Help! I am young and starting out

Over the years I have written about a couple of subjects of interest so today I delve into some thoughts on career. I have often reflected on my own career journey and recently felt compelled to put a few thoughts down for a younger spirited generation. Just to be clear, I am not yet there, in fact, I am still well on my way, feeding my career aspirations. However, having garnered a few miles, I thought I would share some valuable lessons drawn from my journey thus far...

There's a sense that every generation is faster paced than the former. I suppose it's not so much the generation but rather the advancements associated with each generation's time and that's obviously expected given that the world is not static.?This means careers equally evolve, giving birth to new opportunities. Even traditional professions have undergone significant transformation and new skills demanded today attest to this reality. As such, today's energetic, vivacious, go-getter, tech driven generation is challenging the status quo and pushing boundaries to innovatively tackle the challenges of our time. It’s against this backdrop that I draw some key pointers for the younger generation to sign post their own journeys.

*It is NOT a matter of life and death*

A good starting point is knowing that you are not dealing with a do or die mission. Your mental, emotional and spiritual health is fundamental to your journey from here on. Starting out comes with anxiety at different turns including interview processes and that is a battle you want to win. Whether fresh out of Uni or at whatever point you start this journey, treat this as another season of life. Do not be too hard on yourself with undue pressure.?Sure life's pressures are real, diverse and indeed some circumstances may up the ante however don’t set yourself up to go over the edge.

*It is a matter of life NOT death*

What you have is a fresh canvas. It's been said that 'It is not important how you start but rather how you finish.' While largely true, I put it to you that there's value in putting your best foot forward. Suffice it to say that a strong start puts you on a path to a strong finish. Save for factors outside your control, you are well on the winning path. An athlete who trains hard right from the start continually increases his/her odds of success. As such, don’t just wonder into the market but put some thought to it. It’s never too early to lay your options on the table as it also helps you prepare better for opportunities in spaces you have prioritized.

*The Exploratory Curve*

This is your adventure stage, your adrenaline phase so to say. It is advisable not to box yourself in but rather explore as many opportunities as possible. Let me leave timelines to Human Resource Professionals although I may risk to put it anywhere between 5 and 7 years. So stretch your role, get on to projects, volunteer for additional tasks etcetera. This allows you to build diverse experiences that will shape your journey and provide sufficient data points for you to eventually begin to focus your journey. Out of that diversity, your heart will be drawn to particular areas of interest where you think you can focus your impact. Not all of us have the benefit of being confident of what we want out of life from the get go. I know I wasn’t one of those and attest to the benefit of diversity culminating into a more focused journey.

*Curate your path*

Exploring is great and many a time inevitable however at some point, you need to begin to deliberately curve out a path. This allows you to focus the kind of impact you want to have. I do agree that in an increasingly dynamic world, this too is becoming blurry. However, focus remains a timeless trait for success premised on the reality that you can’t do everything and can’t be everywhere. we simply don’t have that capacity. This means that at some point, we focus ourselves to achieve the best results. So whether it’s career or business, at some point you must draw a line in the sand and state your claim to a path/mission you believe in and go for it. Only then can you have meaningful impact in the long term. One of my Uncles is a leading Statistician and it shows in his learning and career journey that he set himself up to be the best in that space and he is certainly right at the top of that field.

*Don't burn bridges*

A friend and colleague who paved the way for me in my early years once shared a valuable lesson that I recall to this day. He was in a middle management role and rapidly growing in a new risk area that had emerged in the sector and has since taken him places. He was once approached by a recruiter to interview for a role in a smaller institution and he took the interview even when he wasn't really up for the role. While having a conversation, he impressed upon me the value of not burning bridges premising this on the uncertainty and diversity of one’s journey. One never knows where opportunities will lead. This also means that you ought to be careful how you switch or transition jobs. In as much as it depends on you, don’t leave a job or workplace in a nasty way. Endeavor to leave well because that’s a bridge not burnt.

*Value goodwill and relationships*

Your work is about the value you bring. However, goodwill and relationships transcend your work delivering value well beyond your work life. Some of your dearest friendships may very likely be borne out of your career journey but that can only be if you set out to build meaningful connections. Learn early on the value of building your network because that’s an asset almost impossible to price. Goodwill very easily grows out of your work ethic. There’s nothing Supervisors like more than a real soldier, one who gets work done and even goes above and beyond. Becoming that person will set you on an unstoppable trajectory, scooping accolades and being supported to grow. However it is not enough to deliver well on your tasks. In fact alot of work is collaborative in nature so cultivating healthy work relationships is critical to you being able to deliver.

*There will be crossroads*

Crossroads can be as scary as they are exciting. They are often great disrupters of comfort zones and are therefore uncomfortable. However when embraced with the right mindset, they are the real growth enablers because of their ability to stretch us and draw out our potential. M. Scott Peck puts it this way “Our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.” The reality is that there will be crossroads, there's no doubt about that, how we respond to them is the real game changer.

*Learning as a constant*

We are never done with school after all! It has been said that the only constant is change and change demands learning. Appreciate learning as an integral part of your journey. Learning allows you to continually challenge, stretch yourself, create, prepare for and exploit opportunities, which even becomes more important when you focus your journey to grow in a particular area. Becoming the best is not a chance occurrence but a deliberate endeavor and interestingly the world will demand that of you because somewhere, someone is challenging your field of expertise. Switching careers is also a reality and with technology as an enabler, reskilling is much easier today, facilitated by an array of learning platforms that are easily accessible at affordable and flexible rates and times. As such, a lot of learning today is self-paced and can take place anywhere and at any time so purpose to be a life long learner and your journey will be all the more rewarding.

To tie this all together, I want to call these pointers, nothing cast in stone as I have lived long enough to appreciate the diversity of our experiences including how sometimes success comes from some of the most unlikely turns in life. Whatever your journey may look like, in the words of Albert Einstein, “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” In so doing, you will have truly succeeded. Furthermore, appreciate your career as integral to your life not an offshoot.

More important,*You can make it*.What is before you is a life long journey, an adventure if you will and one you need to embrace with tenacity and grit. Suffice it to say that life is not wrapped up with a neat little bow so treasure every milestone and persevere through the tumultuous times. I close with a bible verse that is dear to me as it captures the essence of what I envision for my journey, “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in ALL things at ALL times, having ALL that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8