3 Inevitable Career Truths

These shaped the way I think about my career and can help you feel yours differently.

“Opportunities don’t happen, you create them.” — Chris Grosser

There are many things you can do to have a great career. There are many roads you can take. There are many decisions you can make.

Whatever you do, be intentional about it.

The following are truths I have come to realize over the years that helped me be more intentional about my career and find purpose in what I do.

Truth #1: Your career is time bound

I hate to break it to you, but you have to know — your career has a deadline.

All in all, you are probably looking at some 35–40 years of play in front of you. Maybe much less. And that is assuming everything goes well.

It sounds like a lot of time, but it really isn’t.

Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, shared a glimpse into the reality that your career has an expiration date to it.

“When you are 20 to 30 years old, you should follow a good boss [and] join a good company to learn how to do things properly…

…When you are 30 to 40 years old, if you want to do something yourself, just do it. You still can afford to lose, to fail…

…When you’re 40 to 50 years old, my suggestion is you should do things you are good at…

…When you are 50 to 60 years old, spend time training and developing young people, the next generation…

…When you are over 60 years old, you better stay with your grandchildren”

In that timeframe, there is a chance that your relevance in the market will fade away. At some point you may face juniorization or become obsolete.

Juniorization is both flattering an upsetting at the same time.

It is flattering because it means you have become an expensive asset — congrats, all your years of education and work paid off, you acquired value. It is also upsetting because it signals you have gotten old(er) — well done in making it thus far!

Becoming obsolete can be a terrifying thought.

It is not something that is discussed much when you are in school or when you start working. However, it is the elephant in the room worth speaking about. Obsolete is a code name for “your services are not in line with current demand”. That demand can change at any stage of your career: when you start, when you are up and running, and when you have had a fair run too.

Inhale…

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.

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…and exhale slowly now.

That wasn’t easy for me to write, so I do not blame you if you thought it was discouraging to read. Sorry, but you had to know. Especially if you are about to start your career.

It doesn’t mean it is all gloomy. It is not. I do not believe we are doomed. I believe in being intentional about your career. Forget the “where do you see yourself in 5 years” type of question. Ask yourself this instead:

How do I want to spend my next 2, 3, or 5 years?

You don’t have to follow Jack Ma’s framework to the letter.

If you are 22 and you don’t want to work for a boss and a company, that’s fine. If you are 35 and you enjoy working where you are working, that’s also fine. Just like it is if you are 45 and you are trying to reinvent yourself.

What matters is how you decide to spend that time.

Truth #2: People, systems or frameworks don’t own your career (you do)

Now that you know you do not have all the time in this world to make things happen, you are one step closer to doing something very powerful: owning your career.

It is a cliché statement, I know. I mean, your career was yours to begin with so why owning it again?!

Because we unconsciously learn otherwise.

We go to middle school, get grades and that grants us access to high school. We go to high school, get grades and we go to the next step. We go to university and we do our job to get as good of grades as possible so someone might notice we exist, giving us a scholarship or placing us on the honour list.

We learn that following X rules in Y game leads to Z result.

However, when we start working we learn that Z is actually the result of X+Y+many other factors. All of a sudden, there is no dean to place you on a list automatically as you perform well.

Spending time hoping your next step will depend on some end-of-year recognition is wishful thinking at best.

Owning your career means you know the career game has a hard stop, even though you might not know exactly when that will be.

It means you spend time reflecting on what it is you want to do at any point in time — to be sure, it doesn’t have to be your passion in life— and forming your plan(s) to do it.

It means you execute on your plan(s) and ideas.

It means you don’t wait or hope someone will descend from above to recognize that you can go to the next level of the game.

You need to want your next step, whichever it may be.

Truth #3: There is value in sitting through the seasons

Years ago I came across a quote that got me thinking a lot ever since. I haven’t been able to find the exact wording ever since (if you do, please comment below). It went something like:

“There is value in sitting through the seasons.” — Anonymous

That is, do not rush.

It may sound counterintuitive.

I have been writing on how you should plan and act because your career is time bound, and now I am telling you not to rush things.

Truth is… You don’t get sound knowledge only by studying and working. You acquire knowledge by simply being in a place and observing changes as they occur.

So, as you devote part of your career to a given activity, project or role, make sure you (try to) stay around long enough to become a gatekeeper of knowledge.

A gatekeeper of knowledge is a person who has accumulated so much knowledge about a topic, an environment or even a process that you cannot do without them.

I still remember working in this financial institution a number of years back. The environment was vibrant, the work was interesting and the people were friendly. Among them was this guy, let us call him “John” (you can choose any another name that you like).

John was a senior member of staff. It was not so much how old he was that made him senior. It was the number and type of seasons he had sat through —he had worked through the major financial, political, and economic events that occurred in the region.

He knew a thing or two about navigating turbulent times, because he lived through those moments. As the events were unfolding, he was there, becoming a gatekeeper of knowledge.

To become one yourself, you don’t have to spend your whole life acquiring knowledge or live trough major historical events. What you do need to do is to be patient with your endeavours (new or old), knowledge and relevance will be by-products of that.

Final Thoughts

A career is not an easy journey.

Sometimes it is all crystal clear, and we act with confidence. Sometimes all we see is pitch-black, and we hesitate.

That is part of the game.

What matters is that we don’t forget we can shape our career, one season at a time.

Accept the inevitability. Own the steps. Appreciate the process. You owe it to yourself to feel your career differently.

So how are you going to spend your next 5 years?

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