Future Direction

We are often under a lot of pressure to "Choose" our future career path, often before we are ready. It's no wonder then that we are likely to actually pursue several different careers during our lifetime.

Rather than worrying about what we will "Become", it can help instead to view your careers and related studies as a journey that you are undertaking.

Sometimes where we end up, is different from the original destination that we had in mind. And sometimes we may not even be clear on the destination, and instead focus on just the next step. All of which is perfectly okay. Your approach will depend on your preferences.

Being able to let go of the need to identify with a particular role or career is a really good mental well-being approach.

Change does and will happen at times, and being open to the idea that your career is just a career, and you are you - will help you adapt.

Having personally been in 5 roles made redundant (it's still a conscious effort to not say that I was made redundant), I can share just how difficult this can be when you tie your sense of identity and self to the role. And yet, each one was an opportunity to make a change - I transitioned from Accounting into Business Management, into Coaching & Training, into Student Development, and finally brought all these together into my own business.

Another career perspective is that you can do a particular role in different industries. A Civil Engineering role in an Engineering firm will be different from that role in a Government department, in Water Infrastructure, in Academia and so on.

For me, Accounting in an Accounting firm did not attract me. Instead, I started in a Printing company in an Accounts Payable role, and transitioned through different industries and different roles until I moved into Management Accounting and management roles which met more of my need to interact and support other people rather than just data.