A few days ago I completed my first year as a freelance. After 35 like an employer, I can say with gratitude that I work for myself from what I feel and am.
In a process of reflection and decisions from 2013, I've gotten closer and closer to my purpose, trying not to lose too much on the way.
Awareness and ownership of our professional career is a non-delegable responsibility, like so many important things in life.
When I shared my reflections on professional change with friends and colleagues, I saw it from many points of view.. Algunas mencionaban el “it's cold out there”, They spoke to me of relentless schedules and the uncertainty of not having a fixed income …
From my limited experience I think “how cold it is outside” (freezing temperatures this past year) is fought with the heat that comes from within. Being clear about what we want to be when we grow up and working towards it varies our point of reference. The answer is usually in us and what it is in our hands to do.
As for the schedules they have not varied much in my case. The time spent daily in what I am professionally passionate about is excessive and I am not an example to follow. Dedicating ourselves to what we like is a privilege that we must also earn. Share on X.
In times of remote work for knowledge workers the clock tends to blur. It is necessary in part to free oneself from the pressure of effectiveness, having more awareness, method and respect, for oneself and for those around us (family, friends, customers!).
Many of my generation also have the value of the effort by inheritance and belief. Talent needs, in my opinion, less hours, more focused and dedicated to what is important at all times with the end goal always in mind. The effort on a focused talent is a plus Share on X
Regarding the uncertainty and having worked all my life in multinationals, I never assumed I had anything insured. Every Monday begins a week in which to earn the salary and respect of your collaborators and clients (internal or external) for the value you bring. Having lived as a child the small business environment has always oriented me towards responsibility and what I can contribute more than what I can expect or claim..
Feel employed ?
I think the time to feel employed is gradually dying out. Although the word still serves me to use ourselves thoroughly in being ourselves and grow in what we think is or will be necessary, what we have a value proposition with which we can contribute.
We all have more talent than we usually recognize ourselves. Explore it, cultivating it and fertilizing it with motivation prevents us from being diluted in jobs that do not satisfy us at all, trapped by our bills.
The globalization, digital transformation or a pandemic, accelerate the changes that push us all to think, decide and act.
Knowing ourselves better and guiding ourselves to grow in what will be increasingly necessary is the challenge Share on XI don't think about robots or distant futures, I think of opportunities (there are always them for those who know how to see them) , on purpose, at work and in the personal and professional fulfillment that usually precedes good results.
The year the world stopped is the year that many of us have not stopped and the more I look around me the more I believe that action oriented, connected to a purpose and the vocation to serve is usually a great bet to combat the cold.