“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
~ Steve Jobs, 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech
Out of everything Steve Jobs accomplished in his lifetime, this impacts me the most. He was a person who stood up for what he believed, accepted criticism, failure and success, and most importantly lived his own life.
As we ponder our own lives, and career decisions, how much of what we do has been defined by someone else? Parents, teachers, guidance councilors, friends, partners, bosses, mentors – all influence our career decisions. In fact, you’ve probably hear more than once “I think you’d be really good at blah blah blah.”
Or, we happen to fall into a career. Sometimes it’s awesome. Sometimes it sucks. Sometimes it’s just “ok” and we stay in our mediocrity waiting for someone to “define our career path” or “give us opportunity.”
Guess what? That “someone” is you.
And you can do it! Here’s how to get started:
- Carve out an hour to be in one of your favorite, most inspiring places.
- Think about when you were little. I mean really little, when you were still full of wonder. What did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be a scientist and a speaker.
- What characteristics of your dream made you excited? I loved the mystery of science, the exploration, and I loved meeting new people and learning from them.
- Are there parts of your education, career, or job(s) that reflected that dream? I have an electrical engineering degree, and although I don’t work as an engineer anymore, I am fascinated with learning, studying trends to find the “answer for now”. In my current role at Sage, I go around the country as a guest speaker on a variety of topics – including this one!
- What’s your dream now? Dreams and visions can, and will, change over time. Don’t think about “forever”, think about this as a “for now”.
This is just the beginning of creating a strategy for your professional development. There are strengths, constraints, and more that you need to uncover to make your dream a reality (in some shape or form). This presentation will keep you moving along that path, and it also outlines some key factors for success.
Stop living other people’s perceptions of who you are, or who you may become. You, and only you, can make the path for you.
Be bold, be brave, and believe in yourself!
Heather Burton
Director, Product Marketing
Nonprofit Solutions
Sage North America
