In a recent post ("Part II", to be specific), I mentioned that we could all benefit from thinking of careers in broader terms. Specifically, I pointed out that while some successful careers may take the form of one straight and narrow path, others are not so traditional. This post addresses the non-traditional form that certain individuals may choose to take: a combination of paths creatively woven together to satisfy different interests and skills. As I said before, while different people are drawn to different kinds of paths, ideally all of these paths bring our innate talents and interests to life in the form of a career.
That being said, I've decided that I would now like to give the latter, non-traditional description the title:
"Alternative Career Lifestyle."
Say what?!!
Yes, I am declaring a new wave of thinking about careers, so much so that I am putting it in bold print and quotation marks. This new wave, which I will shorten to "ACL" (and not to be confused with the ligament found in the knee) describes the individuals who push the envelope of what it means to be fully satisfied career-wise and live well in the process. These people don't care what "The Book" (i.e. the general consensus) says about what careers look like; rather, these folks just do what they are:
a) good at
b) drawn to and
c) NEED to do, even if it's not what conventional wisdom dictates as acceptable.
And no, I'm not talking about doing anything illegal. I am sure you can find other blogs about that. What I am referring to is simple: Do what you need to do, even if it doesn't make other people say to themselves, "WOW! (S)he has one really important/lucrative/respectable/hoitytoity/pie-in-the-sky/enviable/intellectual job!" Because, really, who cares if your career path doesn't fit into the 40+ hour work week of say a doctor/lawyer/engineer or whatever else society says is the ultimate in job titles?
At least I don't, if that makes you feel any better.
So the following are just some examples of people who lead alternative career lifestyles:
1) A person who has a multitude of interests that are better met with two or more part-time, but individually fulfilling jobs (such as a person whose main function or common thread is teaching/advising, and feels compelled to teach and advise in multiple demographics and settings.)
2) A parent that works for him/herself from home, intermittently dividing his or her time between a professional business and family business (i.e. running to the dry cleaner on the way to a client meeting and stopping on the way to that meeting to deliver a forgotten lunch to their child's school.)
This same individual is less concerned with being the primary bread winner and more committed to raising a family while devoting some coveted hours to personal, career-oriented work.
3) A person who, for one reason or another, physically cannot work a full-time job outside the home but still needs and wants to contribute his or her talents in a non-traditional way. (Paid or unpaid.)
He or she may start a business or get involved virtually with an organization and/or create a schedule of getting outside the home to work on a less-than-regular basis.
4) An individual who takes his or her training and education and inherent talents and volunteers full-time for an organization, garnering only what they need to live. These careers may not pay anything but room and board, but many will say that giving of themselves in exactly the way they want to give is a luxury in and of itself.
5) Anyone who writes, designs, paints, builds, acts, sings, etc. but needs to have some side job(s) that gives them peace of mind. Having the financial burden lifted allows them to create without the pressure to perform or create for pay. I must mention one extremely important caveat, however. If the stability job drains the person emotionally, physically, and/or psychologically, creativity and self-esteem will suffer and peace of mind goes out the window!
All of this Alternative Career Lifestyle talk really boils down to this: good career design doesn't always have one dimension. Creating a career that fits your life means taking into account many factors, and talent and passion must mesh with where you are in your life at this point in time. Therefore, "life design" more adequately describes the process I use with clients. I encourage them to look at their lives as a whole. Where are they now? How is that different than 5 or 10 or 15 years earlier? How have their needs changed? How has their physical energy changed? Have priorities been shuffled around, changing their minds as to what is most important to them? I suggest they move away from the traditional practice of balancing personal and almost oppositional professional lives. Rather, I propose that they take a more toward a holistic approach to meshing their lives, talents and careers together.
What that looks like is up to them.
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