Switching Careers is Common and Normal
I came across a Job Bank site the other day that stated that "Most Americans switch careers three times in a lifetime". I can't vouch for this site, but still found the statistic interesting. It goes on to list the average number of years people spend in certain professions. I started wondering why this was the case.
I've already met my quota of three careers. How about you? What is it that makes switching careers so common? It's easy to say that maybe people are just unhappy with their current jobs. But, I think it's deeper than that.
Our Personality changes based on our experiences, the people we meet, the relationships we have, and the information we receive from the Universe via our Spirit. We are just curious by nature. There's no way for us to know everything there is to experience in the world unless we try it.
I can remember being a freshman in college and the first question that people would ask each other was "What's your major?". It was a defining factor similar to the way people ask each other, "What do you do?" once they are already a part of the workforce. During freshman orientation, my advisor was meeting with a group of us and discussing what to expect out of college life. He asked each of us what our major was. We went around and said our major - everything from business administration to biochemistry.
The last girl in the group said that she was undecided. You could almost hear a pin drop. Then the advisor chimed in and said that she's better hurry up and pick a major because it's more difficult going through college without one. Mind you, this was our second day!
I've never understood all of the pressure that is placed on college students to know what they want to be "when they grow up". After all, they haven't experienced much of life or the real world. How would they know?
It would be nice if there could be an exploratory year after high school. Like a year-long, paid job shadowing where you could try out a different career each month. It would be even better if we could do this periodically throughout our careers. Until that happens, we have to settle for exploring different careers based on how our Spirit guides us.
Destiny Versus Free Will: in LOST and Your Profession
Episode 5x16/17: A scene playing with destiny vs. free will
I watched my favorite show tonight, LOST. For those of you who aren't "Losties", I'll spare you every detail of the show. It would be waaaaay too long for a blog post anyway. What I do want to mention is an important theme on the show: destiny vs. free will.
It's a theme that we all battle with in real life, especially with our professions. Is there something we're supposed to be doing? Or are we supposed to just meander through life doing different things that we enjoy? To take it even further, is some outside force guiding us in one direction or another?
I like to think it's a little bit of all three. We all have some Mission, it's up to us to figure out the best way to express it. We are all good at something. Some of us have a natural talent and others have to work to perfect our craft.
Your Mission is not about knowing the exact profession you're supposed to have. It's about discovering different ways to express it throughout your life. Each LOST character has something that they naturally do even when they tried their hardest to change. Jack likes to fix people. Kate likes to run away. Sawyer likes to con. Hurley likes to be the peacemaker. And so on and so on.
I naturally fall into teaching mode in just about everything I do. It's fun for me to learn a lot about something so that I can teach others. I've taught others about science, writing, customer service, software, getting into college, starting a business, and now spirituality.
Here's the funny thing. I used to be very shy. Public speaking terrified me until I was in my early 20's. Still, I had a passion for teaching. I've known since I was 5 that I wanted to teach something. Teaching all of these topics have been fun and helped me to perfect my craft.
Look back on all of the jobs and careers you've had. Don't just focus on the industry or your job title. Think about the specific tasks that you naturally gravitated toward. These tasks can give you a hint about your Mission.
So, I'm not sure where LOST will end up on the destiny vs. free will debate. There is some truth in both sides. What side do you believe is true?
Slippery Slope of Choosing to Be Happy
We've all heard it before from other self-help gurus. They suggest you just change your outlook, choose to be happy, and everything else will fall into place. I disagree with that.
The problem with just putting on a happy face is that sometimes you're deluding yourself. You're pretending that everything is fine. And worse, you're pretending that you like your life the way that it is. What about applying that theory to your career?
A recent study showed that 55% of Americans are unhappy with their careers. I know, I know. You can't believe every statistic you read. But even if the number were only 15%, it makes you wonder why people are unhappy and how long they've been that way. I have a poll on my site called "How do you feel about your job or business?". The majority of those who have responded would fall into that 55%.
Have you tried to tell yourself or someone else to just have a positive outlook on their career even if they dislike it? It works for a little bit, but it isn't a permanent feeling. If you spend at least 8 hours a day, 5 days a week on the job, it's hard to pretend to be happy for that long.
Choosing to be happy in your career might work in specific situations: a meeting you don't want to attend, a report you don't want to write, a presentation you don't want to give. It's not a good idea to pretend that you are happy with all aspects of your career if it truly doesn't fit where you want to be in your life. Instead, use the energy you're spending trying to be happy to plan what you want to change.