Right from a very early age we’re asked what we want to be when we grow up and I bet most of us have changed their answer to that question more times than we can remember. As we approach the end of our school years or we graduate from university, we really have to make some sort of decision and from there starts a journey that meanders through life, evolves, goes up and down and has us take detours that are rather unexpected.
While that doesn’t sound too bad, many of us have plans. We have goals and want to achieve certain milestones. And because of that we want to plan our careers.
I’d say having a direction is great, knowing what you’re good at also definitely helps. Planing your career in detail and with timelines, however, will only work in very very few cases. And I argue that we may not even want it to work. Because surprises, opportunities and unexpected turns of events often result in changes we never saw coming but that give us a chance to rise to the challenge and realize how strong we are.
It is helpful to reflect on your values and goals and to consider where you’d like to be in 5 years from now. What kind of person do you want to be? What skillset do you want to have? What do you want your everyday to look like?
Answering those questions will help you shape the path you need to take to get to those goals.
For me, titles and seniority seemed an obvious goal in the past, but the more years I’ve spent working, the more I’ve appreciated refining my skills, building expertise and focusing on solving specific problems, connecting specific people and creating things, rather than managing them. For me, that’s the way forward and that’s the challenge I enjoy, despite what teenage Eva would have told me.
I’d love to hear what your ideas are and what you’ll be doing today to inch closer to your goals.