Realistic Career Aspirations

In modern times, it is very common to hear adults telling young people that they can become successful with hard work in whatever careers they desire. While their motives are laudable, made to inspire ambition, focus and determination, many find out to their regret that is not always that easy. Climbing Mount Everest is not for everyone! However, everyone is good at something in line with Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. For some, success can be modest in the eyes of others, and everyone deserves encouragement, praise and support. Unrealistic expectations can cause a lot of unhappiness and grief. It is a contributory factor to high attrition rates in some third level courses. The days of the safe, permanent, pensionable jobs are gone. Many traditional professional careers are saturated, but there are now numerous new career outlets emerging which could not even be dreamt about a generation ago. When you look at the careers of people who are regarded as successful, many started off with completely different career aspirations. They used every opportunity as a learning experience which, with their own talents, enabled them to move in new directions. Many happened to be in the right place at the right time and had the capacity to adapt to new roles, while others took completely different directions.

People regarded as successful do not all follow a particular route. They come from all types of backgrounds with various educational experiences, career paths, and aspirations, with the following often cited as good examples. Benjamin Franklin rose from humble origins in Boston to become one of America’s great statesmen. US President Bill Clinton was brought up in Arkansas by a poor, single, mother. Walt Disney was fired by an employer and went bankrupt on three occasions before launching what became the successful Disney Corporation. Henry Ford had setbacks in two business ventures before becoming a successful car manufacturer. The US inventor Thomas Edison, who was told by an early teacher that he was stupid, failed on numerous occasions and in the process became a famous inventor with over one thousand registered patents to his credit. Albert Einstein, the German-born US physicist who formulated the theories of relativity, was four years old before he spoke and had a bad stutter for years, and was advised to leave school. Richard Branson, who had dyslexia, left school at sixteen and is now one of the most successful business people in the world. The current Irish President Michael D Higgins was brought up by an elderly aunt and uncle after his family had to separate for economic reasons. There is few linear routes to success.

In the future, knowledge will expand at an increasing rate, technological advances will accelerate, and the demands of work will constantly change. There will be an increase in the demand for competent people capable of operating across national and cultural boundaries. In this context, it is important that young people develop the capacity to go learning, to constantly update their knowledge and skills to cope with new developments, and in many cases to change careers. As the pace of change accelerates in the industrialised world towards a global market based on knowledge, learning, and good communications, the opportunities for people to earn their livelihoods will depend on their imagination, creativity, personal development, flexibility, innovation and enterprise. Any qualification has to cultivate the mind for further development and change.

No one can predict the future, but the capacity to cope and adapt in a rapidly changing environment are important. A person who wants to succeed in their chosen career has to have ambition and be prepared to acquire the knowledge, skills and experience required, but also the willpower, flexibility and capacity to change and adapt to new challenges. Responsible risk taking is part of the process. Realistic positive thinking is much different to wishful thinking. Wishful thinkers dream of desired goals which are unrealistic for them. Positive thinkers have clear realistic goals and the capacity, determination and resilience required to overcome adversity and turn their dreams into reality.

Bernard O'Hara's latest book entitled Killasser: Heritage of a Mayo Parish is now on sale in the USA and UK as a paperback book at amazon.com, amazon.co.uk or Barnes and Noble

It is also available as an eBook from the Apple iBookstore (for reading on iPad and iPhone), from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk (Kindle & Kindle Fire) and from Barnesandnoble.com (Nook tablet and eReader).

An earlier publication, a concise biography of Michael Davitt, entitled Davitt by Bernard O’Hara published in 2006 by Mayo County Council , is now available as Davitt: Irish Patriot and Father of the Land League by Bernard O’Hara, which was published in the USA by Tudor Gate Press (www.tudorgatepress.com) and is available from amazon.com and amazon.co.uk. It can be obtained as an eBook from the Apple iBookstore (for reading on iPad and iPhone), from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk (Kindle & Kindle Fire) and from Barnesandnoble.com (Nook tablet and eReader).