Don't Just Climb, Dig
While serving as Guest Faculty for Modern Elder Academy, I recently interviewed Bruce Feiler about his new book, The Search: Finding Meaningful Work in a Post-Career World. He shared a remarkable statistic: on average, most of us go through “work takes” every 2.85 years. These work-related changes can be harmful positive, or neutral, but regardless of how they affect us, they speak o something I have talked about lately with my college-aged kids and their peers: that work (and life, for that matter) is not linear.
This shift in the patterns of our work lives was accelerated by COVID, of course, but the decline in linear work has been happening for me now. When Gen X and even more Millenials entered the workforce, their priorities shifted away from the loyal, safe approach to work valued by their (my!) parents, say, 30 or 50 years ago; and we have been moving toward a more flexible, iterative notion of work ever since. So it surprises me when I hear my friends’ children talking about the Big Three, grad school, and which career track they are pursuing before they have even set foot on a college campus. And once they get to college, it seems, the methodical march toward success continues as they create LinkedIn profiles, pursue summer internships, and embark on a competitive recruitment process to secure the ultimate post-college employment.
And this is why Feiler’s research resonated with me so profoundly. Sure, some of my twenties were spent in the executive training program at May Department Stores, which was about as traditional as it got at the time. Still, I felt like a square peg in a round hole there, so my twenties were also the years in which I quit that gig, bootstrapped my business, hunted for mentors, and wandered the world-famous miles of books at The Strand used bookstore, uncovering business hacks, life wisdom, and more in the pages of countless volumes. In other words, when I look back at my twenties, the real power of those years lies not in my specific accomplishments but in how much I learned and evolved personally and professionally.
So my advice for the twentysomethings in my life? Get curious. Explore your interests. Move around all you want. Whether it’s every 2.85 years or more extended stints in various positions, try to think of work as more linear-ish than a straight line. Be less focused on sticking with the track you departed on and give yourself space to diverge and consider other routes, figure out who you are, and discover what interests you. In short, your twenties are the ideal time to learn what you like, what excites you, and what you’re good t. When you do the thing that moves you, mastery, focus, drive, and impact come into play. In the meantime, consider this point that Feiler’s research also revealed: the people who find the most meaning and success in life “don’t climb, they dig.” So remember to look inside - not just around you at what others are doing and saying - as you head out into the work world, and embrace every detour.