I should have known more would have been written about that Forbes article from last November. Earlier this month, there was another Forbes post, this time digging a bit in to what is happening when people are ‘burning out’ by age 30. Millennials are looking for more flexibility, control, independence, and overall, more fulfillment from their work, so there is an increase in individuals striking out on their own to start a business. I don’t think this is a gender specific behavior, but with the overall larger number of women in the workplace, it probably does mean more women are starting companies than had in the past.
I also read a short article from Success magazine yesterday that I thought was worth sharing, about owning your actions and reactions in life. While it is true that we can’t control (no matter how hard we plan and try!) the things that happen day to day, it is true that you, and only you, can control the way you act and react. Rather than using this as a crutch for not feeling like a victim, I like to think of it as exciting and empowering that I can take what I find around me and turn it in to whatever I want. The industry expert on a proposal I’m putting together who warned me about the the large number of incumbents who are likely bidding on this contract? Good – let me learn more about them and see how I could be of use to them. Maybe that doesn’t win this proposal, but it will put me in a better position for the next one. So maybe it’s not just about ‘finding what you want’, but really about creating what you want.