Get A Life (Not A Job)

Until the fall of 1989, I was on my way to becoming an astronaut. I was in the best shape of my life, had been accepted into a top ten university for aerospace engineering, easily completed advanced placement tests in physics and calculus (among others) and had an innate curiosity for the unknown. This was going to be my chosen profession, and even if I never made it through training, my fallback position was certainly working for NASA or another large contractor. It was all straight lines and sure-footed planning.

Reality hit home in late October. I had the good fortune of meeting some top dogs at NASA and actually visited with a few astronauts in training. It was terrible. On the NASA side, the idea of working incredibly long hours in endless project planning only to have a few precious moments of (possible) victory was daunting. This was in addition to learning that most astronauts never make a flight, culminating years of training in the disappointment of the ever-so-close. Add in the fact that these weren’t the most socially adept coworkers and the bubble was officially burst. I was lost as to what to do next (and am not ashamed to admit that part of me still may be wandering).

Like many, I was raised with the concept of a “plan”. This plan allowed for one career path, and that path involved progressive responsibility and growth. If you moved firms, you did so to move up, but you always stayed on course and built toward a crescendo of security and eventual retirement. When I left aerospace, I had no plan. And when you or your friends got fired at some point during the recession, your plan was thrown out the window by your employer. And when you watched how employers treated you and your peers during downsizing, you started to wonder whether this whole idea of a working for someone else is a plan at all.

I constantly receive books in the mail from authors. If you’re a regular reader, you’d be surprised by that fact since I rarely post reviews. This is because most books regurgitate truisms under the guise of knowledge and I have no patience for what we all know to be fact. But this time it’s different, and this time I offer you what I consider to the be the ultimate compliment. If Get A Life, Not A Job had been written 20+ years ago, it would have fundamentally changed my life. The good news is that it still might, and here’s why.

Work psychologist and CNN contributor Dr. Paula Caligiuri has finally written a book that tackles all of issues surrounding the “new employment reality and the real dynamics of today’s world of work“. The premise is basically this – you need to find excitement, fulfillment and security in your work, and chances are that you may not necessarily obtain all three in a single job. So, you need to be prepared to diversify by planning for and engaging in what she calls “multiple career acts”. What’s a career act?

“Career acts are simultaneous and stimulating profitable activities composed of what people (who enjoy what they do) engage in for a living.” ~ Get A Life, Not A Job (pg. 1)

I know, I know. You’re thinking, “That’s great, Mark. My problems are solved!”. Stay with me, as Paula actually gives you all the tools and exercises (nineteen in total) that you need to figure this conundrum out. Plus, she’s not some academic sitting in a book-walled room theorizing on the possibilities for the future. Her work is based on years of heart-wrenching counseling for those who are really struggling with their careers. Here are a few gems I can share on:

Misplaced loyalty: “The psychological contract between employers and employees has clearly changed. Employers have no long-term commitment to their employees and employees should feel no sense of long-term commitment to their employers. Your employer owns jobs; you do not.” (pg. 18) This is what I refer to as the rise of the Free Agent Nation.

Great career acts: They all share five key elements – 1) Self-awareness; 2) Continuous self-development; 3) Unique and critical roles; 4) Well-managed time, money and human resources; and 5) Harmony among your work, family and personal life. For what it’s worth, I don’t think I’ve ever had a career like that.

Strength of character: “If you don’t think you can achieve your dream career goal, I promise you never will.” (pg. 62) Amen to that. You can’t win if you don’t play.

Time: Paula quotes a psychologist who told her, “I remember when I had a lot of time but no money. I now have a lot of money but no time. I believe there was a day in between.” The point here is that you should not need to sacrifice time for money (or vice-versa).

I’m quite confident that I’m not doing the book justice. But hear me out. Paula has built a construct that takes the realities of living in the here and now and breaks apart our desire for happiness into consumable chunks. This is to ensure that you can get from here to there. I’ll stop gushing now and leave you with one final thought from the book:

“No employer, no boss or mentor, no professor or teacher, no parent or spouse – no one – will be able to create the career that is right for you; it is your responsibility to create your own fulfilling career.” ~ Get a Life, Not A Job (pg. 175)

So get to it. Buy the book, do the work and start defining your own multiple career acts. And if you see him, be sure to tell the 18 year-old me that eventually he will figure things out. He’s stubborn but a good kid.