Most of us spend the majority of our days doing work-related activities. Well, time is the most valuable source & if you are unhappy at work, where you spend more than 50% of your time, then it will be very difficult to find career fulfillment & freedom in life.
Unfortunately, most of us do not know how to create careers that bring us wealth & happiness. Well, that’s because of how we have been taught to think about our careers through the lens of ‘The Ladder Model’, wherein you start on one ring, on one track, & keep on climbing until retirement. However, this model has long gone through its expiration date.
Well, there’s an effective way to construct a career, as disruptions of all types increase the level of uncertainty most of us face. The new model is known as the ‘mosaic career’ & today we will be discussing how this model can help you achieve career fulfillment & freedom.
Career fulfillment & freedom are vital to achieving big in life. So, if you decide to give up the ladder model, a mosaic career model is what you must go for!
Let us first see why the ladder model isn’t working presently.
Why To Give Up The Ladder Model?
The ladder model isn’t working nowadays in workplaces. Here’s why!
1. The Ladder Is Gone
There are no more one-track careers. Gone are the days when we could expect to enter one company & climb a singular ladder till retirement. The average number of expected jobs in a lifetime has increased from one to twelve to twenty. Today, people switch jobs & move where they find growth & development.
2. A Job Is No Longer A Job
We all know that the freelancing trend has been increasing immensely since the last decade. For instance, since 2010, in Europe, more than half of the new jobs created have been either contract work or freelancing. In addition, it is expected that over 40% of the economy in the US will be made up of freelancers or contractual workers.
3. People Aren’t Satisfied At Work
Today, many people are disengaged at the workplace due to some reason or another. This has been consistent since the early 2000s. Hence, the ladder model leads most people to one destination, i.e., unfulfillment.
So, what is a mosaic career & how do we build it? Well, mosaic career in career fulfillment & freedom is deeply rooted in the framework of Mindset, Collaboration, & Education.
Let us discuss them in detail!
Mindset
#Sniper v/s Scientist
Creating a fulfilling career requires a shift in thinking about our professional lives from the point of view of a ‘Sniper’ to a ‘Scientist’.
Most of us are taught that we need to find an apt career or passion & a perfect company. However, if we aren’t successful in locating it, we have failed miserably!
But for implementing a mosaic career, we have to think scientists. For instance, you are going on an expedition to the South Pole. You are talented and have a lot of research funding. In addition, you have all the equipment you need. You may even have hypotheses about what you will discover once you get down there. However, once you are there, you are simply observing what happens. There isn’t any right or wrong, just information.
When we extrapolate this idea to create career fulfillment & freedom, we no longer need to select one right thing. We set out on a path, learn, & move on.
#Or v/s And
The old model of thinking implies that most of us have sought one type of job that can fulfill any of our professional desires, i.e., primarily a paycheck.
On the contrary, the mosaic career model is a platform on which we can develop different kinds of activities simultaneously to fulfill a significant purpose.
Education
#Skills v/s Values
One of the prominent reasons many people are unhappy at work is that they base their jobs on the skills they have & how they can logically use those skills in the market. This is the ladder model thinking.
Well, career fulfillment & freedom is borne out of taking a few steps back & asking ourselves how we wish to utilize our lives, what kind of impact we want to create in the world, & how we wish to contribute to society. By answering these simple questions, we develop a core set of values upon which we build our professional paths & against which we measure every opportunity that we create. Thus, you must ask yourself i.e., ‘Is this opportunity helping me fulfill only one or two of my values, or am I able to realize nine out of ten values?’
#Job Search v/s Entrepreneurship
Crafting a mosaic career, whether we do it inside a traditional company or become entrepreneurs, requires that we not only figure out how to get a job but also understand the tenets of entrepreneurship. This point is specifically vital for those who choose to create side hustles alongside conventional careers or completely step into freelancing.
Also Read: Career Development Plan
Collaboration
#Networking v/s Community Building
Collaboration via community building is the key to achieving career fulfillment & freedom. We all know that ‘proximity is power’ & the key to leveraging proximity is in understanding that relationships are not just transactional. They aren’t just rooted in the antiquated exchange of business cards to determine what you can get from someone else.
Collaboration has now moved from networking to community building, where you seek to comprehend what is happening in someone’s world, what challenges they are facing, & how you can help them by solving those challenges.
Mosaic careers result in flexibility, career fulfillment, & freedom, along with the ability to create a significant impact in the world. Successfully building them simply requires you to shift your focus from what you can do to the kind of impact you wish to create in the world.
Wrapping up!
Career fulfillment & freedom are the foundational pillars upon which a successful professional journey depends.
Fulfillment is the compass which guides us, urging us to seek purpose & satisfaction in our work, driving us to excel, & make a positive impact. It’s the key to waking up with enthusiasm & purpose each day.
On the other hand, freedom is the reward of our efforts – the autonomy to select our paths, make decisions, & live life on our own terms. Together, they create a synergy that transforms work into a source of joy, enabling us to navigate our careers with passion, conviction, & a sense of endless possibility.
Lastly, if you actually want career fulfillment & freedom, book a free student counseling session on our website. RILCA’s expert counselors will readily get in touch with you to solve your concerns regarding your career.
Also Read: Significance Of Career Clarity
