I hope you had a good week and weekend.
I've been trying to take advantage of my transition time to pick up some new skills and in forcing myself to sit through some digital marketing classes, had an epipheny.
Yes, it's good to have a broad skillset and learning is always an advantage, but we need to remember that everyone can't be good at everything. Knowing more is good but knowing what your strengths are, and where your contribution will be most effective, is even more important. And it's critical that as we transition and have our moments of despair, we not forget this.
I was reading Megyn Kelly's book Settle More. (You can read my brief review here.) I of course knew who she was, but hadn't realized that she was a successful attorney before she gave it up and started over as a journalist. And she was not born into money so she did this all on her own merits and through lots of hard work and perseverance.
Megyn realized that her law experience could translate to her dream—journalism—and that the strengths that allowed her to excel in one would help her succeed in the second.
This is inspiring for two reasons:
- It is possible to transition mid career or higher and make a success of it and there are so many more women who have done this than we realize.
- All the time and effort you put into your original career or job are not lost, but can be useful in your new career and its success.
And this all brings us back to spending the mental time in figuring out what our strengths are and what we really want in our new career.
More food for thought for next week's discussion and I look forward to seeing you all there.
Until next time.
