Do you think of a career as a ladder or a painting?

For many years, I thought a career needed to be a ladder. In other words, for anyone to be successful in their careers, they had to move from one level in a job to the next level as if they are climbing the stairs or a ladder. From the result I got from a recent poll that I conducted, I realized that most people think the same way too.

It took me until recently to realize that this is not the case at all. In fact, a career is not always a linear but it can also be more like a jungle gym or a painting. As Sheryl Sandberg, author of “Lean In” rightly said.

"Careers are not ladders, but jungle gyms. Your career, and your life, will have starts and stops and zigs and zags."

When you look at a painting from a distance, you see a beautiful picture but as you move closer to it, you see that there are, in fact, hundreds of separate brushstrokes that make up that picture.

It is therefore necessary for us to think about your career as a work of art where independent roles and responsibilities come together to form your career as a whole. This way, we will not feel like a failure when we are not progressing in career the way we want it.

When we visualize a career as a ladder, we start putting ourselves in a box and we get anxious and dissatisfied when we are not climbing up . The career path is not always smooth, the road can be bumpy and rough.

Like most of you,?when I started my career, I wasn’t quite sure how the journey would be or what my?career would look like. At a point I felt stuck and?I thought I was just spinning in circles. I had changed jobs multiple times and I didn't seem to know where my career was heading. It was until I got to know that a career doesn't necessary has to be ladder that's when I stopped feeling anxious and dissatisfied in my career,

Steve Jobs once said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards”. When I connected the dots backwards, I came to the realization that I wasn't doing badly at all and that the skills and experiences I had acquired over years is what has brought me where I currently find myself.

If you are reading this article and you feel like you are spinning in your career or you don’t seem to be moving forward in your career, know that you are not alone. Take a step back and see the painting — every experience adds a brushstroke to a bigger picture.

When you start connecting the dots backwards, you will have a clear picture of where your past career experiences are leading you.?

The more you think of your career as a painting, the more you will appreciate where your career is leading you.

I will love to read your thought on this. Feel free to share them with in the comment section.