Career Advice From You, 20 Years From Now

A career is defined as, "an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person's life and with opportunities for progress." Sounds pretty standard, right? Well, there's one part of this that sticks out to me as particularly unnerving- "a significant period of a person's life."

How much time do we spend working?

I dove into this research a little deeper, and to be more exact, about one-third of a person's life is spent working. ONE THIRD. And that's just for people who have regular 40-hour work weeks. I know plenty of people clocking 80-100 hour weeks. They're still trucking away, putting out fires at work while I'm already 20 minutes into Chopped and a third of the way through a bottle of wine (#noshame). Nonetheless, work comprises a significant amount of your life, and that thought can be quite daunting.

I know these statistics may throw you into a whirlwind of personality tests, career coaches, and get-to-know yourself exercises. Trust me, I've been there many times. I've kept myself up at night panicking over my "calling" and what legacy I would leave behind in this world. How would I be remembered? How will that one-third of my life that I spent working help people or contribute to society?

I think this is a struggle many 20- and 30-somethings have. And it may even carry on to when we're 40-somethings, 50-somethings, and 60-somethings (it's never too late to start a career!). But I'm here to tell you that there's one thing you need to know about your career, and it has changed my life.

It doesn't define you.

Not even a little bit. You are not your job title. You are not your salary. You are not your LinkedIn profile.

20 years from now, you won’t be looking back on the past two decades and see your resumé - you’ll more than likely be looking at an amazing mix of experiences, relationships, and journeys that you took over the past 20 years. Sure, some of those experiences could have involved your job or jobs along the way. But ultimately? Your career will never be what defines you, your potential, or your worth as a human.

Career Advice You Need to Hear

Having a cool job title and a big salary is great, trust me. I think we can all agree that it sounds pretty damn awesome. But until you realize that it's WHO you are that matters and not WHAT you do, you will never find happiness.

Maybe you've found your passion and you wake up for work bright-eyed and bushy-tailed every day. I am extremely happy for you and the rest of us are super jealous. But maybe you're like most other people and you really don't have this set career path before you, and you're kind of confused about your purpose and you have a few different passions that you'd possibly like to pursue.

That is SO normal and it's SO okay. While you explore your interests and shadow people and do that research, I implore you to focus more on who you are as a person and keep creating. Whether you're a successful lawyer who loves what you're doing or you're sitting under fluorescent lights crunching numbers and feeling pretty miz, ask yourself these questions:

Am I acting like the person I want to be?

Regardless of my circumstances, am I trying my best to treat people with kindness?

If I hate my job, am I pursuing hobbies or side projects outside of work that make me happy?

​I have fallen into mindset so many times that when I have X job, I will be happy. Or when I find my true passion and calling, I will be happy. That is so far from the truth. Because once I find that job or that passion, there will be something else that I’m striving for that I believe will lead me to ultimate happiness.

Don't get me wrong, I am a huge proponent of choosing a career that inspires you and fulfills you — but if you're having trouble finding it, stop worrying.

I can tell you firsthand that stressing over having the perfect career is a waste of time. I probably own about a dozen domain names for different business ideas I've had, and I still work my 8-5 job every single day. I used to feel outrageously guilty and like such a failure for letting these ideas collect dust in GoDaddy's database. I now believe that they are all leading me to the right place, and have taught me that no business idea or job title is as important as who I am and how I care for myself and others.

Our best career advice? No matter what career you find yourself in, don’t let it define you, and never stop dreaming.