When starting a career, and defining our life path, it’s important to consider what it is you hope to achieve. Of course, the most important decision most have is thinking about how to bring in an acceptable level of income so they can survive and provide for those they’re responsible for. It’s not hard to see why that would be your first priority, and you’ll read nothing that tries to dissuade you from that in this post.
Yet it’s also true that you might have more potential than you realize. After all, it’s often single people or small teams that inspire and lead new beginnings even in the most complex industries. But what does making a difference in your industry mean?
Well, in many cases we’ve seen, representation counts. From women-led businesses to highly accredited professional women, such as the best female plastic surgeons, there’s a whole new land of opportunity and insight you could chase and offer in one fell swoop.
It’s important to remember, however, that changing an industry, developing a carer, or becoming more capable in your position doesn’t necessarily mean you have to become a legendary figure within it; there’s so much you can do outside of that. In this post, we’ll discuss how exactly to do that:
Contributing To New Standards
It’s good to contribute to new standards in your industry, as your perspective may be much more valuable than you recognize. New standards might also be just that, demanding new standards and norms that matter. Think of how foundation and other makeup products once only catered, in large supply, to certain lighter skin tones. It took Rihanna’s Fenty brand to make sure that women (or men) of color were afforded the exact type of makeup that worked for them, and now it’s of course standardized in that industry, as it should have been from the start.
We also see this in terms of new vegan variants of products, cruelty-free beauty products, and more. It might be that the industry you have expertise in could really benefit from a specific viewpoint, championing forward progress. If not, then you might find it more difficult to achieve.
Resetting Older Perspectives
Just as we chase new standards, resetting older perspectives in a career can help us move forward and shake off some of the cobwebs that led you to desire this change. Perhaps you’ve spent all of your years in offices, and now you want a more actualized role, consulting and helping companies structure their logistics by visiting warehouses, inspecting trucks, and putting in place the essential training plans for new drivers onboarding with a company’s standards.
Older perspectives can also be individual, such as what you hope to achieve in your career to begin with. Maybe you’ve been in the legal profession for some time, earning good money, but now you want to champion social causes through cases that serve as the embodiments of issues that need further development.
Trying A New Direction
It could just be that you wish to completely change your direction, perhaps laterally or parallel to your current role in a different industry, perhaps completely.
Small businesses are often run by people who have already spent some time in given industries but have decided to give all that up to try something new, such as full-time financial managers that now run animal shelters.
It’s important to figure out what it is that makes us truly happy, even if that means integrating completely new perspectives or priorities. Odds are, you already have skills worth keeping, providing a valuable offering to new causes. Getting involved in project management at your local university can help you put on events that improve public education and ensure the development of culture. There’s nothing to boost your career as much as a cause you believe in.
Collaborating & Connecting
It’s very easy to see ourselves as personal, individual contractors and solo brands, but the truth is that while we are this, it’s hard to get anything done without a team around you, or people to work with capably.
It might be that you focus on collaborating and connecting in the new year, perhaps speaking to networking contacts from past jobs, or discussing outcomes with a new mentor you can use to help you move into an industry. Getting into the family business might be a plan you now have after years of ignoring that opportunity to strike out on your own, or perhaps finally admitting that remote work is good for interfacing with your team can help elevate your potential as a manager.
Determining Your Lifestyle
A different career path also means determining what that career provides to you. It’s not always to figure this out, but if you do, then you might be able to chase the kind of living you need, not the perfect role you want. If you’re lucky, you can find a balance between the two.
So for instance, perhaps you want to get involved in marketing, but in a hybrid role where you can work from home, saving you money on daily childcare, and also helping you retain your office contacts moving forward.
A lifestyle, determined in this way, may help you thrive, keep your professional talent operating for longer, and inspire your best creative work yet.
Becoming More Inclusive
As we mentioned in the first heading of this article, changing industries to become more inclusive is essential, forward progress that shouldn’t have to have been progressed, but could have been the default.
It might be that you have the chance to influence positivity further than this, such as curating products or services for a broader market, making sure the department you manage is more diverse, or ensuring that you work on your biases so the executive decisions you take are more informed also. In the long run, such an approach can be a tremendous difference, and help texture you not only as a professional but a person too.
With this advice, we hope you can make a difference in your career in the best way.
