The Femme Files

Career Norms are Meant to be Broken

As my friends and I enter our late twenties and early thirties, I know that many are unhappy and dissatisfied with the career choices they have made. Fear and anxiety of making a leap of faith towards a career into the happy unknown oft hinders our ability to take an about turn. Concern over what others think about starting from the bottom AGAIN is another reason cited by my peers who feel that by now we should be climbing the corporate ladders not scrambling back down them again.

Having been projected into university or TAFE when we were 19 and stabbing in the dark as to what makes us happy we now find ourselves, mid way through a career journey that is leaving us stifled and unhappy. Thinking about the ‘what if’ is scary and brings such a surge of regret that many of us choose to neglect this feeling of remorse.

It is so easy for us to move through our career path and take the same safe options as people before you; this is why I think it is terribly important to do something weird in the name of happiness and a meaningful career. After reading ‘I Will Teach You To Be Rich’ by Ramit Sethi (no I am so not a self help book junkie it was a gift and a good one at that too!) I realised my somewhat dubious career choices have not been in vain. (Note the word…choices)

 Sethi reinforces the importance of breaking away from certain career rules in order to reach a higher level of wealth and wellness. From my own experience as a flippant unhappy twenty something worker, I know when you start doing something above and beyond the norm, such as a side job or even unpaid work experience people get very uncomfortable with these projects as it makes them question firstly what on earth you are doing and then secondly what on earth they are doing. Ok, so we shouldn’t care that what we are doing goes against career norms, however as inherent social beings we are influenced by our peer judgments. It is trying to deal with this that can prevent us from taking on the weird and unusual in the attempt to find that elusive career dream.

However as Rami states, doing ‘weird’ things early on in our careers can produce massive rewards for the future. Such things may not be as a means of making money, such as starting a blog, however it can play a pivotal role in opening up doors. Think of Lee Holmes’s blog Supercharged Food, which started as a blog for her to log her recipes and evolved into an online shop along with a successful Murdoch Press Publishing Agreement.

The challenge in doing the unusual lies in the fact, that such actions potentially have a huge upside…. but there is no guarantee. We don’t like doing things that don’t have a certified ROI which is why most people won’t take risks. And this in itself demonstrates why taking risks can be so beneficial. Lack of competition, lack of other people doing the same thing, means you potentially open the flood gate for success.

So tell me readers, has anyone else decided to uproot their standard career choice in order to pursue their hearts desires? I would LOVE to know!