“Take control of your professional life with a mindset that looks forward to Mondays.”
Christi McAdams, CCC Chairman
Unfortunately, most people look forward to Fridays and dread Mondays. What that means is most people don’t love their careers. With the evolution of the internet, online learning, and the ability to connect with almost anyone virtually, there is no reason why people shouldn’t be making a living doing what they love. While this wasn’t the mindset of years past, it needs to become the status quo.
We, as a society, need to transform our mindset. I will use this forum each Monday to provide words of inspiration that hopefully will leave you looking forward to Mondays. Words that remind you that you are on a path to building a career you are passionate about, and you can hardly wait to get back to.
Often that starts with just doing the absolute best at what you are currently doing with a goal and plan in mind of where you want to end up.
Today is Labor Day in the United States. Here is some history of this national holiday:
- Working conditions in the United States were often terrible up until the late 1800s. Men, women, and even children would work 12-hour days, 6 days a week, often in spaces without access to fresh air.
- Management was frequently cruel and wouldn’t allow employee interaction, singing, or breaks.
- Personal time off wasn’t an option much less insurance or other benefits.
But employees rallied and through organized strikes, they were able to negotiate better working conditions, fairer hours, better wages, and eventually benefits.
Labor Day is a testament to having the right mindset, knowing your worth, and fighting for it. This doesn’t mean entitlement; it means making sure your work environment is safe, your compensation for your skills and time is accurate, and that you have plenty of opportunities for personal life balance. These are standards we now take for granted.
Today we are in the next phase of job place evolution. Nowadays, it’s not about fighting for proper working conditions: it is about figuring out ways to make a living doing what you enjoy.
The internet coupled with increased accessibility and the continuous decreasing cost of technologies and business services (Law of Accelerating Returns) has already provided everyone in civilized markets the ability to become an entrepreneur—literally the boss of their career. And while some people think A.I. will be the doom of mankind, I personally believe that it will create the most amazing evolution in the workplace and in humanity.
I will reference two books. First, The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology by one of my favorite living people, Ray Kurzweil. And secondly, for immediate practice, Demystifying AI for the Enterprise.
Wishing you continued growth and success,
Christi McAdams