My eldest niblings just graduated from school.
They are now in the fertile phase of their career.
(That phase lasts forever, thankfully.)
And of course, they are confused. (Who isn’t, baby?)
So sometimes I receive a text or two from them, that looks like:
“I am planning to take up copywriting. How did you get your first client?”
“How long did it take for you to get your first client?”
“Should I pursue undergrad from a good-for-nothing university or should I take up courses?”
Honestly, it feels scary for me to to be on the receiving end of these questions.
Here is why:
1. This generation is smart. They ask questions. They are curious. Truth be told, it’s a gift. I never had anyone to ask questions from. Nor did I know that you could ask questions! I just dipped into the pool and figured things on the go.
2. It is also scary because sometimes too much research is a quiet excuse to procrastinate. Most decisions in life are reversible. Other than the decision of marriage, you can just do things and figure along the way. Nothing is set in stone. You carve your own masterpiece through the actions you take every day.
So, here is what my advice would be to anyone who is confused in their career (and this applies to even those who are way ahead in their career):
You can just do things.
How? By simply doing things.
If you want to try copywriting, try copywriting. If you want to create illustrations, create illustrations. If you want to try standup, try standup.
There is virtually zero restrictions on entry.
Which is where things really get interesting.
Because there is virtually zero restrictions to entry in any particular field, it means you have tons of options. Tons of options means you are overwhelmed. When you are overwhelmed, you can hardly take action.
So a wise way would be to simply dip your toes into the thing you want to do. No one, absolutely no one who is successful in their careers knew they would end up at this place when they started out. They simply had one unfair advantage: They started out.
What would also help you on this path is you learn every day. Education is inoculation against disruption, said Robin Sharma. How can you be better at your craft than yesterday? How can
Along with it, at the end of the day, you draw lessons from the day that passed. If it was a good day, what did it teach you? If it was a challenging day, what did it teach you? Learn from your mistakes. The biggest lesson being, do not repeat the same mistake twice. Make new ones 🙂
As you go on this path of career, it is inevitable that you will grow and get to the place you want to be going. Sometimes the way you thought it, sometimes in a different way. But if you keep going, keep adjusting your ways if the previous ones did not work and stay focused, getting to your goal is inevitable. What is important, though, is to always be kind in the process. And always be kind after you have received success. Nothing, and absolutely no achievement should be able to distract you from the core human value: kindness. You will encounter infinite number of people at the top of the career ladder who are not kind. Do not draw a lesson from the. Because you will also meet infinite number of people at the top who are a masterclass in success at the intersection of kindness and relentlessness.
We also become confused because we are desperate. Social media is filled with people who went from homeless to hundreds of thousands of followers, and so can you; they claim. They are right. However, before you go on to the path of chasing someone else’s goal, it is always worth sitting with yourself to see if that is the goal you are looking for in the first place. There is no point getting to the top of the mountain and realised you climbed the wrong one.
The best thing about the world we live in is there is almost negligible entry and exit load on any career you want. What you do today is not set in stone. If you fall out of love with it, you divorce that career. As simple as this.
If you fall more in love with that career, you hang out together more often. Could there anything else be better than this?