Don't Box Yourself In

In this series, professionals share what they'd do differently — and keep the same. Follow the stories here and write your own (please use #IfIWere22 in your post).

When I was 22 I was finishing my accountancy degree at Australia National University, I’d bought my first unit and was on the fast track to becoming a property mogul. However, in reality I’d boxed myself into what I thought I wanted rather than opening myself up to what I needed.

All I wanted was to secure a good job with one of the big six (at the time) accountancy firms. I didn’t enjoy accounting but I had endured it for four years, got my degree and so this just seemed like the next logical step. However, just because I’d done a degree in something didn’t mean I needed to commit the rest of my life to it. Unfortunately, I didn’t realise that at the time. In hindsight it’s crazy to get boxed into a career path and wealth accumulation so young, especially one that you’re not passionate about.

To succeed in life we need access to a broad learning base, not a narrow one. We need to seek out lots of different experiences so we can find where we shine and what we enjoy. But like so many graduates in the same boat, I was upset that I couldn’t find the job I wanted, especially when the only one I could get, in sales, I could have probably gotten without my degree! But, even then I was working horrendous hours and was ridiculously ambitious to climb the corporate ladder. I often look back and wonder if that was the right approach. Although it worked out for me, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it because it can narrow the focus still further.

At 22 you will probably be freer than you’ll ever be in your life again — no serious relationship, no children, no mortgage. Often the thing we choose to study is a last resort, influenced by our parents or what’s going to make us the most money. And yet the days of finding a career and sticking with it for 40 years are long gone. Your 20s are the time to take the big risks to give your life depth.

Charles Handy first coined the term "portfolio career" back in the 1970s. The idea that people would jump from career to career and have a portfolio of roles or experiences was madness at the time. In the '70s, people worked for one company their whole life, possibly moving up the corporate ladder but almost always in the same area. Then, after decades of loyal service they retired with that ubiquitous gold watch.

And yet, Handy was right — today most of us end up with a portfolio career, except we didn’t plan for it. I believe this needs to change.

Instead of getting boxed into any one career at 22, ask yourself, “If I were going to design 10 jobs in 10 years (even if they are for the same company), what would they be? What do I want to learn?" Professionally, most of us hit our straps in our 30s, not our 20s. Use your 20s to experiment and consciously design what you want to experience and learn so you can find out what type of work you are best suited to in the first 10 years of your career, and then fast track your success in your 30s.

It's not about finding your dream job or dream business but look at those early roles or business ventures as work with your training wheels on — a springboard to bigger and better things.

Try not falling into a trap of wanting to find "the one" company and developing a linear career path. Don't fall into the perfect startup storm of starting a business when you’ve never been in business; in an industry you have no experience of; using a business model that’s never existed; that needs a huge amount of capital; and relies on critical mass to be successful. Instead, start a stepping stone business or accept a role that you wouldn’t previously consider.

You don’t need to go from zero to hero in one leap! In fact, bridging such a huge chasm is one of the main reasons so many businesses fail the first time around or employees get dejected when they aren’t a manager by tomorrow. To make matters worse these early "failures" then discourage any further attempt in the future. None of it is failure — it’s all just learning.

So don’t get boxed in by your past or what you studied or all the time you’ve already invested in one area because you believe that you are only ever going to have one career — you will have a portfolio career so you may as well consciously manage that portfolio from the start, experiment, have fun and enjoy the ride.