Let me introduce you to my favorite fictional career role model, Harry King.
Harry King is a character in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, fantasy fiction series that could probably be called parody, but it really doesn't quite do it justice. Harry King, introduced in the book "The Truth" is one of the best role models you can have.
Young Harry grew up a bit of a scavenger and seller of odd throwaways and junk, but as he grew he started a career taking away the contents of chamberpots. Then dog leavings. Then junk.
Harry found quickly there was money in what people didn't want. They'd pay you to take away things you could sell elsewhere. Waste goes into sellable compost, dog muck can be used by tanners. Junk of course is easily recyclable.
Decades later he's wealthy, happy, and famous, running an empire of recycling in a city of roughly Renaissance-era technology. He looked at the world differently and looked for opportunity.
Harry King is a great role model to select out of various nonexistent people. In fact, if you think about it, you probably know a few Harry King types yourself – who saw the world differently, saw opportunities, and took them.
So next time your career or job is dead-ended, next time you're not sure where to go, start thinking about how you can turn trash into treasure, how you can look at the lowest possibilities and see the highest potential. Look at things differently.
Go find your chamberpots to empty. Who knows what can follow?
– Steven Savage