I have been unsettled in my career for a while and I have been making plans to re-align my skills to get back to living the kind of life I choose to live. It’s easy to want to just stick to what you feel you know, but thats never been me, I always want to challenge myself, learn new things and grow, caring more for the love of the work I do than the salary I earn, despite being piss poor and in a world of hurt financially. So I was surprised to find a really great comic about life, that helped me understand my life cycles.
Basically it talks to the idea that we have several lives, not one and it is based on the theory that it takes 7 years to master something.
View the full length comic
So for me my lives went something like this …
Self Discovery: 18 – 25
I dropped out of college, tried many different jobs, travelled the world, partied hard and eventually decided what it was I wanted to do with my life.
25 – 32
I started designing club flyers, then websites, became a multimedia designer, interactive designer and every other name you can think of to describe what turned out to be an interesting life working under the handle Digiguru, where I got to collaborate with and design for a whole variety of clients/brands across the globe.
32 – 39
I wanted to use my skills to lead others as a creative director at some of the top local agencies including Ogilvy, M&C Saatchi Abel and Black River FC, expanding my skills into to creative strategy, ideation and integrated campaigns.
39 – 46
I’m onto my next life, which is looking to return to a more niche discipline, focussed on user-centered design, hopefully as a product and user interface design director. The jury is still out on the title, but I’m excited to get back to a more hybrid role as designer/leader.
What are you going to do when you die?