Another challenge that I’m currently facing involves coming to terms with my career history, recognizing where I am in my career overall and what this ultimately means for a revised strategy going forward. While these feelings have been somewhat pervasive over the past year, they’ve continued to manifest in absence of a tangible strategy. I feel it’s time to change this.
To start, it’s important to recognize the framework that has consciously or unconsciously guided my career and educational path to-date. This framework is called Planescape. Planescape was originally designed with the following mission and objectives:
Mission Statement: “To accelerate the advancement process through strategic learning and effective planning.”
Goals:
- To establish new intellectual, creative, and physical limits.
- To ensure that the learning methodology utilized is always improving and further accelerating the educational process.
- To ensure that opportunities are always available, even at an intermediate level.
Given the dynamic nature of my career and educational path thus far, I’ve been able to closely align with the mission and objectives listed here. Through a combination of planning, work and chance, I’ve been able to take on new assignments in distinct areas with increased speed and efficiency. This is a positive.
At this stage in my life, if I use this framework as a primary criterion for career satisfaction it falls well short of expectations.
To be fair, while true career satisfaction will vary over time, the phrase “career satisfaction” in this context equates to feeling “second best” and that my contributions are ultimately absent of a clear definition of accomplishment and direction.
For example, I’m unable to claim that I’m running a successful business, or that I’ve designed the next best “widget” or that I’m the head of a large organization. I can only say that I’ve been successful in contributing to a wide range of initiatives in various disciplines and means. Unfortunately, that was never my long-term objective.
While one may question the validity of these feelings, it’s important to recognize that they are real for me. On the flip side, the mental system(s) upon which these feelings reside may be somewhat flawed which is ultimately resulting in feelings not based in “reality” (external vs. internal mindset).
Thus, perhaps my immediate challenge is focusing first on my belief systems and understanding the basis for career dissatisfaction. Once this is understood, I can then proceed with next steps. One of the books that I’m reading now is called Quiet: The Power of Introverts, by Susan Cain. In the text, she shares an anecdote about two attorneys - both of whom were introverts. This story hit close to home for me as I’ve experienced this in the past, not only in professional settings but interpersonal ones as well. It’s one thing to step outside of oneself in order to advance, but another if that extension conflicts with one’s true purpose.
There are three ways to identify your own personal projects:
- Think back to what you loved to do when you were a child.
- Pay attention to the work you gravitate to.
- Pay attention to what you envy.
The type of work I gravitate to involves deep thinking and combines a blend of different topics. Or does it?