#53: Life's rate of change
Will the next decade have as much change as the previous decade?
It's the spring of 2015, and I'm walking through campus toward Reed Arena at Texas A&M University where the engineering career fair is held. In a few months, I'll be graduating with an undergraduate degree and getting ready to go work in the "real world". I have a small hiccup, though; I have no idea what I want to do.
During my time at university, I studied civil engineering with a focus on project management, a pathway that leads to two typical careers: design and construction. I've tried both, and neither is the right fit for me.
As I enter through the doors of the arena, I'm ready to talk to each and every company to explore the different possibilities for my career.
Making my rounds, I wrap up a conversation with a company, and as I walk away, I'm approached by a middle-aged man from a company named Johnson Controls who poses a simple question: "Have you ever thought about going into sales?"
"No." I reply, subconsciously thinking that a role such as sales is below me since I've studied to be an engineer.
"You should consider it; you'd be good at it." The man says.
That small interaction prompted me to make my first big career move: ditching my undergraduate degree to explore an unknown path. Over the next 9 years, I'd make a similar decision several times, ditching years of built-up expertise to explore the unknown again and again.
On the surface, my career looks like a series of unrelated jobs without a common thread. From selling large HVAC equipment and controls, to becoming an expert in demand response and energy markets, to teaching myself to code at the age of 25 and then ditching my entire career and advancement of over 5 years to get an entry-level position as a front-end software developer in the completely new field of healthcare, and 3 years later becoming the CEO of that organization.
But, there is a common theme to this thread: an attraction toward the path that results in the highest rate of learning instead of the path that leads to the highest rate of compensation. That path of learning is a path of constant change, and the rate of that change is determined by you and every decision you make along the way.
So, as I look forward to the next decade, I wonder: will the next 10 years cover as much change as the last 10 years? Will my destination a decade from now be as unpredictable as my current state would have been if you had asked me at that career fair a decade in the past?
I hope the answer is yes. I'll let you know.