Are you thinking about career endurance yet?
This week was exciting because I was privileged to speak to over 450 people during EPAM’s Learning Week. What made it even better for me is that this initiative that I helped bring to life in North America in 2018 (or maybe 2019) is still going strong.
Probably not surprising to all of you as newsletter readers, but the topic was focused on endurance. Usually, I talk about leadership endurance, but this session was focused on career endurance, which I think is critical for all of us, whether we are just starting in our careers or are close to winding down, and whether an organization employs us, we work as an external consultant, or are a business owner.
A few of the highlights from the session…
Be the CEO of your career. No one will (or should) care about your career more than you do
You can’t treat your career like a sprint all of the time, or you will run out of energy.
Your career endurance plan should include…
Being intentional about what’s most important about your career based on your phase of life
Creating a plan that sets you up for success
Showing Up to Run the Race…Every day
Navigating when circumstances change
Make sure you have a Career Board of Directors to help guide your career
Every day, you’re running a new leg of your career endurance journey, so you need to show up each day with the right tools, plans, support, and mindset.
Honestly, I didn’t have an endurance plan for my career for most of my life. I’ve only started thinking about it over the past several years. I worked my way up the ladder in the companies I was at, and I probably worked too hard for too long without recognizing the impact on my health and my family at times. I wasn’t always as intentional about what I wanted next until I started taking big leaps in 2016, leaving my long-time employer after almost 19 years to figure out what I wanted to do next.
If you haven’t recently considered where you are in your career or where you want to go, now is a great time to do it. Remember, the best time to have done it was in the past, but the next best time is today. You don’t want to wake up in 6 months or a year and wonder… why am I still here doing something that I no longer want to do.
If this topic interests you, I’d love to share it with your organization or talk to you individually about creating a career endurance plan. My thoughts on this topic can also be found in the book I published in 2022, There is No Such Thing as a Perfect Job: A Practical Guide to Loving Your Work Life.
If you’re feeling like nothing is perfect, it’s not supposed to be. Check out my books available on Amazon.
There Is No Such Thing as a Perfect Job… Work is a fundamental part of our lives so we shouldn't be settling.
Living the Life We Have…and Loving It... Do you know where you're going and where you want to go next?