One of the most important career lessons I’ve learned is to pursue a career and not a job. At first glance, you might think, “What’s the difference?” I also didn’t get it for years.

That’s how I finally ended up in an IT job that I wasn’t passionate about. At one point, I was reflecting on my career and life by writing in my journal and thought, “How on earth did I end up in this job?”I didn’t have a good answer. All I knew was that I felt stuck and lacked any future perspective. If you have ever been in that position, or are in it right now, you know that it’s depressing.

How Conscious Are Your Decisions?

If you would ask me “how did you end up in your current job?” four years ago, I would tell you this: “It just happened.” It’s a common answer to that question.

Looking back, I realized that I never made conscious decisions about my career until that point.

We all believe we’re Independent and that we make our own decisions. But that idea about ourselves is false. The truth is that we chase things like money, status, job titles, promotions, corner offices, respect from our peers, you name it. All external factors.

We must stop putting our careers in other people’s hands. We must take control by making conscious decisions... [ read more ]