If you’ve ever learned a sport with the help of a coach, or pursued a hobby under the guidance of a teacher, you know how accelerated your progress can be. Sometimes, you need an external perspective – someone to observe you and point out where you might be falling short or suggest areas of improvement. This is hard to discern by oneself since we’re often too engrossed in the activity. Consider show business, where artists have agents lining up auditions. These agents identify the best fit for your talent while you focus on honing your skills. If you have parents or older siblings in the same profession, you likely receive advice on navigating the job landscape and discerning the best fit. But many people lack this guidance and must navigate on their own.
I am seeing people who are only emphasizing on working hard at their job. They put in immense effort and long hours, but they don’t actively play the part of thinking meta about their own career. They don’t explore other growth opportunities or identify skills that need development to achieve their career aspirations. In our careers, we are both the player and the coach. And it’s the latter role we aren’t performing well at. The main reason for this is having the belief that hard work is enough. It’s the sole requirement. That if you worked diligently, everything else will fall into place. You would get better opportunities, better pay, promotions, etc. But this is not the case
I urge you to start viewing yourself as your own career manager. Take a step back and determine what’s best for your “client” (which is you) based on their skills, interests, values, and limitations. As your personal career coach, you’ll need to fulfill several roles at various stages of your life:
It’s akin to a price-discovery dilemma. It’s up to you to discern your worth. No one will dictate what’s best for you or hand it over without effort. You must determine that for yourself.