SCABs

Difference comes easy

We had our group mentor meetings this week, which made me stop and reflect on my journey into the world of SCA. I looked back at my decision to give up a well-paid job and my engineering career to join an advertising portfolio school in Pop Brixton. It was certainly different, but as Uri says difference comes easy to us creatives.

The last few years of my life has been a constant search for the path. A path that would enable me to unlock, what I felt were the unused parts of my brain. Simply, it was the hunger for more, that has led me to the school of communications arts. I want to share the four most important lessons I learnt, in my career change process.

Career change isn’t one big step

It may be perceived as a mammoth task and hence the words such as ‘big change’, ‘huge step’ or ‘massive shift’ may often be used to describe it. Any change can be seen as scary, which could be another reason why people look at career change in this way. But it is in fact, a series of small steps over a long period of time. It is a process both mentally and financially tasking. For example, a year ago I discussed flexible working in my job to have Fridays off which allowed me to dedicate a day to explore new paths. For some it may be an internship to start putting things into practice, and others may need to organise how dependants like children can be cared for.

Look inside, not outside

So, this means a career counsellor with a large list of career prospects will not be able to solve the problem for us. It is more about self-awareness rather than the world around us. I spent some quality time interviewing myself to identify my core values and coming up with my ideal week. Then, by looking at the patterns in my insight I figured out the careers that would match my goals. The Japanese call it ikigai.

Diagram, venn diagram

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On the outside

Safety comes first, so we don’t like leaving our cubby-hole. Especially when we have spent too long in a well-established job or career, it is harder to leave the comfort zone and try something new. The reason for a career change is in itself, a kick in the ass to wake up and break free from the stagnancy. Constantly pushing our boundaries will stimulate us and make us feel good about ourselves while also boosting our confidence.

The journey matters more than the destination

Several careers may fit in with your ‘ikigai’, but which career path does? This is an important consideration. If the ladder that takes you to the sweet spot isn’t one that inspires you, then the destination may not be worthwhile. It isn’t hard work or failure that I’m referring to. Every career path has its own, fair share of struggles, so we might as well choose the struggle, we want to endure. 

Nothing in this world worth having comes easy!

@kumaresan_anu

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