4 Career Lessons I Learned In My Twenties
So far my twenties have been a time of exploration and self-discovery, particularly when it comes to understanding what I want to do with my career.
Coming out of high school, I had no idea what the hell I wanted to do, so I picked the uni degree that I thought was the least niche - International Business.
None of my uni subjects really peaked my interest, but I did really enjoy working part-time at my family restaurant, meeting new people and having great conversations with customers.
I then took a retail job at Nespresso and loved similar aspects - providing great tailored customer service and building strong relationships with my team.
By then all I knew was that I was pretty good with ‘people skills’ and started my first ‘real job’ at Seek in various customer service roles, and eventually moving to the HR team as an L&D Coordinator (because everyone that loves working with people think HR is the answer!).
Fast forward to now, I am still in the L&D space in the tech industry, and this is my fifth company!
From working for various organisations of different sizes and company cultures, learning about the leadership styles that work best for me, to trying to find balance between my own business and day job, I have learned a few solid career lessons along the way, and I’d like to share these with you.
Lesson 1 - Every job and workplace has it’s issues, but you also need to look at how you are contributing to the situation.
Over the years, I’ve learned that I am a highly emotional person and although my strengths are in my abilities to establish strong relationships with those around me, I learned that I am also a people pleaser.
This meant at times I was doing things that contributed to some of the challenges I faced in some of my roles, such as:
Not being confident to communicate my needs
Not being able to set strong enough boundaries
Taking things too personally
Dwelling on things rather than asking for help
As I learn more about navigating the workplace and about myself as a person, I realise there are no perfect jobs and when faced with challenges, it’s important to consider whether there are things within your control that can help the situation and whether you need to adjust your perspective or attitude.
The older I get, the better I am able to step back from a challenging situation and objectively analyse if my behaviours are fuelling it and whether I can change my approach to make the situation better.
Self-awareness takes time to build, but the more you understand things like your strengths and development areas, your triggers, your personality, your working preferences and your communication style, the better you will navigate not just workplace issues, but issues within your personal life as well.
Lesson 2 - Nurture a growth mindset and challenge yourself to always be learning!
Carol Dweck is an American psychologist who coined the terms ‘fixed mindset’ and ‘growth mindset’. When you have a growth mindset, you have a desire to learn and believe that if you continuously work on something, you will improve over time.
This can be anything - playing sport, public speaking, creating music, creating content, problem-solving, anything!
Having a growth mindset also means you embrace the challenges of learning something new along the way, you persist in the face of setbacks, put in the necessary effort, learn from feedback, and you’re inspired by the success of others.
On the flip side, if you have a fixed mindset, you think that your qualities and intelligence are static. If you think you’re not good at something, you’ll tell yourself this and won’t make any effort to improve or learn.
There is something to be learned from every job and organisation. Hell, this applies to life in general!
No matter how old you are or what profession you’re in, always aim to stretch your skills and learn something new every day.
You might want to learn how to use a particular technology platform, or how to better manage your time, or how to speak more confidently in meetings, or how to build stronger relationships with your colleagues.
Even if you’re not entirely happy in your current role, ask yourself, “What lessons is this job teaching me?” and “What can I do to continue to challenge myself and stretch my skills?”
Lesson 3 - Focus on your strengths more than your ‘weaknesses’.
It’s important to have a growth mindset and to always be learning and challenging yourself, but sometimes it’s all too easy to say ‘I’m not good at this’ and focus on the things you need to improve on.
However, I think we don’t talk enough about the things we are good at and not all workplaces take a strengths-based approach.
Focusing on your strengths is so rewarding and inspiring! We all have natural gifts and talents and we need to remind ourselves of these regularly.
It’s also important to consciously try to use your strengths as much as you can. For example, when I get stuck at work with a problem, I leverage my relationship-building capabilities to help me be more resourceful.
Try talking more about the things that energise you or skills you’re proud to have - share these in team meetings, in 1:1 conversations, be proud of the things you’re good at!
Lesson 4 - No one is born with productivity skills!
When I say productivity, I mean things like:
Managing your time
Removing distractions
Scheduling your work tasks to maximise your productivity
Using the right tools to manage your projects
Defining the difference between ‘busy work’ and ‘work that moves the needle’
These skills are developed over time.
You’ll likely be familiar with the basic things like having a to-do list, and prioritising your tasks.
However, it’s taken me a while to understand my working style, what time of day I’m most productive and to see how easily I can be distracted by things like my phone!
Learning how to structure your work and schedule takes time and trial and error.
It’s easy to say things like “I’m an organised person” or “I’m productive”, but what does this actually look like in practice everyday?
There are a ton of methods and tools to help you work more productively and efficiently. Don’t be afraid to try new things to see what works and what doesn’t.
Try not to have ‘shiny object syndrome’ where you jump from one new tool to the next (this was me for a while!).
Stick with one approach for some time and evaluate what you enjoyed about it and what needs to change.
If you’re curious, here are some things I’ve implemented for myself:
Only using Asana for my To-Do List - the way I structure my Asana board is Top 3 Focus Areas for Today, To-Do List (all tasks), In Progress, Completed, On Hold (Parked).
Removing my phone from the room during work hours.
Collaborating with others using a shared Planner board and Teams channel.
Blocking out time in my calendar for specific tasks/project work.
A strong morning routine to start the day off right - walk my dog Leo, exercise, shower, eat a healthy breakfast, make a coffee, then start my work day!
Other things I am yet to implement:
Closing down Outlook and using the ‘Do Not Disturb’ feature on Teams to concentrate on work that requires deep thinking.
Better balance between busy work (answering emails, messages) and impactful work (project work).
Only checking emails twice a day (instead of working all day with my email open).
I hope these lessons resonate with you and inspire you to work smarter, challenge yourself to be a better person, and reach your full potential!
Share your thoughts…
What are some things you’ve learned from your career so far?
