Can you commit?
"It's not a phase mom! This is who I truly am!" Oh, I get it. All jobs require consistency, many need dedication. A few demand more than being driven. You fully commit to the life without hesitation.
Back in 1997, when I was a photojournalist, I finally had a portfolio review, read as "please hire me", with the Director Of Photography for a major publication. It took me 8+ months of work to get 5 minutes with the guy.
He looks through my folio, makes some good "Mmm!" noises, then closes the book and pushes it to me on the other side of his desk.
"Good stuff", he said, "I'll have work for you" (Hurray!)
"Here's how it goes down. When I need you, I call. If I have to leave a message I start my timer." (Da-fuq?)
"When it reaches three minutes I scratch your name off my list and go with the next guy." (Meaning it might be years if ever that he calls me again)
"Ok?"
Yep! (I worked for him for the next 16 years until he retired)
This is why I'm hard wired to always have my phone in reach and answer every call and message. (Trauma response) I'm working on that now that I'm no longer being catapulted from job to job.
When people say things like "Wow it's been a crazy month. On Friday we are going to our beach house for a week and a half!" I just nod and make a happy face.
Ya see, I was on call 24/7 365 and didn't get more than three consecutive days without work for the first 17 years of my career. Because I didn't get to choose when I went to work. My clients did.
There was no "time off". You don't want the assignment? I'll hire the other guy and he will be my first call until he dies. You have plans with your wife? I don't care. Go now.
Getting calls before noon where the first thing you hear is "This is Charlie Goodwin, I need you in Kansas City tomorrow at 9am" is what you are made for and in a way look forward to.
Hobbies? Forget it. Social circle? Hope they are understanding.
It was most amazing career and I wouldn't have missed it for anything. I truly got an advanced degree in how the world works. But with all things there are sacrifices.
I didn't have anything resembling a normal life for 27 years but then the rest of you didn't get to go where I did, see what I did, learn what I did and meet the most amazing people ... all while getting paid. And acquiring a lot of CPTSD along the way. (Joy!)
If you get the chance, ask someone who was Special Forces if they regret not having a 9-5 job. Those guys did the impossible, can't talk abut it and knew that every time they went to work and save the world - they may not come back. I have spoken to a few and they all have said that it was more than worth it.
Believing in what you do professionally as a mission rather than a job enables you to excel and be willing to go outside of the norm to see it through. It's not for everyone but for those of us who are delightfully obsessive ... it's the only way to live.