Thinking Radically About Your Career vs. The Conservative Social Norms

Last Night during a Chick-Tech Round Table event, I advised women to start thinking "Radically" about their professional careers vs. the "Conservative Social Norms" and this morning, I have tons of "Thank you emails" pouring in.

So, what in the world does Radical Thinking mean?

Thinking that re-imagines & aligns our visions, goals and purposes with who we are to the core; derived from a root origin, or fundamental source. 

When I was in 6th grade, I was given a world history project by my teacher, Mrs. McQueen, who instructed our class to provide a chapter report on World History worth our entire semester grade.

We were given an entire weekend to complete this task, with expectations to present our projects to fellow students, that following Monday. While many of my 6th-grade counter parts were thinking of how many pages their report should be, or what cardboard cut-outs they could add-in for extra credit, I was thinking about building a full '60-Minutes Style' skit where I'd be a "World Traveled Historian" being interviewed by Barbara Walters. I'd expound deeply upon my World History findings, as it related to our chapter and deliver my content and research during my "make-believe" interview.

In a nut shell, I'd combined my world history report project with my love for creative arts and theater to create an out of the box experience. Of course, I was totally unaware at that time, this would become my first introduction to "Radical Thinking," yet far from my last. 

So there I was, at 12-years old, living in sunny California, preparing to execute my "radical" idea by creating a make shift interview set, pre-recorded taped interview questions, and of course, my beloved dolls as my interviewers.

Needless to say, my report not only got an A+, yet went on to become the most storied world history project ever - going down in school history as one to be remembered.

Funny enough, my teacher was so impressed, that she had me perform my skit over and over that year for teachers and other school officials alike.

I only recount this memory because this was the epitome of my radical thinking at an early age and although radical thinking, is thinking that re-imagines and aligns our visions, goals and purposes with who we are, we're not always inclined or encouraged to do so within in our careers. Instead, we might do what others advise us to do, what we're capable of, or what's expected of us.

That's what made last night so exhilarating! During a Chick-Tech Round Table, I was tasked with speaking to my group about their Dream Jobs. How to determine it, go after it and get it.

At the beginning of our discussion, many of the women at my table begin to give me the "social norm" answer. "I want to be a data scientist, computer engineer and developer." Not bad at all and while all of this is great in theory, this doesn't get to the heart of an area of passion and rather instead, this was a skill based response. Yet, the very notion of a "Dream Job" occurs when... WHO YOU ARE, WHAT YOU LOVE and WHAT YOU DO, start dating. The operative word in this equation is "DREAM", yet many professionals don't bring their dreams to the table.

Either because they aren't allowed, aren't sure how it applies, or have lost touch with their dreams altogether. Therefore, I believe the notion of "radical thinking" begins with what you love, at the core.

Using this method, several of the women began to loosen up and share their "dreams" with me and the answers begin to wildly evolve and expand. "Pets, Fashion, Food, Music, Animation, Video Games, etc." 

This was only the beginning, from there, it was time to get them to re-imagine a career in technology combined with the things they actually loved.

As you can probably imagine, this moment was epic, as many of the women had not considered this before, since many tend to separate their dreams from their work.

Yet, when given permission to think radically and get back in touch with what they loved, they were ignited with a new found purpose.

Note: Having a new found purpose, doesn't automatically equal a new found career. Sometimes it's as simple as a new mission, a new project and a new focus within an existing career.

Did you know:

1. You will be more fulfilled in life when your career is rewarding and purposeful?
2. Employers want to hire more people who love what they do?
3. Discovering your "dream career" may not equal changing your job, it might mean changing your internal career path?
4. There are likely already established initiatives around those things that you love?
5. People who are passionate and have purpose in their professions are 3 times more likely to remain employed longer?

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