When I worked at the railway company, I was challenged. I was doing some complicated analyses, problem solving, and implementation. I hadn’t sought out the railway. It was an opportunity that presented itself, and I took it. I was happy to have a job, but I was also happy to explore what it was all about.
On the traditional path
On paper, I was successful. I graduated university with an engineering degree. I got a job as a project engineer. I got promotions as I became more proficient in structural and transportation engineering technical skills. I was moving up the traditional, expected ladder.
Signs that it might not be the path for me
However, I was starting to feel stuck. I wanted to strive for another role, but I couldn’t define what it might be, what department it might be, what project it might be. I regularly scanned the internal postings for openings, and nothing was jumping out.
I also started to noticed that others around me were really excited about trains. No amount of ‘fake it til you make it’ was going to instill that kind of passion in me. That’s when I asked myself – what do I get excited about as much as these guys get excited about trains?
Glimmers of what an alternative path could be
Pretty quickly I knew my answer was sports facilities. I was playing sports, teaching, coaching, and serving on volunteer boards. If I could do analyses, problem solving, and implementation for sports facilities, I would have a new level of energy for work.
I went looking for just that. And when I found it, I left the railway. I found it by connecting with people, sharing what I wanted to do and asking advice on who to talk to, until I met people who were looking for someone like me. They were looking for talent, and didn’t have a job opening posted.
Changing paths felt risky
Leaving the career path I was on, felt like a risk. If success is defined as reaching higher rungs of the ladder, then what did it mean to choose to start at the bottom again?
But staying felt like a risk too. Ironically, in a massive company that has ongoing job openings and a huge range of roles and responsibilities, unlike many of my other colleagues, I personally felt limited. Going to a small company, for me, felt like more opportunities were ahead.
Signs that the new path was a better fit for me
I was still an analyst. I was still doing implementation. But the shift from trains to sports facilities gave me a deeper sense of alignment. I didn’t ever have to fake interest in climbing walls, ice rinks, or whirlpools.
I had been blindly following a ‘good, respectable’ career path. But once I challenged myself to articulate my own goal and path for success, my work felt more meaningful and fulfilling. I felt a coherence with my skills and my impact.
Practice your own internal measures of success
So here’s an exercise to strengthen your coherence muscle:
- Today: Identify something that you are actively trying to achieve. (Ex. getting a certification; running a marathon)
- Then: Assess if you’re evaluating your success with an external measure that someone else set, or an internal measure that you set. Develop at least one other internal measure that resonates with you. (Ex. number of high fives; time with a friend; connections with new people)
- Every day this week: Identify ways that you have made progress based on the internal measures, and notice if they have also help progress the external measures.
- At the end of the week: Reflect on what was easy and what was hard, and how you feel about fulfilling your goal
