Reverse Engineer your Career

Your job isn’t just something that takes 1/3 out of your day (at least), it’s also something that you have been preparing yourself since you are born. Although we often see our work as part of our life, it might be the only aspect of our reality that we dedicate so much consecrated time and effort.

Generation after generation people are used to choosing a profession or create a dream job in their mind, based on their strengths, income potential, status or other practical conditions. For most it's more important to pick a position than a career path, exactly because the second one is broader and harder to specify.

Today’s reality is far beyond compatible with this mindset, however. With technology and science to be more developed that ever to a level that it’s hard to keep up with changes and updates, people find it hard to adapt. There is no such thing like dream job, because no job is static anymore. Until you reach your dream, this job might be already outdated. On top of that candidates tend to acquire knowledge rather than skills. A variety of researchers report that today's candidates lack of skills and competencies.

Creating a career path is not a straight forward process!

It's not about positions anymore it's about career state. And the only way to reach eventually the ideal career state is by reverse engineering your career. Exactly the opposite of what we are doing right now! What do I mean by that?

Imagine a few people that are role models to you or create in your mind a person that you would like to be. Make this person complex, add interests, hobbies, skills, experiences everything you can possible admire or desire. Then focus on personality, mentality and behavior. What skills does this person have? What are his strong points? Make a list with all the characteristics of this person. For example, let’s say you fancy a well-known athlete. He has discipline, dedication, passion, talent, he works hard and invests in himself. 

Then go a step backwards.

How is it possible to acquire those skills? Can only an athlete have these? How did he make it? Do you think this person without these skills would be successful? What's in your current reality that could make you develop the same skill? 

Success doesn’t come from talent only, it’s a result of a strategically designed skills' utilization and development plan.

Then think about how you could develop these skills yourself right now through EVERY situation you face/you're involved. Doesn’t matter if you have relevant talents. It can be something as simple as house cleaning. Apply techniques, rules and set goals that, in order to achieve them, you need to develop or use certain skills and qualities. After doing so, go a step further. Find interests, hobbies, fields of study that will make you develop the skills you want or gain expertise. Make sure during any part of your day what you are doing or how you are doing it trains or develops you towards your goal. For example you can train your mind to multitask, optimize and manage time effectively while doing daily tasks .

Having said that, depending on what you want, start challenging yourself. After reaching a point of satisfactory development of desired skills and acquired knowledge, get out of your comfort zone from volunteering and traveling to getting involved with social dilemmas and extreme sports. Do the things you fear of doing or you think you could never do, even the ones that you used to not to care about. Don't settle in when you succeed, cause there's always something new, you still haven't mastered. At the same time don't get frustrated by failure, that's the time you are actually learning. 

Failure is a transitional stage until you succeed!

The goal in creating your career path is not picking a profession or knowing your dream position. It's all about collecting knowledge, skills, qualities and building a multidimensional and resilient personality that will be able to do anything desired. It's your attitude that counts! No one was born ready, but in order to make it you have to take this leap of faith. And you have to start by being crazy willing to and ready to work hard every minute!

I would love to read your thoughts on this down below. And please tell how did YOU manage to get where you are?