Why You Need To Have Four Careers

These days, everyone needs to have at least 4 careers.

You cannot put all your eggs into one basket, one career, one company.

This is too much risk to bear.

You want to be anti-fragile and entrepreneurial.

You are not cut out for just one job.

Your imagination is without boundaries — why do you limit yourself to one job or one career?

You need to design multiple lives and multiple careers for your future.

In this exercise, I want you to imagine and create four different lives and careers.

The idea is that you can incorporate elements of these 4 scenarios into your life and career.

Are you ready?

Let’s start.

1. Your default career and life plan for the next 3 years:

First, you will put down your current life and career plan for the next 3 years. Where will you be working? What are your career and life goals? How will you advance towards your career goals? Where will you live?

You can put keywords, bullet points, or full sentences — write or doodle as you like.

You might want to consider the roles you want to pursue in your current organization, whether you might want to make any career changes, and what types of knowledge and skills you want to develop.

You can also consider your finances, health, family, house, and relationships.

Please try to include as many details as you can.

2. Your alternative career and life plan for the next 3 years:

Now, I would like you to imagine another alternative life and career.

This scenario has to be significantly different from your current (default) plan.

Imagine that you are tired or bored with your current life and career. Perhaps you wish a life that is full of more adventure, excitement, travel, or impact/legacy. Perhaps you consider a change of professional paths. How would you make significant changes?

Another way to think about this might be that your default (current) plan is no longer possible.

Now, you need to think of and create a different alternative that is fresh and exciting for you.

How would this ‘alternative’ career or life look like?

Please imagine all the details that you can.

Put them into writing and create a 3-year plan.

Perhaps you changed your job, sector, or city. How would you start over with a fresh page?

What is your new job? What are the things that you wish to do in this new job? What could be some new and fresh goals that you could strive for? What are the new and exciting things you will learn?

Again, please feel free to put keywords, bullet points, or full sentences — write or doodle as you like.

Consider your finances, health, family, house, and relationships. Please try to include as many details as you can.

3. Your entrepreneurial career and life plan for the next 3 years:

In this third scenario, I would like you to imagine yourself as a successful entrepreneur.

Imagine that you know that you will be successful in your entrepreneurial adventures or projects.

You will establish or create something new and useful.

Perhaps you will create a new product or service. You might create a new business that will help the lives of thousands of people. You might think of an entrepreneurial project you wish to create.

Which adventures would you like to pursue?

Which problems do you want to address and solve?

How will you help other people improve their lives?

Imagine where you want to be in 3 years, 5 years, and then in 10 years. Where will your enterprise be? What is your vision? Why do you wish to create this business or initiative?

Imagine the big picture and how your venture fits within this big picture.

Imagine all the details that you can.

Put them into writing and create a 3-year plan. How will you start? Create some strategies and write down action steps you can take.

Please feel free to put keywords, bullet points, or full sentences — write or doodle as you like.

4. Your creative career and life plan for the next 3 years:

Last but not least, in this scenario, I would like you to imagine yourself as a successful artist or creative professional.

Imagine that you will be successful in your artistic projects. You will be creating creative assets for your future.

You will create artwork that is inspiring, thought-provoking, or visionary.

What would you like to create?

What do you want to experiment with?

Music? Visual arts? Dance? Drawing? Painting? Creative writing? Fashion? Design? Theatre? Poetry? Fiction? Photography? Cinema? Multimedia? Your own YouTube channel? Performance arts? Video games? Architecture? Sculpture? Crafts?

Imagine that you will reach 1000 true fans who will admire your work and art.

What do you want to create?

Think of all the creative assets (books, films, artwork, designs, etc.) you can create. The sky is the limit!

Why do you create art?

How do you express yourself?

How will you inspire people?

What is your artistic vision?

Try to create an artist’s statement.

Imagine where you want to be in 3 years, 5 years, and then in 10 years.

How can you build a system of creating creative assets in your daily life?

Put them into writing and create a 3-year plan. How will you start creating creative assets? Create some strategies and write down practical action steps you can take.

Please feel free to put keywords, bullet points, or full sentences — write or doodle as you like.

This exercise will help you think about your life and career in multiple ways. Multiplicity means richness.

Having 4 different scenarios for your life and career is extremely useful.

Your life dreams and visions never fit within one job.

You need to create multiple scenarios and enlarge your imagination of what good life is.

Then, your life will be much more adventurous, exciting, colorful, and satisfying.

Your life will also be much more resilient, entrepreneurial, and anti-fragile — you benefit from four baskets instead of one.

You do not need ideal plans — you can start small.

Small positive actions and habits are very powerful if you do them consistently over time.

Remember: You can incorporate elements from each of these plans into your life. And you should.

That is the key to a rich, adventurous, satisfying life.

Sincerely;

Fahri

Fahri Karakas is the author of Self-making Studio.

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