Career Choices, Decisions and the Ability to Adapt and Reengineer Ourselves

It is unbelievable to me that we expect 17 year-old high school students to know what they want to do with the rest of their lives. When I was in high school I could barely decide what to do that day after school. The good news is that we do not have to make such a life decision at such a young age.

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After spending 20 years helping people ages 16 to 66 with their career decisions, it has become clear to me that these decisions are likely to be revised every few years at least. It is no longer common at all to enter one career path after school and stay with it until you retire. It is no longer even common to retire!

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I graduated from university 30 years ago in 1991, and my career path over the past 30 years has seen over 10 career changes. I am not merely referring to different companies or institutions, I have changed my entire career over 10 times. After launching a career in marketing, I progressed through sales, NGO management, public sector consulting, strategic management, restaurant management, entrepreneurship, human resources consulting, career counseling, teaching and business development. I now do a hybrid of many of these things.

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Most importantly, my story is hardly unique.?The career paths of many of my friends and acquainances are quite similar. And it is likely that your careers will follow a similar trajectory.

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With all of the options before us, coupled with the degree of change and uncertainty in the world today, it is a miracle if any of us choose one single career that we stay with our enitire lives. How many different sectors (e.g., banking, healthcare, etc.) and functions (e.g., sales, logistics, etc.) are there? Who would have predicted COVID? Who knows what will happen in the years ahead?

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The good news is that this does not have to be one, single irrevocable decision.

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What I recommend – and implement myself – is a series of three-year plans renewed every year throughout life. I planned my career for the next three years in December 2020; and I will again plan the following three years in December 2021. You should have a rolling plan that is adjusted every year according to new developments over the previous 12 months.

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If you don’t have the slightest idea what you want to do, just try something. Try something and see if you like it. There is an expression: “Life is short.” No it is not. Life is very, very long. 100 years or more if you treat yourself right. So try something for a year and adjust afterwards.

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We hear a lot about “21st century competencies.” I believe that the most important competency now is the ability to adapt, learn and reengineer ourselves. So much is changing so fast nowadays. Even if we really feel that we know what we want to do for the rest of our lives, this can suddenly change due to unforeseen circumstances lying ahead. Best to hone this competency and be ready.

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Many ask me how best to prepare for the future, how to be ready for change, or ready for anything. My answer is to focus on developing LQ. We all know that IQ is intelligence and EQ is emotional intelligence. . . LQ is learning intelligence – the abilty to learn. ?We need to focus not only on “learning,” but on our ability to learn – our level of learning competency. This is the single most important determinant of career success in today’s treacherous world.

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For a deeper discussion, you can always message me here, or send me an e-mail at [email protected].

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Have a great bayram holiday!?