When I was a little girl, I had ideas of what I wanted to be when I grew up. They probably changed every week! Or at least every time I was asked.
I was lucky. I did well at school without it taking too much effort. The most homework I had to do over the years was learn verb tables for French and German and cram for vocab tests, as well as do my ink book exercises (we had to write in ink rather than pencil and it had to be neat and tidy!) for Maths.
My parents were teachers. I knew that I didn’t want to do that. They also actively encouraged me not to go into teaching either. Their argument was that the only perk of being a teacher was the long summer holidays. They encouraged me to take the opportunity to earn more by pursuing some different profession.
Building My Skills
So I went to university and did a degree in international business. I enjoyed Economics as I found the models logical. Finance was tricky and Marketing just seemed manipulative! I also did languages. I took the opportunity to learn Spanish and I’m now glad I did. I most definitely use Spanish more these days than I do my other languages.
The Evolving World of Work
Never did I think I would work in Human Resources. I also had no concept of what a Coach was. To be fair, the coaching professional (outside of sports coaching) didn’t really exist until the mid 90s. Human Resources as a professional has also dramatically changed in the last 30 years.
And this is exactly my point. The two professions I have and am proud to be part of either didn’t exist at all, or didn’t exist in their current form when I was a little girl. Our world of work is changing daily. New skills, knowledge and requirements are needed all the time.
Defining Yourself
If you see yourself as your profession, rather than someone who has a profession, then you may struggle to figure out how to keep yourself moving forward and staying relevant as the world changes around you. You have the skills and capabilities to continue to learn new skills, acquire new knowledge, and try new things that you may never have thought possible.
Learning & Growing
Having a career means being able to move from job to job, evolving who you are and what you do. You have the best opportunity you have ever had to learn new skills, adapt your way of thinking, and evolve who you identify yourself to be in a professional context.
You can learn anything online, and much of it for free. This includes modules from some of the most elite universities in the world.
So what are you going to do to move your career forward?
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