What if there isn’t a final career destination?

Last week I was in a session with a client who is in the middle of a career transition.  

While she continues to look for a full time role, to make some money and spend the time productively, she’s trying out a part-time gig in a helping field  that is radically different from the intense roles in the startup tech world she’s  spent most of her career. 

As often happens, the part-time role has been incredibly rewarding–energizing work with a supportive boss. If that’s not a winning combination, I don’t know what is. 

We talked about how she can deepen or broaden this work so it could meet more of her non-negotiables. Continue to experiment along this path to see if it (instead of her current job search on other paths) could check all the boxes. 

And she said something I hear from many clients. ”I feel like I’m always experimenting!”

In essence – when am I going to get to the final destination already?

My response: Yes, that’s life. 

Life is experimenting and constant tweaking and shifting and changing. 

As much as we want certainty, there is no final destination – I mean, not while you’re still breathing and still – truly who knows about that part either.  

Careers are fluid. 

We get into trouble when we put rigid rules and restrictions around them. 

Those are the career cages we build for ourselves. 

So, if you catch yourself thinking–I’ll finally be happy when I find the perfect job, the perfect partner or the perfect dog, remember those things () don’t exist. 

Life is learning from our experiments as often as we can and as many times as it takes.