Everyone talks about ‘having a career’ as if there’s a single, unmistakable definition of career. There isn’t. And there isn’t a simple, straight career path you can follow either.
The path is not a straight line you can see from start to finish. Instead it’s a collection of stepping stones, scenic detours, twists and turns, hills and valleys.
See opportunities as stepping stones
You have the option to pick different jobs, employers, places to live and more. Some of these opportunities are obvious, others less so.
Those hard to see opportunities are what you need to learn to see. What do they look like?
Life changing opportunities, in my experience, are those that:
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scare you a little (or a lot),
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come into your life unexpectedly,
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require a compromise that seems hard to make,
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excite you, even if you only admit that to yourself.
Every time I said yes to one of these opportunities, it changed the course of my life and I can connect today’s life – which I LOVE – to making those choices. They included:
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traveling around New Zealand at age 19 and staying for 8+ years,
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moving to Sydney to accelerate my career and start saving money,
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taking jobs that forced me to grow as a professional and learn new skills,
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getting divorced because I married someone I couldn’t spend the rest of my life with.
No regrets and all those things had to happen to get me to where I am today.
Your career won’t be a straight line to the top. The adventure is in the unexpected turns and detours
You’re impatient to progress. I get it, because I was impatient too.
If someone had told me at the start of my career that it would take 11+ years to get to “today”, I would have felt discouraged. But good things take time and maturing as a professional and a person is something you can’t rush. If you decide to skip certain steps, you’ll end up feeling out of your depth all the time.
How a side step can benefit you
Let’s say you have the option to take an exciting new role within your company, helping to set up the office in a new city. It sounds great but you’re worried it’s only a step to the side, not a promotion.
On paper it might be, but consider the many things you’ll learn along the way:
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living somewhere different,
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finding an office space,
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winning new clients,
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hiring new people.
You’ll get to experience starting a business without any of the risks of being a business owner. And you’ll gain many experiences because you’ll fill multiple roles until you’ve hired enough people.
Even a ‘step down’ can be a move forward
You’re a senior analyst in your current company, a big corporate. You have an offer to join a startup: as an analyst.
The title changes, but you could be paid more and you will definitely have a challenging, interesting and exciting few years ahead if you join an early stage startup.
You will likely do ALL THE THINGS related to data in your first few months until more people join the team. And as the company grows you’ll have a good chance to rise through the ranks more quickly than you ever could have in your previous corporate job.
Look beyond titles and see the opportunities
What I want you to take away from this week’s newsletter is that titles can hide the real value of a role and how much scope you have to learn, experiment and grow.
Steps to the side and those that look like going back can, in fact, be exactly what you need to move forward.
Your career path doesn’t have to be an accumulation of regular promotions.
Give yourself permission to try things out. As far as we know, you only get one shot at life as YOU. Don’t make it boring and predictable, but have fun instead and seek out the stepping stones, even those that are a bit wonky.