Allison’s voice was quivering as she relayed the feeling of being stuck in a career she hated. She also had a commute from Milford to Stamford that due to Connecticut’s I-95 quagmire was both grueling and unpredictable.
I have sympathy for all my career counseling clients. I also know that gratitude can shift mental states.
“Do you think you’ll be doing this same job when you are 50?” (Allison was 34).
“No.”
“Why not?
“I know I’ll be able to figure something out and I hope it is a lot sooner than 50.”
“You know career change was not really a possibility for most people in the history of the world until the Industrial Revolution…” I then provided the Spark notes version of career paths for most everyone in agrarian societies prior to 1800: (1) born into a family clan that does a certain type of work, (2) learn that work, and (3) do that work the rest of your life.
I then pointed to the globe in my office. While it is a gross oversimplification, it is still generally true that wide swaths of the world have economic systems that severely limit career change. Remember those Chilean miners who were trapped? Do you think they had the opportunity to engage in meaningful career exploration that led them to choose such work?
“We’ll figure out how to get you on a path of career change soon enough. Most everyone in the history of the world and even in the world today does not have such opportunity.”
Allison smiled. “I never thought of that. I guess I am pretty lucky.”
Happy Thanksgiving.
I have sympathy for all my career counseling clients. I also know that gratitude can shift mental states.
“Do you think you’ll be doing this same job when you are 50?” (Allison was 34).
“No.”
“Why not?
“I know I’ll be able to figure something out and I hope it is a lot sooner than 50.”
“You know career change was not really a possibility for most people in the history of the world until the Industrial Revolution…” I then provided the Spark notes version of career paths for most everyone in agrarian societies prior to 1800: (1) born into a family clan that does a certain type of work, (2) learn that work, and (3) do that work the rest of your life.
I then pointed to the globe in my office. While it is a gross oversimplification, it is still generally true that wide swaths of the world have economic systems that severely limit career change. Remember those Chilean miners who were trapped? Do you think they had the opportunity to engage in meaningful career exploration that led them to choose such work?
“We’ll figure out how to get you on a path of career change soon enough. Most everyone in the history of the world and even in the world today does not have such opportunity.”
Allison smiled. “I never thought of that. I guess I am pretty lucky.”
Happy Thanksgiving.