10 myths about life after graduating

Myth 1:

That your career path will be determined by what you studied in college. Wrong. Unless your field and major is an extremely narrow specialty (and even then) your career path will not be determined purely by what you studied in college. Some people don't even finish college. Blush. Blush. Can I become successful even if I've wasted my teenage years?

Myth 2:

Life circumstances and luck won’t be important to your career. Wrong. Life circumstances and luck will determine everything - from what city or country you work in, to what jobs you take up, to your decision to stay in those jobs. You can read about the luck factor in my life here: People say if it's meant for you, it'll be yours.  

Myth 3:

Your priorities will remain static. Wrong. Your priorities will keep changing. Early in your career, it will be all about earning money, and climbing the career ladder. Later, autonomy, flexibility, work life balance, or taking up a unique challenge and doing something more meaningful, may become more important. Work-life balance may be the most important thing at one stage, taking up a unique challenge at another stage.  What are some one and done mistakes in your profession?

Myth 4:

Education will protect you from unfortunate job events such as layoffs and terminations. Wrong. Education will not protect you. In fact, even though you are highly educated, you may find yourself with periods of unemployment, even long periods. Do I have any advice for dealing with those periods? I sure do: What advice would you give an unemployed person? I also advise you to build up as much of an emergency cushion as you can. How much? So much, that you can view your periods of unemployment, as goof-off periods, your own paid sabbaticals. Let me explain: How does financial freedom change your life? Why should people try to achieve the financial freedom?

Myth 5:

Good grades will be your ticket to success. Wrong. Adaptiveness, communication, professionalism, responsibility, determination, things such as that, will count far more. If not initially, it will definitely count very soon after.

Myth 6:

You will enjoy getting up and going to work every day. Wrong. You will have to get up and go to work every day, in spite of not wanting to get up and go to work every day.

Myth 7:

Your experience will be enough to make a successful job change. Wrong. You will have to prove yourself again, with every job change. And you will not be successful, unless you adapt to whatever the new environment brings.

Myth 8:

Once you are done with your university education, you are done with your education for life. Wrong. You will have to continually retrain and re-certify in different areas, plus add additional skills and knowledge to your skill set; and sometimes, you will have to start down an entirely new career path, completely unrelated to what you did before.

Myth 9:

What you think you are good at, is all that you will be good at. Wrong. You will surprise yourself. As I surprised myself by becoming a commissions analyst, after being an advertising copywriter. You can read more about that here: What are some jobs people luck into?

Myth 10:

Once an employee, always an employee. Wrong. You may think that it’s what your path is going to be, when you graduate. And then suddenly, for some, you decide to go out on your own. As I did. Both in my first career, as an advertising copywriter, and in my second career, as a commissions administrator. You can find out about my why, here: As an entrepreneur, what motivates you the most to pursue your goals?

So yes, as you are driving your career, watch out….there will be surprises and detours ahead.

How can I find activities and hobbies that I can succeed in?

It is a lifelong process.

You don’t have to be successful at a hobby to enjoy it.

We’re a family that loves music.

Singing was a part of every family event.

But we are no Jackson five.

Just people who enjoy singing.

Music took preference over college in my late teens, even though I had no desire to become Joan Baez, Cliff Richards, or Bon Jovi.

We’re also a family who likes to write.

My mom liked to write.

Me and my siblings like to write.

My daughter likes to write.

But we are no J.K. Rowlings.

We are just people who like to write, and enjoy writing.

At any stage of your life, a new hobby might emerge, that you enjoy.

It could be creating things with a Cricut.

It could be painting.

It could be cooking.

It could be gardening.

It could be wine-making.

It could be reading.

It could be playing a sport like soft ball, or pickleball, or basketball, or cricket.

It could be watching movies.

It could be photography.

It could be walking with friends.

It could be an ipad or phone game, a board game, or a video game.

It could be karaoke, or hula dancing.

It could be dress making.

It could be answering Quora questions, or writing a blog, both of which I do.

It is more important you enjoy your hobby, than that you are successful at it.

Success, in my book, is enjoying something so much, you want to continue to do it.

And you find a way to continue doing it.

Yes, it's all about the enjoyment.

At least, in my book.

😄

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers out there. The stay-at-home moms. The working moms. The retired from work moms. The moms to dogs and pets. Hope you find time for a few hobbies and interests, to help relieve the stress of parenting. And to take your mind off worries and anxious thoughts. Which never cease, however old your kids get.  Read before you go: Fun Mother's Day post from 2019.

"Hmm, What Can I Do With This?"

Creative people derive the most satisfaction from creating. So they consume experiences and content, with one eye on the experiences and content, and another eye on what they might create, based on the experiences and content. I will give you an example. Early in my blogging years, I came across some Big Bang Theory conversations on IMDB, and I went, “hmm, what can I do with this?” What I was able to do with it, was to create a series of blog posts, based on conversations between Sheldon Cooper and Penny. The 6 posts were fun to write. Or, "so fun", as my daughter will say. Here's one of them. Here’s another example: Early in my blogging days and early in Twitter days, I thought about the fact that Twitter was named for the sound that birds make, and I went, “hmm, what can I do with this?” What came out of that thought, was a series of blog posts, each written as a letter from a sparrow to the CEO of Twitter, protesting the use (misappropriation 😉), of the name Twitter. The 6 or 7 letters were a hoot to write. Here's one of those letters, now a blast from the past, with Elon Musk owning Twitter, and Twitter no longer called Twitter, anymore. So if you want to be creative, here's my advice...

When you see something, or hear something, or read something, or feel something, or find yourself with some stuff, ingredients, or materials, say to yourself, “hmm, what can I do with this?” And soon, you will be on your way to creating something fun and new. Happy Creating!