When we speak of career growth, especially when you are still starting, it’s easy to think it depends on what happens at work like that promotion you have been grinding for, attending all the skills training from in person classes to online webinar, networking with the right people or how long your LinkedIn skills list is.
But honestly? Most of the biggest lessons that shape your career comes from everything Outside of the work environment, lessons that no amount of courses can give you.
✨Everyday challenges build real resilience:
Adulting has never been easy – from managing your finance to navigating the struggles that come with being an adult, life never stops dishing out new experiences. But those moments are what allows you to build your grit and learn how to adapt better. Adapting allows you to bounce back faster while managing new situations within the work environment. Those real-world lessons will always be that consent reminder that you have handled worse.
🤝People skills don’t come from PowerPoint:
You can learn any tool or system at any point in a class or through slides, but the same can’t be said for empathy. Reading the room, staying calm under pressure, or leading with empathy all come from being apart of the moment. From helping a friend whose going through tough times to navigating tricky relationships, these moments teach you how to connect to others and that is what separates those who are skilled professionals from those who are great.
📈Hobbies can be your secret career advantage:
It is wild how some of the greatest ideas we have come from when we aren’t working at our desks. Creativity can strike from anywhere, like when simply reading a book to playing a videogame with your friends – hobbies and experiences fuel your creativity and problem-solving. Hobbies allow you to become more interesting, balanced and most surprising, it refreshes you allowing you to become more productive.
🌿The power of winding down:
Most people believe in the myth that the grind never ends if you want to succeed, but that can’t be anything further from the truth. Burnout does not bring success; it just leads to you being tired and less productive than ever. Taking time to relax or spending time to explore your interest could be just the right thing needed to boost your career. Ideas can come from anywhere at anytime even when you are taking a breather.
🌟You are more than just a job title:
You are not just a job title and the tasks you do when you are work. Your side projects, the places you visit, the people you interact with and the challenges you face, all of them shape you not just as a person but how you are in the professional space. It is always good to remember when you feel like you are falling behind in the workspace, growth simply doesn’t happen in the office, it happens by experiencing life.
Your job is an aspect of your life, not your entire life. Your experiences and challenges are what shapes your future and gives your career some real depth even if it will only appear in the future.
Don’t rush your life, live it, and learn from it.