Day 4: Moving Forward Means Renegotiating Your Relationship with Work

Advice from Sanyin Siang, Sanyin Siang & Associates

Photo by Pavel Danilyuk from Pexels

Sanyin Siang, Sanyin Siang & Associates

We’ve gone through a year of renegotiating our relationship with work. Whether you’re feeling stuck, want to shift gears, or want to get ahead, here are three ways to move forward. 

1) Explore a multi-platform career. In today’s work environment, making the biggest difference isn’t about any single platform; it’s about multiple platforms, scaffolded over time. Every four years, I dive into learning a new platform that can build on existing ones. While I’ve kept the same job, I’ve grown by integrating multiple platforms (e.g. writing, speaking, advising) to add even more value to the stakeholders I serve. Having a portfolio career also enables you to maintain perspective and diversify your personal risk.

2) Invite others to invest in your success. If you take joy in helping others, don’t rob another of the opportunity to help you. As you grow and advance, identify a few individuals you admire—who may have expertise in areas where you aspire to improve. Be vulnerable, and ask for advice. 

3) Treat your career like a science experiment. We don’t become experts at something by repeating the same process. Rather, the little tweaks we make to each iteration are what enable us to become more effective. Test by making small, consistent changes to your work, and build on the new data you receive. 

In the upcoming year, no matter how you’re feeling about your work, there’s always room to make the “just okay” parts of your job good—and the good stuff even better!

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Deb’s Note: A career is so much more than a job. Sanyin’s advice to think more expansively can help you see that work can—and should—be well beyond your job description and title. Building a great career means learning and iterating every day. Take 2022 as a time to expand your thinking about the definition of your job, and explore beyond those artificial boundaries. 

See full list of posts for this series here.