Invest in Yourself: Optimise for Future Career Growth

So you’ve completed your A Levels, graduated from University, you may even have a number of years experience under your belt and now you’re looking to gradually climb the career ladder. That’s the accepted way of getting as far in your career as possible. But are all the options being taken into consideration? There are a huge range of opportunities out there that you won’t have heard of before, but that in the long term could make you better off.

There are huge advantages of optimising for future career growth. This means maybe not taking the expected route that might look like the obvious choice right now, but having a longer term vision and positioning yourself to get further in the future.

Almost 70% of employees are not engaged at work, and that figure is even higher for millennials. This could be because psychologically, we naturally prioritise short term ease over long term value. We want to follow our long term values, but when we do so we’re often put initially outside of our comfort zone. So ‘safety first’ instincts kick in and we fall back into easy but unengaging roles.

There is a fine balance that must be struck here. You need to be engaged and believe in what you are doing to be happy at work, but you might also have to put yourself in a position that isn’t quite natural to you or involves some kind of risk in order to find that long term value. If you want to make the most of your career, there will be times when you need to push yourself outside of your comfort zone. After all, outside of your comfort zone is where the magic happens!

Some people may say that you’d be foolish to gamble what’s in front of you right now for something that might happen in the future. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, right? But let’s flip that around. Thinking short term means taking the best opportunity right in front of you without considering future implications. Your potential in the future is worth far more than what you might be gambling now. The below quote from Peter Thiel (co-founder of PayPal and author of “Zero to One”) is an excellent example of how your mindset should be.

People always say you should live every day as though it’s your last. I sort of have taken the opposite tack, where I think you should live every day as though it’s going to go on forever. You should treat people like you’re going to see them again in the future. You should start working on projects that may take a long time. And so I want to live every day as though it’s going to go on forever.

So what does optimising for future growth actually look like?

We know you should always be learning to stay relevant and on the front line of any changes and developments in your industry. But if you are optimising for future career growth, learning becomes even more important. The more you are learning, the more value you will be able to provide in the future, whether that be value to employers, clients, customers or even fellow employees.

However, you shouldn’t simply be learning as many skills as possible without a plan or a second thought as to how they might help you. Your mindset here needs to be on what skills are going to be useful and relevant in the future. This means making sure you learn skills that are not going to become obsolete in 10 years. Future-proof your skill set. Look at industries long term and join a growing industry that has potential rather than one which boasts high salaries etc now but is on the decline.

With the above in mind, you should be thinking about what could make you extremely valuable long term. Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, argues that in order to be extraordinary, you have two options:

1. Become the best at one specific thing.
2. Become very good (top 25%) at two or more things. (Source)

The odds are obviously against us if we try to go for the first path, but Scott argues that with a bit of work, coming in the top 25% in as little as two things shouldn’t be too difficult. He uses himself as an example — not the very best at drawing and not the very best comedian, but being in the top 25% of both makes him one of the best at creating funny comic strips! Could you create your own niche with two or more separate skills? Could working in a tangential area for a short period of time, and then combining this with your existing skill-set boost your career growth in the future?

One of the main sacrifices you will have to make if you want to invest in yourself is in the literal sense — short term monetary gain. I touched on this briefly when I spoke about growth hacking your career, arguing that early on in your career you may be better off looking for personal development perks than hard cash straight away. The trade-off is that you earn slightly less for now, with the view that your return could be exponential in the future.

There comes a moment in one’s life where if you decide you want to go for it you have to invest in yourself. Literally. As in take less cash compensation than you could otherwise earn. To invest in your future. — Mark Suster (entrepreneur and venture capitalist) (Source)

With the same idea, in the video below, Gary Vaynerchuk (CEO of VaynerMedia, author and investor in Twitter and Uber) argues legacy is greater than currency. Every single decision you make should be based on your “long term legacy, it can’t be about the dollars you’re putting in your pocket.”

Another way to invest in yourself is by investing in relationships. Ultimately, your network could be your path to future success. This means that networking is incredibly important, but also relationships you build outside of official ‘networking events’, both professionally and personally. Every interaction counts, even if you’re not actively in a job search right now.

Surround yourself with the right people, try to help them as much as possible and in the future (could be years!) they may be able to return the favour. The key here is to not look for immediate ROI. Be genuinely helpful without trying to think about what you could gain out of it, and you might be surprised in the future.

The great thing about trying to play the long game and optimise for future career growth is that you will always have the expected, accepted route to fall back on. The status quo can be your plan B, and often you will fall back at a higher position than you otherwise would have been, due to the experience you will have gained and skills you will have learned.

So when you’re thinking about your next career move, whether that be looking for your first job after graduation or a career change further down the line, remember to invest in yourself and always optimise for future career growth. Learn skills for future value, think legacy over currency and invest in relationships.

Have you turned down opportunities which looked like the obvious choice at the time because you could see potential elsewhere? What do you think of this mindset? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Comment below or tweet me @LiamNolan90.

Note: This post was originally published on 4th June 2015.