For many of us, when it comes to career matters, this is a question we will be asking ourselves through out our working life, in an age when “our career paths are organic and will constantly change.”
I sure feel like I’ve been asking myself that question all my life. :)
I told them that even though many people will pretend they know all of the answers, the truth is that those of us who are not natural musicians at the age of 4 will grapple with this question for the rest of our lives. And it’s not because we’re never going to be good at something, but it’s because our career paths are organic and will constantly change as we try and figure out what we’re good at and what we enjoy doing. Instead of searching for some type of ultimate mission, you should try and figure out what makes you happy and where your skills lie. The days of climbing the corporate ladder for one company or working for 40 years on a monotonous task are over, and the knowledge worker has to constantly evolve and retool if they are to succeed.
I think in 20 years the organic nature of careers will feel normal but with so much of soceity still on regular corporate career paths deviating from it still feels freakish and not “grown up”.
20 years is a long time! With the talk that you shouldn’t stay in the same job more than two to three years, and that you can expect to make several career changes during your working life, it’s kind of odd that “organic careers” are not more widely accepted.