Finding Your Career Path in Tech ✈️
Apr 09, 2023 5:21 pm
“Learning to play a game where the odds are in your favour is critical for maintaining motivation and feeling successful.” — James Clear
Happy Easter Sunday, . I hope you experience the love we celebrate today in a special way.
Today's newsletter could possibly be titled "Finding Your Career Path in Life", but since you are a member of Digital Discourse, I assume that you have some interest in technology. Therefore, let's go with a tech title.
Before deciding, "I want to be a UI/UX designer!" and committing to spending a large portion of your life pursuing success in that career path, there is a critical question that you need to ask yourself: "Am I likely to excel or find success in this field?”
Why is this important? Because while discipline and consistency play important roles in achieving success in any field, genetics also have a significant impact on success. Imagine someone like me deciding to pursue a career in boxing. Sure, I could hit the gym, train consistently, and gain muscle mass, but would I ever reach the top of my career in that field? Only with another Easter miracle.
Because my body is not built for fighting, I would most likely get beaten badly in every fight. However, in a career in web design, engineering, creative writing, or even music, I stand a better chance of succeeding because ideating and creating using my mind is my strong suit.
Every individual has a number of strong suits or natural talents encoded in their genes. To ensure that you aren't swimming against the tide in such a critical aspect of your life as your career path, make sure to pursue a career that utilizes these natural abilities. With discipline and consistency, you will stand out in your field, and success will be within reach.
The challenge now is to find your natural strengths, which are things you enjoy doing. In his book "Atomic Habits," James Clear outlines some questions whose answers will guide you in identifying your strengths.
- What feels like fun to me but work to others?
- What makes me lose track of time?
- Where do I get greater returns than the average person?
- What comes naturally to me?
Answering these questions can also be applied to other areas of your life.
When it comes to a career in tech, it may be difficult to determine which natural abilities you possess from the start. This is where trial and error comes in. However, in a single lifetime, it may be impossible to try out every tech career to determine which is best suited to you. So, as Clear explains, an effective way to manage this conundrum is called the explore/exploit trade-off.
This involves trying out new things as explorations rather than starting with a mindset of commitment. When you explore, there are no consequences. as opposed to committing right away, where failure or mediocrity could be a consequence of committing to the wrong thing. This is similar to how a romantic relationship begins with dating and not marriage.
The great thing is that you can explore multiple things at the same time, giving you more options. — I’m not saying you should go and start dating every fine girl or guy you meet, . 🌚 We’re talking about careers here.
After exploring, focus on the best suits you've found and exploit them. These are the areas/career paths in which you have a better chance of success. Finding a strong suit should not stop you from exploring. Explore, explore, explore. You never know what you'll find next.
Bear in mind that our natural abilities do not eliminate the need for hard work. They only tell us what to work hard on. Once you identify your strengths, you know where to spend your time and energy. You can determine which type of opportunities to pursue and what type of challenges to avoid.
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Talk soon,
Viki xx 💜