Although, I can’t get enough of pics of The Rock, this one spoke to me on another level–transition as a theme. Because of the changes in the American economic environment in the past decade, more Gen-Xers are realizing the need to reinvent. Most of us have thrown away the notion that if you keep your head down and work hard for 30+ years, you’ll get a gold watch and retire. Careers don’t work that way.
It’s amazing now how much reinvention and career transition is now a part of our everyday lexicon. It’s even becoming a go-to theme in more television shows and movies.
I’ve recently discovered, and fallen in love with, the TV show Younger. The pervasive themes with this show–adapted from the book of the same name by Pamela Redmond Satran–are career transition and reinvention (using lying as a tool, but that’s the entertaining part). It exemplifies exactly what I’m going through as a worker bee, and more importantly as a writer.
Writers, remember the days when you went from internship to copy desk to big-time writer/editor/executive? Those days are replaced by blogger and Twitter(tm) expert to featured writer or freelancer to (if you’re lucky) TV Commentator/YouTube(tm) sensation. While this may be an exaggeration, in many careers, the need to do things like self-marketing, creating an online following, and branding are paramount to success. Hard work and routine aren’t enough to have a sustainable career.
This is the climate in which we live. So never feel like you’re the only one dealing with career transition or job loss. As Dwayne Johnson says, “At one time or another, we’ll all play the transition game.”
[Ballers photo and quote credit: Dwayne The Rock Johnson Facebook(r) page]
[Younger photo credit: Younger Facebook(r) page]