More than One Career?

Question: Can you pursue more than one career path at one time?

Last night, I had supper with a friend, who wanted me to meet her daughter.
It seems that her daughter has several career paths from which to choose -- fashion designer, singer and actress. She asked me which one I thought she ought to pursue. I told her to focus on the one for which she had the greatest passion. She said she liked that answer.

But, the truth is, she can try to pursue all of them simultaneously. Today I received an email from a friend who has invited me to her art opening. She paints and she makes jewelry, but she is also a business coach.

Since when do you need to have one, all-encompassing career? You don't.

As a career coach, I have often heard my clients say that they wish they knew what they wanted to do from a young age, that they envied people who knew from the time they were 5 that they wanted to be a doctor, or a lawyer, or a teacher, or whatever. It would be easier, they said. These clients told me that they had multiple interests, and were often told by others that they were "all over the place."

So, where did we get the idea that we had to pick just one? That's what conventional wisdom says. But, it's not true any more. Here are some examples:

Oprah - she is a talk show host, an actress, a TV show producer, magazine founder and owner

Rachel Ray - television personality, author, chef

Serena Williams - tennis player & fashion designer

Of course, these are just 3 examples of highly-publicized celebrities. What they share is their ability to leverage a brand -- their own brand.

So, my question is: why can't the rest of us have a brand in the world and work on activities that reflect and support our own brand? We can.

I have helped hundreds of clients find ways to pursue more than one interest -- and to make money from each. Stay tuned...

Debunking Myths About Being Out of Work...

Yesterday, as I was running out of the Marriott Hotel to catch my plane, I picked up a F*R*E*E* copy of USA Today.

On the front page of the business section, I saw this headline: Being unemployed 6 months or more grinds on you --

Well, of course it does. It's very disheartening to look and look and look and not be able to find a job. It can be debilitating to the self-esteem and devastating to finances.

So, it certainly doesn't help when one runs into a kind of conventional wisdom that worsens the situation. Consider this quote from the article...

"The rub: the longer someone is out of work, the more likely he or she will continue to be. Skills erode: gaps on resumes widen."

Rubbish. Once you have developed a skill, you'll always have it. Sure, you may get rusty over time if you don't use the skill, but it will always be a part of you and you can always get it back. It's like riding a bike. You'll never forget how. So, please don't buy into the "belief" that if you are out of work and not using a particular skill, it will "erode."

This is especially true for stay-at-home moms. Just because you haven't used a skill in 10 years doesn't mean that it's gone. Look at Meryl Streep. How long was she away from the screen when she was raising her children? 10 years? More? And, when she came back to film, had her skill diminished? No. She is just as fabulous today in "Julie and Julia" as she was in "Sophie's Choice." No diminishment of her acting skill.

So, let's us -- you and me -- just dismiss that misplaced conventional wisdom that if you don't use a skill, it will erode. I call such "accepted wisdom" nothing more than "educated myths," which operate as "unexamined beliefs" with most people accepting them as true on face value. Please don't do that to yourself. It's hard enough to keep your spirits up when you are looking for a job. Please don't accept "educated myths" for yourself. You have the power to examine the underlying assumptions and to dismiss them. Think for yourself.