Career Focus: Lifestyle over Position

Many of us spend a lot of time and energy thinking about our careers and taking on different jobs in the search for meaningful employment, which for people in their twenties is defined as work which provides them with:

1) A connection to the people and the world they serve;
2) A connection to their internal values and passions; and
3) Work which both challenges and engages them (Source: 'How to Make Money and Change the World')

For me, an even simpler equation for 'meaning employment' is doing what you like to do (i.e. skills) for something you believe in (i.e. values).  Connect the skills you enjoy using (e.g. public speaking, creative writing, painting, etc.), and are consequently good at, to a cause, movement, or system that you believe in (e.g. helping children with disabilities, building a sustainable society, saving wildlife, etc.), and you've got it made. Many of us have one side of the equation or the other, but it is rare (though worth pursuing!) to have both.

Much of the conversation about careers/jobs/the future seems to focus on the position: what organization do you want to work for? what positions are they hiring for? who are the leaders in your field and what positions do they hold? In a world that canonizes experts, it can be difficult for a generalist to come up a list of specific positions within specific organizations to apply for.

So, rather than starting with trying to nail down specific positions you may be interested in, why not focus on the type of lifestyle you want to live and let the potential positions stem from that?  Paint the broad strokes of how you see yourself living in the future.  For example, perhaps you see yourself living in different parts of the world throughout the year or working three days a week and spending the other days hiking in the Alps (it helps if you live close by), or organizing expeditions with your children and friends to volunteer in different parts of the world once a year.  In short, rather than focusing on where you want to work, think also about how you want to live.


There are many good ways to start the process: keep a weekly journal with thoughts about the lifestyle you are living and what you would change, collect pictures or images symbolic of the type of lifestyle you want to create for yourself, and meet and surround yourself with people living the type of life you think you may want.

Of course at some point it will be necessary to zoom in on a specific position you will go for, whether it is CEO of your own start-up or a computer programmer for a large firm, but the point is not to focus on position to the exclusion of lifestyle.

Moments in Nature

Whether travelling or at home, often my favourite moments (and those that are most memorable) are spent in nature.  Nature in this sense does not necessarily refer to the expansive, rugged, wild areas unspoiled by humans that few have seen except in a National Geographic magazine - in part because such true wilderness is increasingly rare: according to one study, 83% of the planet's ice-free land surface is now influenced by humans in some way or another.  However, most of us are able to immerse ourselves under a tree canopy or beside a lake within a relatively short distance from where we live, and we should do this, as often as possible.

Homo Sapiens have done an excellent job of  building ourselves out and away from nature, almost as if we exist in our own separate sphere where we can operate independently of the natural world.  Writer Richard Louv coined the term 'nature-deficit disorder' in a 2005 book to describe the decoupling between humans and our natural habitat.  Earlier this year, Timothy Egan wrote about this concept for the New York Times, listing the various health complications in our modern society that have been linked to a lack of exercise and time outside and explaining:

...there is an obvious solution — just outside the window. For most of human history, people chased things or were chased themselves. They turned dirt over and planted seeds and saplings. They took in Vitamin D from the sun, and learned to tell a crow from a raven (ravens are larger; crows have a more nasal call; so say the birders). And then, in less than a generation’s time, millions of people completely decoupled themselves from nature.   

I won't go into the myriad health issues that plague us as a result of this withdrawal from the natural world, but I do encourage everyone to seek out your own special moments in nature so that you can feel the connection to a bigger system.  Whether you are on a holiday or at home in the back garden, taking this time can be energizing, revitalizing, or calming...really whatever you need it to be to help find balance in an otherwise hectic world.

Here are a few pictures that remind me of the importance of these moments from recent travels:

Arches National Park, Utah, U.S.A.

Kayaking in Clayoquot Sound, Vancouver Island, B.C.

Camping under the moonlight in Lac du Possion Blanc, Quebec

Caterpillar close-up in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, U.S.A.

Sources:

• Lynas, Mark. 2011.  'The God Species: Saving the Planet in the Age of Humans'. The National Geographic Society, Washington, DC.
• Egan, Timothy. 2012. 'Nature Deficit Disorder'. New York Times Online (http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/nature-deficit-disorder/)
• Louv, Richard. 2005. "Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder". Algonquin Books.