UPDATED! CAREER BY THE NUMBERS
No amount of self-denial can make up for the fact that I have been on this planet for five decades now. I am grateful for each professional and personal experience (yes; even the most challenging of ones) as they smooth my edges to propel me into who I am meant to be.
As I reflect upon the lessons I’ve learned, I thought it fitting to update this blog post from 2018. As you read it, think about what you’ve learned and how you’ve pressed and stretched throughout your life/career to become who you are.
Mid-to-Late Teens
I began working in retail at 16 years old and held this job while I was a dance instructor to children (ages 2 to 17) and a DJ at a local radio station—all while taking a full load my freshman year of college.
While others may not consider those jobs relevant, I fully claim all those years and experiences. I often describe them as a mosaic with each piece enhancing the final product — me.
I am thankful that I had to work in high school and throughout college. I discovered valuable lessons of responsibility and accountability, including learning from my mistakes, well before I landed my first professional career position.
Twenties
Restless is the only word that truly describes how I felt during my 20s. I was always a dreamer with a curious spirit and a desire to travel.
Luckily, I met my match in a spouse who (rather than squelching my big thinking like others had) encouraged me to leave the small town that I had known and be more. It wasn’t easy; at times, we didn’t have two nickels to rub together but we had one another.
I wouldn’t trade those days for anything because overcoming those challenges made me so appreciative of how far that we’ve come and how much we’ve accomplished.
Thirties
Ah, my 30s. Those were great years.
I’ve had the opportunity to speak with other women as they are about to reach the 30-year mark and are dreading it. I encourage them from experience that “I didn’t own my voice until I was 30.”
“What does that mean?”, you may ask.
It means that I wasn’t fully confident in my opinion; that I waivered and could be easily swayed. I feared everything.
As I traversed through my 30s, I leveraged every experience that I could and learned continuously so that I would be seen as a credible, educated professional. I was ambitious, determined, and wanted to grow and be better with each passing year.
In fact, I even created special rules for myself (such as always wearing pantsuits) to be taken as seriously as possible. Thinking on it now, I’m very certain that I would have been taken seriously if I had worn skirts. However, it is a good demonstration of how I crafted the outcome in my head before I was able to achieve it.
Forties
I read somewhere a long time ago that the years during and after your 40s are your money-making years. They are the years where all your hard work culminates, and you are appreciated for the value that you bring to the table.
What many emerging leaders coming up through the ranks don’t realize is that you must dredge through the tough years to achieve this point. There are no shortcuts.
For instance, I can tell you what it is like being laid off or even about laying someone else off; but until you live through it, there is no way that you can appreciate it. (For the record, I would much prefer to be laid off myself rather than to have to experience laying someone else off ever again…)
Additionally, the great thing about your 40s is the freedom that it gives you to create your future fearlessly. I read the book The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer in 2016/2017 no fewer than five times.
To say that it had a profound impact on me is an understatement. It put an exclamation point for me about my self-reflection and gratitude for where I am in the present.
Fifties
How is that even possible? I still feel 33 years old!
Putting aside any self-denial, I must admit that being in my 50s is far different than I anticipated it because of the perspective that has come with it.
When I was younger in my career, I used to watch in awe as the more tenured women in my network appeared to be unfazed by things. I so envied and wanted to be like them.
Little did I know that they (as I am now), have been marinated and tenderized through their life experiences. Our perspectives are impacted through triumphs, but especially through challenges.
The more that you undergo, the less you sweat the small stuff. (And, as Dr. Richard Carlson says in his famous book, “It’s all small stuff…”)
My mosaic is in no way near complete. I am just getting started and anxiously anticipate what the second half of my journey has in store as my beautiful masterpiece is assembled.
Now tell me about you. What reflections come to mind about your own career?
Please share them with me here and/or contact me for further exploration at dlandry@authentizity.com.
Also, please visit www.bddynamics.com as “Owning Your Accomplishments” is one of the many concepts that we discuss in the exploration of the business development process for success.
