Welcome, this is the perfect place to start if you want to change your career!
Well, changing your career is likely not your ultimate goal. You might have thought of changing careers because the thought of going to the office or signing into your work account tomorrow makes you want to throw up.
You feel unfulfilled, tired (but not in a good way), and are wondering: Is there a different way to do this career thing?
Spoiler alert: Yes, there definitely is. But it doesn’t come off the rack. You have to tailor it. Why? Because your personality, skills, dreams, and circumstances are different from anyone else’s. But how can I customize a career? Aren’t career paths given, decided by companies? Yes, there are those kinds of career paths, and if you get yourself one of those then you’ll become miserable (By ‘you’ I specifically mean you reading right now, as by deciding that a blog titled ‘multiple careers’ sounds like something interesting rather than crazy, you’ve self-selected yourself into this group of people!). So ditch that and hear me out.
In this blog, I’ll be talking about multiple careers. It can simply mean having several careers. But more broadly speaking, multiple careers is a philosophy, a mindset about careers. That there is a multitude of ways to have a career beyond a straight, linear career path. That careers are not always neat and predictable, but oftentimes messy, sometimes chaotic. But they’re also malleable. Like crafting a pot, you can shape your career into the kind of career that works for you. One which brings out the best in you instead of beating you up. It can span different fields of interest. It can have a different focus at different stages throughout your life. You can take a break from your career. Work in a different country. Alternate between phases of employment and freelancing. And yes, you can integrate career, family, and life!
But to do the above, you have to know what you want and make hard decisions at times. You gotta know and name your deepest fears, face those fears and do it anyway. You have to let go of wrong assumptions.
This blog is right for you if you:
- are unhappy (or feel you could be happier) in your career.
- feel unfulfilled and purposeless.
- have a strong desire to do something else with your life.
- want to have time for other things in life. A great career is all good, but having the time for a long walk at the lake or to have dinner with your family is as important.
- want to figure out how to integrate career and life.
- want advice beyond ‘love yourself’ and ‘follow your passion’.
- want to get to know yourself better in the process.
This blog is a PERFECT match for you if you are someone:
- with a strong sense of autonomy.
- who likes having flexibility and defining your own working hours.
- who likes challenges but wants to pick which challenges to tackle and when.
- who cherishes fulfilling work and deep happiness more than prestige.
- who finds the thought of pursuing different careers energizing.
- who doesn’t like wasting time pursuing someone else’s goals that you don’t care about.
- whose macro goal is NOT climbing the corporate ladder (it could be a micro goal though).
Okay, the above was all the things that I, Ms. Multiple Careers wanted 10 years ago. But at that time I was a naive clueless 20+ year-old thinking that career success meant climbing the corporate ladder to the top, as fast as possible. I had no idea of what I wanted and was oblivious to the possibilities that existed.
“I just want to get out of this pointless meeting, do stuff that I’m really interested in, set my own work schedule”, was what ran through my head while I tried to look enthusiastic about the latest sales numbers presented in front of me. Finally, I said to hell with the banking job and fancy VP title – I quit my job and became a serial career changer.
Now I smile to myself as I set my own schedule for each week. “Well, what shall we do this week?”.
I feel excited about Mondays. If I want to have ice cream and coffee at the mall on a Tuesday at 11 am, I can do that (This has been a fantasy during my corporate years – surprisingly I rarely had the urge to do this, but I do appreciate having the option!).
Am I filthy rich or do I have a rich husband or rich parents? No. Did I inherit a fortune from my grandparents? No. But I had the determination and faith that there had to be another way of having a career while making it work financially. It would’ve been easier if I had a friend at that time who understood what I went through and gave me some guidance. I hope that through this blog, I can be that person for you!
Are you ready for the ride? It will be a lot of fun! You’ll have the privilege (the rare time when I use this word) to learn about the many mistakes I made along the way. How I managed to fall into what seemed like a black hole multiple times. But also about how I picked myself up again and again. I hope that it will amuse you but most of all that this blog will help you look at this career thing from a different angle, and make it easier to start crafting your own career.
We’ll talk about how to find out what you really want for your career. How you can change careers, be happier, and become more fulfilled in the process. Perhaps you’ll even end up moving abroad like I did, all while staying sane, healthy, and making the money work. Your facial expression will change, you’ll frown less, feel more at peace, and live more fully and enthusiastically!
So let’s start…from the beginning.
