On becoming professionally independant

The biggest problem is that we are reliant on jobs for our careers.

There are three things we need from our careers -

1) An income - a way to keep a roof over your head, and food on your table.

2) To engage with the world - to be seen, be recognized, and be appreciated.

3) Meaning and purpose - to develop skills that build on our natural talents, to live our lives according to our values, and move the world in a direction we want it to go.

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When we get our first jobs, we trust them to get us all three. But without being independent first, this is often a bad solution.

We rely on them to give us work, money, training, and respect. But being dependent on a job for everything, we are prey to things we cannot control. The economy, the whims of our bosses, the luck of the draw in getting someone who cares about us, trains us, and teaches us.

What no one tells us is - to have an effective relationship with our employers, we need to be independent.

Once we are, we become more attractive candidates, we can take our pick of jobs, and we can wait to find the right one.

Right now though, we are just told - study hard, have a good GPA, and once you get your first job, you will be happy.

But whether we like it or not, we are now all entrepreneurs. When we decide to join a company, we hope they will pay us well, train us, and that the work we do will be a reflection of our natural talents. This is by no means guaranteed.

We’re playing poker with our time and money, but we’ve always been told its a race - reach the end and you win.

The reality is, the game only starts when we get our first job, and then its a 40-50 year game we’ve entered without knowing the rules.

And so?

The solution here is to take control of our careers, to become independent.

Not leave to chance developing skills that are valuable and joyful.

Not leave to chance building a strong network that will propel us.

Not leave to chance working on things we wish to see in the world.

Learn how, at https://www.humaninsightventures.com/builder-apprenticeship