How to Use Career Seasons to Support Your Ideal Life

If you’re like me, you grew up with a framework for life that was centered around career milestones: graduate from school, land a stable job, climb the career ladder, and eventually retire. 

We were taught to set one big career goal and relentlessly pursue it, often ignoring how our aspirations ebb and flow over the years.

But what if, instead of planning your life around one career goal, you reverse-engineered your career choices based on your life priorities?

Imagine prioritizing what truly matters to you—be it family, travel, creative pursuits, or personal growth—and making career decisions that align with those values. 

With the rise of portfolio careers and side hustles, the one-track career timeline is quickly becoming as retro as the peplum tops I wore to my first internship. The future of work is diverse and multi-dimensional, with room to flex your career criteria to better suit your needs as they change from life stage to life stage.

Here’s how I’ve used a “seasons” approach to my career trajectory that helped me cultivate the life experiences I really wanted.

*You’ll see in my examples below that I’ve never had children or elderly parents to support, nor a serious partner’s needs to factor in (this can be seen as both a blessing and something I’ve missed out on, but that’s a subject for another issue).