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Well paid jobs that require you to be physically active?

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Well paid jobs that require you to be physically active?

#1
I have been working as a software developer for about ten years, and it has always been my passion. I often took my work home and worked 13 hours each day for years. I earn relatively well and I am the highest paid developer in our firm.

In the past one two years however, my motivation has been on a steady decline. I have largely lost my interest in IT, partly because it no longer feels challenging, but also because I feel inactive.

I would love to do something else, optimally something that requires my being physically active. I am more athletic than 99% of my peers, doing at least 12 hours of sports every week, and I would love to expand on that.

However, throwing away all that I know feels wrong, it is the capital that I have built on, and I don't want to take a large cut on my salary. Perhaps more importantly, I need the prospect of advancing my career.

Any idea for jobs that are both well paid and require a lot of physical work? Of course, the right mix of physical work and science would be perfect, but I am guessing that such a thing does not exist?

Re: Well paid jobs that require you to be physically active?

#3
I think there's plenty of opportunity. I've run into engineers (some software, some not) who work on wind turbines, technology in developing countries, or oceanography... I'm sure plenty of folks will mention the military, as well. I think there's absolutely opportunities out there, though most of the ones I can think of will involve lots of travel.. hopefully that's not a problem for you.

Re: Well paid jobs that require you to be physically active?

#4
post #2

acting? modelling? a serious (for once) personal trainer?

Acting is definitely not for me and I am not good looking enough for modelling. Personal trainer is actually a very good idea, and sports medicine has always been one of my interests. I am sceptical that this makes sense financially, but it sounds like a job that can be started gradually without needing to make a hard cut from my current job. Interesting, I will think about it more.

Re: Well paid jobs that require you to be physically active?

#7
post #4
post #2

acting? modelling? a serious (for once) personal trainer?

Acting is definitely not for me and I am not good looking enough for modelling. Personal trainer is actually a very good idea, and sports medicine has always been one of my interests. I am sceptical that this makes sense financially, but it sounds like a job that can be started gradually without needing to make a hard cut from my current job. Interesting, I will think about it more.

Read up on Ross Emanait. He has a steady gig training athletes in strength and conditioning. Boxing, and stuff like that. Seems to work as if he was a consultant.

Re: Well paid jobs that require you to be physically active?

#9

Underwater welding ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbaric_welding ) and dive engineering are extremely lucrative, physically demanding and exciting jobs. A friend makes 6 figures and gets to travel to exotic places to boot.

That sounds very cool, but probably requires multiple years of training (with little income).

Re: Well paid jobs that require you to be physically active?

#10
Cabinetry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinetry

It doesn't have to be overly taxing physical work (requiring a lot of strength), but it is usually a very active physical work (requiring constant movement).

Getting well paid while doing it might be tough. It is not a well paid job by default. However, with some imagination you might be able to use your scientific/math/engineering background to make products that have decent margin.

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