5 Natural Cycles of A Career
I was listening to a Podcast that made me pause and reflect on the different cycles in a person’s career and in life generally. It gave me pause as I consider and reflect on my own career life cycle.
It mentioned that, it’s natural to want to continuously push yourself to be better. As doctors we are competitive by nature. We are always striving to be the best. As business owners we aim to make in profits more than we did the previous year, to have a larger practice than the next person, etc. But, the podcaster urged listeners to slow down and realize that life happens in cycles and to often times pause and appreciate those cycles. Our relationships with each other whether friends or spouses change over time as we change and grow; the first date will be very different from the twenty first date, the first year of marriage will be different from the fifth year and so on. If we are speaking in terms of our businesses and practices, one that has been open for 6 months is going to be different from one that has been open for 6 years and 16 years.
Here are the cycles, with the analogy of an actor’s career:
Who is this Brad Pitt? - This is when you are young and just starting out in your career. You are trying to build a following/reputation or trying to get patients to trust you, but they don’t know you yet.
Get me Brad Pitt - You build a following or a patient base and become very successful.
Get me someone like Brad Pitt - You become even more successful, but people now aren’t able to afford you.
Get me a Young Brad Pitt - You are still very successful but you’ve gotten older and are being replaced by younger talent.
Who’s Brad Pitt? - Another generation has come about and you are no longer the household name. Someone else has taken your place.
Everything has a natural life cycle. We do not have to follow and worship the ones who push so hard, we can slow down and enjoy each cycle as we go through it. In practice, enjoy the quiet times and work on systems instead of growth . Seek Peace, not the rush.