So the last two weeks, among the various other posts and interviews, I’ve been talking about Career Sustainability, the ability to know your career is going to keep paying the bills at the very least.
I think the point is that a lot of us need to be talking about it. On blogs, with people, in politics, here, in our communities.
I think we need to be discussing it because we’re stuck in a world of change. That’s a big hint, by the way.
Maybe years or decades ago you didn’t worry about this as much. Inherit money or a farm, have your family ties and social connections, do the same job most of your life and build up. In my piecemeal knowledge of human history there do seems to have been times of sustainability, if only due to a slow pace of change.
The thing is humans love change to an extent. We induce it. Once we get going (because it does seem we like our comfort and stability), we don’t seem to stop. Take a look at how over times a lot of humans have embraced an idea of progress (though I’m thinking we need to go easy on the planet by now).
The problem is now things are changing like crazy. As I’ve noted before I don’t read much science fiction anymore since reality has caught up – Serdar’s novel is the first serious one I’ve read in ages.
But with all this change, we really need to ask not only what we can do or make, but what’s worth it and what we can maintain.
I also don’t expect change to slow down or necessarily be properly directed at least for awhile. We’ve got climate shifting, innovation for the sake of sales, political changes, and the internet jacking up the speed of everything. Screw the Singularity, we’ve probably had several already in the last century.
So it’s time to start discussing what we want this change to become, and how it’ll sustain our careers.
Indeed, it’ll be about how it sustains our lives, but hey, I’m the career guru here, so I’m doing my thing.
So get out there and talk. Blog. Write. Speak. We may even discuss it in some of our upcoming chats. But it’s up to you to get the idea out there.
Because change is still coming.
– Steven