4 Lessons from a 30 Year Career in 5 minutes

Hello, I’m Chuck, I’ve spent 30 years making mistakes and learning from those mistakes, and I finally figured out what truly matters in a career. Let’s get started!

Buckle up, because I’m sharing the 4 lessons I wish I knew when I started my career.

Lesson 1

I’ve worked with some truly amazing people over the past 30 years. Some of them are even my closest friends today. But there’s always that one, or maybe two, individuals who seem to make things a little…challenging.

Now, “challenging” comes in many forms. Maybe it’s someone who’s constantly negative, always complaining, or bringing down the team’s morale. Maybe it’s someone who’s overly critical, micromanaging, or just plain disrespectful…

The lesson I learned was, unfortunately, challenging people work at every company and learning how to work with them is a critical skill, for success. Much of the time these interactions are actually an opportunity, because if someone triggers you there might be a space to explore and you could end up strengthening your character.

Lesson 2

At some point something will break. For example, if there is a bug in the software or a project not going well. Before pointing fingers, it’s always a good idea to take a step back and double check your work. Most of the time, it isn’t that hard. I know you can do it… Ask yourself, “Am I sure this isn’t my fault?” This one question has saved me countless time.

And, remember, nobody’s perfect, we all make mistakes.

The lesson I learned was always double check you work before looking for fault in someone else.

Lesson 3

A generation ago, most people had one, maybe, two jobs their entire career. That isn’t the case any more. The average person will have 5 to 7 jobs in their lifetime. Be proactive about your career and not fear exploring new and better opportunities.

Companies are focused on their bottom line and lay people off when they need to cut costs – it’s business, they don’t care about loyalty, for some this might be a hard pill to swallow, but being loyal only benefits the company.

Be ok with taking a new job that is a better fit and might even pay better. Just remember to leave on good terms – burning bridges might feel good in the moment, but it could hurt you in the long-run.

The lesson I learned was – It’s ok to explore greener pastures and leave old ones behind.

Lesson 4

It’s easy to get caught up in work, I’ve done it myself.

When I was dating my wife, on our second date, the office called me in because they needed my help with a software deployment. Out of loyalty, I brought my future wife to the office with me…

I’ve also worked my share of overtime, I had the belief I would be seen as a “valuable” employee.

At one of my jobs I worked 70 hours a week for 6 weeks.

I later learned that overtime is a sign of poor management. If you’re constantly working overtime, something needs to change – either your workload, the deadlines, or maybe you need to switch companies.

Stoic author, Ryan Holiday put it eloquently when he wrote, and I’m paraphrasing his words: “When the dust settles, nobody will remember the extra effort you put into the project, but your kid will remember you not being there.”

The lesson I learned was family and your personal life is always more important than work.