Guys I hate to tell you this but there is no such thing as a “Career Path” in the 21st century. You might want to be a freelance journalist (or blogger) in your 20’s, then became an aspired interior designer when you turn 30 and may very well just want to be a stay-at-home when you have 3 kids running around like crazy cats in your early 40’s. Being an OCD trying to figure this out in your early 20’s (like me) was a doomed failure, at least in my case. My first job straight after Uni was a Translator’s job. Working in the public sector, got paid very well with the least amount of work. 5 years later I decided that was not challenging for me and started my second career in an old-school gigantic publisher as an advertising sales. From there I progressed in the corporate ladder and left my footprints in a few big and small media owners covering both digital and print landscape. 7 years down the track, I quit my corporate job and took on a backpack and started travelling around the globe like a nomad, or not really as I can never live a day without washing my face and putting on facial moisturizer. Now I am here, having my own activewear label 3 weeks ago and typing this blog post. If you asked me 15 years ago did I ever see this coming in my 30’s? No, absolutely not.
Throughout my teenage years I pictured myself as an office worker getting in and out of fancy skyrocket buildings, wearing designer brand high heels walking around CBD like a champ.
I thought I would never be over that lifestyle and worked my butt off to put myself there. I didn’t know it only took me 7 years to realize that was actually, Not what I want to do for the rest of my life. What has changed in this formula? The industry is still there, the pay is getting higher every year, and downtown Sydney is buzzling and fascinating as always. It was Me. I was the only thing that was evolving and kept adjusting my goal along the way. Lesson learnt: you will not find out what you want to do as a permanent solution, in fact, your aspiration might change every 5 years or more often. So instead of worrying sick about how this current job offer will land you 30 years later, focus on the next 5 years. Think about in the next 3 to 5 years, what is it you are trying to achieve in life:
Do you want to save up to travel the world before you have your own family and kids?
Do you have a relationship and planning to start a new family in a few years therefore need a down payment saved up asap?
Do you want to mess around with friends and drink away all your weekends before you settle down?
Note that there is no right or wrong answer on any of the above – one is free to choose how to live, life means nothing if you don’t have options and exert your own will. The only thing we need to focus here is, how to make that five-year-goal happen. Make it happen within timeline, THEN you will find out what happens after that. Cruise along, don’t go against the waves.