Some career paths look straightforward and predictable, like a staircase. Others are much more roundabout (and even exciting)—like a jungle gym! Embrace the fact that there is no one correct way to succeed professionally. In this Meetup Live recording, we’ll be exploring frameworks for blazing your own career path.
Watch this Meetup Live recording with OwnTrail founder and CEO Rebekah Bastian to take stock of your professional background in a way that goes beyond your resume. Think through where you want to go in your career and plan how you’ll get there. Learn to identify your soft and hard career skills to craft a narrative for your career journey that makes your next move easier. Leave with a renewed vision and a boost of confidence to reach your goals.
Timestamps:
- Rebekah’s Journey (2:56)
- There is No Right Path (5:57)
- Choosing Your Path (12:13)
- Interactive Writing Prompts
- Reflect On Your Journey (20:17)
- Q&A Session (47:52)
Top Q&A Questions and Resources:
- Do you think reframing the path helps to build confidence?
- Having a career gap or changing jobs frequently can sometimes make us feel self-conscious or embarrassed. However, it’s important to remember that these experiences are part of our journey and have shaped who we are today. When we share the full story behind these experiences, including the reasons and what we’ve learned, it transforms from something we feel self-conscious about to something we can be proud of. Embracing these aspects and being confident in our journey is essential when seeking new opportunities and convincing others to have confidence in us. So it definitely helps.
- How about when people want to make some changes, but have no idea what to do?
- Thinking through your passions and skills and learning from other people’s stories is truly powerful. For instance, if you’ve gone through points A, B, and C in your journey so far, exploring similar experiences of paths people you know have taken can be incredibly inspiring. There’s no one right path, even if someone followed a similar series of steps to reach where you are now. They could have ventured into various directions, just as you can. These stories can spark new ideas and possibilities for you, especially when considering the identities we hold. So, actively seeking out other people’s journeys is helpful.
- How did you manage a full-time job, side hustle, family, and social life all at the same time?
- I have a high capacity for activities that energize me. When I engage in something that lacks excitement, it drains my energy and leaves me feeling depleted. It’s important to pack my life with fulfilling endeavors. Even if it’s difficult, my side hustle should be something that brings me energy. Otherwise, why would I be doing it? If a side pursuit energizes me, I will find extra capacity for it.
- Still, it’s crucial to acknowledge that I can’t negotiate as much with certain aspects of my life like my job and family commitments.
- When I wrote my book, a side project, I did it during the moments when I put my child to sleep. He had a phase where he wouldn’t fall asleep unless I sat in a chair in his room, so I spent that time writing my book on my phone. Because writing it energized me, I used those precious moments to pursue my passion. It’s about identifying those pockets of time for the things that excite me and bring me energy.
Resources:
- Learn more about Rebekah’s trail, here
- Create your trail, here
- Meetup members can use the code MEETUP to get 25% off a yearlong OwnTrail membership.
Last modified on June 2, 2023
