This is why you should bulletproof your career
But only if you want to control your own destiny
Sooner or later, we all become vulnerable. Long-term and lifetime employment are becoming a thing of the past. Most of us will face a layoff, unemployment, or underemployment at some point in our lives. If you live long enough you will most likely face ageism. You will slowly but surely be forced out of your job.
We were told to go to college, get a great job, and everything would work out. So, you went to college, got that great job, climbed the corporate ladder, spent decades building your career, and saved money for your retirement. But something is missing…
You never have enough time with your friends and family, your work isn’t meaningful or fulfilling, and your own health and happiness have been put aside to focus on your work. What happened to the freedom to live the life you always thought you would? Why do you put up with so much crap to cling to a job you secretly hate?
10 truths about your career and life
Over the last 24 years of my career and life I’ve learned these truths:
- No job provides guaranteed stability and we won’t retire like our parents did
- Your fitness, health, and wellness are your foundation and everything eventually collapses if they are weakened
- Freedom is worth more than money
- Fulfillment is worth more than money too
- Finding meaning actually does matter
- Your children grow up more quickly than you would ever imagine, and you never get those years back
- No one else will take care of your career like you will
- Your career will thrive when you treat it like a serious business
- Your talent, knowledge, skills, and experience are of tremendous value to your tribe, if you can find them
- Never let your happiness, sense of self-worth, and future rest in the hands of someone else
The problem is, you have let #10 happen. If you have a job working for someone else’s company, if you have a boss, and if you need that paycheck to make ends meet, then someone else is in control of your future. That person and that job may determine how you spend your days, when you wake up, when you commute, when you get to go home, if you get to relax when you’re home, where you live, and how you feel about your life each and every day.
If you were truly bulletproof, you would get to call the shots. You would decide how your work and life fit together. You would be doing something that maps naturally to who you are. Your talent, strengths, knowledge, and experience. You would feel that your work was an extension of your calling.
Is this easier when you are self-employed? Yes, of course it is. But, not everyone wants to be an entrepreneur or business owner. However, you can also bulletproof your career while working for someone else. I’ve known people who made that happen. They did have a boss and the company did provide their paycheck. But, they carefully constructed their own “Product of You” to be in high demand, know their value, and never put up with anyone’s crap.
The 10 Commandments of a Bulletproof Career
This is a day of tens, apparently. What does it mean to be bulletproof? It means that, as much as possible, you have removed single points of failure from every aspect of your overall career ecosystem and life. No single job, no boss, no colleague, no economic shift, etc. can ever take you down.
Clearly, you can’t remove all risks from life with a 100% certainty. But, you can reduce the risks that are within your control. You can mitigate the damage they can do. You can have backup plans so that no single failure disrupts you for very long, and you bounce back quickly.
It is very difficult to follow all 10 of these “commandments.” I’m not going to pretend that it is easy, or even possible at some points in your career and life. But, I have found that striving to make this list come true brings me much closer to achieving real freedom, happiness, and fulfillment.
Making yourself and your career bulletproof will enable you to make these 10 come true for you as well:
- Live where you will truly enjoy your quality of life
- Work where you want to spend your days
- Become an expert at what you do for a living
- Transform your work to be meaningful and fulfilling
- Take control of how you want to do your work
- Work when you want, and as much as you want
- Work with people who bring out the best in you
- Find joy by intentionally applying your expertise to help others
- Take charge of your career and never again feel trapped
- Fully own your career and never again feel vulnerable
Bulletproof your own career
If you’re interested in learning how to bulletproof your own career, get on the waitlist for my upcoming course.
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