WARNING: The “hard words,” I write in this piece are for me, more than to anyone else.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been meaning to write about the future of work.
I read a book called 21 Lessons For The 21 Century, by Yuval Noah Harari. In that book, he explains that the automation of work that we’ve been seeing with the development of technology will only worsen in the future.
He’s not talking only about self-driven cars, but about robot surgeons and bankers. And probably other “terrible scenarios”.
According to Harari, the jobs in the public system are not that stable either. In fact, very few jobs will be considered stable in the future, if any.
The tech-employees seem to be in a slight advantage. But, with the everchanging improvement of technology, they will be forced to update themselves much more frequently.
Another thing he mentions is probable to happen is the complete change in careers, from time to time. A path for life? More like a path for 5-10 years. Then a complete shift.
Imagine, from lawyer to programmer. From programmer to driver. From driver to a profession that doesn’t even exist yet. Every seven years or so, until the rest of your life. Sounds harsh.
Although I did not like that book, and it appears that some of the things written are unlikely to happen in this era, we cannot deny: the world is changing. Very fast.
So, to my fellow writers and musicians, to the artists, to the entrepreneurs, to those with a clear vision for themselves…To all hustlers out there, such as myself, who are trying to grab their piece of the pie and who still have some stamina and courage to keep going even if it looks hard…
Here are some tips on how to approach this upcoming world:
* Go for what you love
If robots are going to replace us, we might as well risk it, don’t you think? This is harder for some than to others, but today more than ever it is the time to take to the next level and. Why invest time (our biggest asset) in something that will be gone tomorrow?
Going for what you love means that you have to LOVE it. Chances are that if you haven’t done it already it’s because it’s a hard road to walk. The “love” road is usually harder and if the sentiment isn’t real you might not last very long.
* Develop new soft skills
The other day I was in the supermarket and the attendant was a bit rude to me. I thought to myself: “soon, machines might be doing his job and he is losing a great opportunity to improve his attending soft skills.” This also applies to me, of course. I often lose these opportunities to get better.
The one I’ve been working on, at the moment, is consistency as I said last year. Also, I’ve noticed it is a good idea to improve my endurance to go through the hardships. But there are many other things I could improve, such as my patience, my debating/persuasion skills, my self-marketing… The list is big.
* Put in the time
I’ve talked about it in this article about the process: https://anazarb.com/it-takes-time-a-short-commentary/
* Make a deadline and have the discipline
This is highly useful if you’re a creative being. As creative beings, we tend to “rely” on our creativity and we often forget pragmatically. Yes, not every piece of painting is for selling, but if you want to make painting your living you got to find a way to make money with it. That usually comes by selling or exposing your work. If there’s no work to sell or expose, what now?
Last, but not least,
* Have a plan and stick to it, patiently
I got to say, this is the hardest for me. That’s why I’m working on my consistency and endurance. A good plan may look like shit when others seem to be way ahead of you. Social media contributes to that feeling. The world itself contributes to that feeling.
Sometimes an opportunity that has nothing to do with what you want arises and takes you out of your route and you spend some time on this new route for a while only to realize it is taking you nowhere. Have a plan and stick to it. Hard work rarely fails on people.
Without doubts, there is more to this. It is a topic very recurrent in my conversations in my mind and I will, most likely, be talking about in the future, so stay tuned.
For now, what do you think about the professional world of today? Do you have some other tips to share? Let me know, I’m truly interested.
Your friend,
Ana.
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