Seek Newness and Change?

Jamaica, 1990.

I love and need newness and change.  That may be why I've had over 40 different roles in my life.  I enjoy fresh challenges and mastering new skills, but when I have to do the same thing over and over I grow bored and get ready to move on.  So I always started my newest job with enthusiasm, but before long would be updating my resume and polishing my cover letter.

Which is why it is a real accomplishment that I have been running Core Allies, LLC for over ten years now, and have no plans or inclinations to do anything else.  Why the transformation in my need for change?  Have I finally outgrown my need for constant change?  Or was my continual job shifting simply a reflection of flaws in my previous jobs, and now that I have found the perfect job, I am happy without change?

In fact, I still need variation as much as ever, and running Core Allies, LLC provides no more inherent change than any other job I have held.  What is new is that I am now consciously aware of my need for creativity and newness, and I actively ensure I have innovation in my life and my work.

"If you need change, actively seek it out in your life and your work."

Several years ago, around the same time I started Core Allies, LLC, I realized that a major reason I constantly switched jobs was this need for new challenges and novel experiences, and decided to find a way to have them without changing jobs.  Part of my realization was that the change didn't all have to come at work; changes in the rest of my life could also satisfy my need for variation.  In the last few years I met my future husband, got married, and had our first child, all of which were certainly major changes in my life.

But it was also important to keep my work fresh with new challenges.  So while my main work at Core Allies, LLC of positioning people for success has remained the same, I have tried to add at least two new facets to my business every year.  I started by working with individual private clients, and then expanded to also work with students at major business schools.  In my desire to understand the unconscious repetitive patterns of clients, I embarked on a doctorate in psychoanalysis.  To reach more people, I started a blog, and last year I began giving speeches to various organizations.  Recently, I started working with small groups in addition to individuals.  And now I am creating a podcast version of this blog.

All these changes enhance my main business, and provide enough additional challenges that they satisfy my need for newness without finding a new job.  As long as I keep finding imaginative ways to challenge myself in my life and my career, I may never need to find a new job again.  And if you also thrive on change, you should seek it out in your own job, by tackling innovative projects or finding original and better ways to do your job.

On the other hand, you may be like my husband, who is resistant to change and typically stays at the same job for many years.  If you are like him, you will have no need to seek out change – you will probably encounter more change in work than you want, without looking for more.

Everyone gets their job satisfaction in different ways, and in some future posts, I will examine other ways to improve your current situation.