think we are so dependent on owners, developers etc.. to create because they bring one thing, funding. However, every developer I have ever worked with was more dependent on me to provide the plan and vision in order to secure the funding. So I ask, who is dependent on who? I have found, as an Architect, for the common person it is much harder coming up with the vision than it is funding. As Architects, I am sure you will agree, the vision is the easy part for us. I have begun securing the funding on my own, along with a lot more financial IQ, and creating the work myself to my standards. Best of all I have put a lot more $$$ in my pocket and I am slowly securing control over my own future. Most importantly my family’s future by freeing up all the time I was slaving over other peoples project to now being in control of my own, allowing me to control the amount, YES, HONESTLY CONTROL!! my own schedule, by now being able to afford to pay others to do all the grunt work I was previously doing. Which is, as I said in a previous post, time that will be mostly spent with my family.
Anyone of us has the knowledge to do it, you just have to get out and DO IT!! Quit being dependent on someone else for your future.. Find the WHAT, then the HOW and most importantly the WHY. The what and how come easy, once you find the strong why. For me, it was my two kids.
Yes, it is better to be the owner of the project rather than be the designer/architect. As an architect, you get all the potential liability and ZERO of any capital gains.
Instead of spending money on hardware/software upgrade, office rental , fancy websites, AIA fees ,marketing, I think architects/engineers should pool all their money into a down payment for investment in buildings and other real estate investment projects. We should stop wasting time impressing clients and chasing after them.We should spend the time on taking care of our own wealth building first.
Mark, awesome post and masterful writing. Gave me goosebumps.
This discussion has extremely valuable insights. We are tuned to spend more than a decade investing time and passion without really grasping an understanding of how to make the entire thing profitable or sustainable. The moments when the great architectural ideal and philosophy all come crumbling down are not often discussed openly and yet this is a very real phenomenon.
The times I have contemplated quitting have set me free from the fear of leaving the profession or walking away from it altogether, and this has in fact renewed my original passion for design while at the same time, taking me out of dreamland concerning the harsh realities that prevail in the field.
To take a critical stance and evaluate the reasons for being where one is as an architect is imperative for growth and true self discovery.
Great post Mark! Its scarily true… there was time where I had to make a tough call about whether to continue in architecture and get licensed or to try other paths. In the end, I took another path but it turned out well. Like others here, I think critically evaluating if they’re on the right path is very important. Contemplating quitting doesn’t mean you’ll end up doing so but may actually reaffirm your choice for architecture as a career/life path.
Great and to the point article. For me the ‘sniff’ of cement brought back home by my dad at the end of his working day, and some school holidays spent on site where he was working was all I needed to be taken over by the architecture virus. Unlike most ‘viruses’ that can be treated this one mutates and becomes part of you. But your questions certainly ring bells of the questions and decisions one should be taking. Yet I agree with you that architecture has many varied paths of success, and need not be the classical role taught at the architecture schools.
Once again great post, and keep up the great work.
This post and the comments that follow are very timely for me; a glimpse into my future perhaps as I contemplate starting my own practice. I have been a faithful and hardworking employee for two and a half decades and have done everything I could to secure ongoing employment. However, my current position as VP of Architecture in an A/E/C firm is about to end. The A and E staff are being let go.
In an odd twist of fate, I have an opportunity to capitalize on some new opportunities with the remaining C part of the business – if I start my own firm rather than seek traditional employment.
I will contemplate the Q.U.I.T. issues as I consider becoming an Entrepreneur Architect.
this post has really done the job of a soothing balm as i realised i was not the only one who is floating in this to be or not to be dilemma, As i started practising architecture the scenario was good as i had experience and was ready to explore all routes in interior , architecture and landscape. but have lately realised it as a snake and ladder play. i am at high on getting to work on an interesting project and at low within no time as i finish the project. again there are filler gap projects which go simultaneouly paying you little as the client always wants to pay minimum fees, which pushes you to think whether to quit practise and join a big developer or to continue and drag yourself, you are gulped down by the snake, as soon these thoughts flow you hit a project and again you climb the ladder, finally leading to think , just flow with the tides and play safe.