This could apply to anyone no matter where you are in your career journey. It just so happens I’m a designer and I speak from my own vantage point.
I design things to make them pretty. I design things to educate. I design things to post on Instagram to gain validation and gain new clients. I design because I love to design. It is about your ‘why’. Why am I doing this? To know your ‘why’ will help steer the ship of uncertainty into the seas of certainty. I have been afforded the luxury as a designer to literally take my time and go at the pace I want. To get to where I want to go. It’s still shaping itself but I find myself not struggling for work because I do not need work. It is, however, not lost on me that a sense of urgency means I might not reach my ‘potential’ quicker as I’m not constantly doing work. I do believe that with more work and experience you get and feedback comes better handling and understanding of your craft. Education alone won’t prepare you for actual experiences. One of the biggest learning experiences I ever had was my capstone class working for a non-profit. It taught me so many things not even remotely touched on in school. I am grateful for that experience.
Another thing more recently I will say that’s happened to teach me a lot is rejection. I’ve been experiencing a lot of rejection as a new ‘commercial’ designer as I don’t have the experience to show a potential employer. Not the education knowledge piece but the actual ‘real world’ proof that I can handle whatever. I only have the work I have done which isn’t much and my skills I can talk about and show in school projects. In the end, I realized each rejection was simply needed for me to grow in my professional skill areas and my thinking. In some cases, it clearly wasn’t the best fit for me. That’s ok. It has to be ok if it weren’t I’d stop and all this would be for nothing.
Take solace in knowing you’re allowed to change your mind over short and long periods and just roll with it…
So what does it mean to find your path? My definition is finding the path that resonates within your true self. How do we get there? First, it’s about knowing yourself. As a mid-30er here I’ve had some time to learn about myself. And the process continues, but the time that’s lapsed has given me major insights into what I want to be doing, who I want to be around while doing it, and what my future might look like. The key here is flexibility. Without it, you set yourself up to not grow because you refuse to. Take solace in knowing you’re allowed to change your mind over short and long periods and just roll with it. The hurdle that took me the longest was WHAT I wanted to be doing. Major switcher in college, serial noncommittal in relationships, hobbies, and hairstyles lol. This aspect of me almost became a personality trait. One that I almost let define me. You must gain an understanding of WHY you do the things you do. In the long run, it will help you understand your actions and what you can do to help yourself. Sometimes therapy can help get you over the threshold of self-limitations. In my case, that has been the pivot in my life. Self-care through all means. Once you have the what in place you can focus on the who. Who do I want to be around for extended periods? Do I need to be around people? Is it beneficial to have a small group to bounce ideas from? Or are larger groups more important in my goals? How do I feel about people in general? Do they invigorate me or drain me? Which types of interactions are necessary or help me with work? That could be face-to-face, telecommuting, or a hybrid of the two. I found in my years a lot of trial and error specifically working in 9-5 jobs helped me determine a lot of these questions. In my 20s I was the quintessential job hopper. All this resignation station going on right now, well I’ve been doing that all my life. In some situations, I stayed in longer than I should’ve but my motivation was always a better way of working life. A better sense of self and peace of mind in the workplace. And most importantly, the people whom I was to be around. Quitting was never popular in my day. We were still being lectured about the importance of committing to a company and ‘growing’ with them. Within my generation and time, I saw that need to commit no longer applied, and instead, around my first recession in 2007-2009, I watched a lot of people from that generation of unyielding commitment get fired from their jobs. It brought me back to this thought, “what type of people do I want to be employed by on any level from client to employer?” As I said, experience will be your best teacher. This could be viewed from teachers to coaches or service providers like dentists and doctors. Who got your attention in the right way? Who made you feel seen, valued, and heard? Who did you learn the most from? Who did you end up loathing as a teacher and why? Looking not only at the employers and coworkers but everyday interactions you have with people can be a world of difference.
Once you have a handle on the who, thinking about what your future might look like is next. Why? Because when you have a rough idea of where you’re headed no matter the disruptions of the course you will have a guiding light to the ‘end point’. Which to be honest is not really the end but more of another stop or destination on your life’s journey. This can be as simple as creating a 2, 4, or 6-year plan or only a 5 to 10-year plan. Any progress made will be made by consistency. To help with that consistency it’s important to know what it is you’re being consistent on. What is the end goal? This could be school, this could be doing projects instead of working, this could be 2-hour coding sessions each day or design challenges. Whatever it is it should be attainable, meaning you can track progress and actually have some wins along the way. This helps with motivation and those inevitable downtimes when all feels lost.
Pathfinding will look different for everyone as it should. It is a personal journey just as much as a professional journey. I hope you’ve found something I’ve said useful and I hope you can sift through the noise and find your path as a designer.
till next time. peas j.