As we’ve experienced the recession of 2008 – 2009 I keep reading about people who are looking at their jobs as security to get them through tough times. Sometimes I want to jump up and down and throw a bit of a fit when I read stuff like this.

I understand though. I’m feeling grateful that my husband has a nice safe job at the university here in Chapel Hill. At the same time, we’re not looking at his job as secure. Instead, we’re looking at what work we both can engage in that will sustain our interest, will challenge us to learn and grow, and that will prepare us for the changing demands of the world.

I feel like jumping up and down about job security because I know for sure that there is no such thing. But what’s the alternative?

In the IAM Next Steps lesson, we introduce the idea of the sustainable career path – not looking at a job or other external resources as the source of your security but instead two things that we think are much more powerful:

1. Knowing and trusting yourself to be the creator of your experience.
2. Being on a solid path of learning and growing so you evolve with the times.

Simple. Easy. Yes! And no.  The challenge is to shift our focus from what’s ‘out there’ which is seductive, and dramatic to what’s ‘inside’. We can’t possibly be prepared for every possible scary event. We can be resilient, adaptable, kick-butt creators of our work and life … a little bit more and more everyday.

So how about it? What would it take for your career to be sustainable? To be secure from within, inspired (rather than terrified) by what you see happening around you?