The future can look muddled when you’re towards the end of your career.
You’ve come a long way since you entered the workforce, but what now? Paths here are less obvious. You may have experienced setbacks. Your priorities may have changed. You may be tired.
Focusing on role models can inject some much-needed energy into your mindset.
If you see it, you can be it
There’s an old saying, “If you see it, you can be it.” It isn’t just useful for children aspiring to be President of the United States. It is also useful for you, whoever you are and wherever you want to go in the next five or 10 years. A role model inspires you to get there. If they can do it, so can you.
A role model is not a mentor. You have a relationship with a mentor. A mentor provides guidance. And while a mentor may inspire by their example, their job is more to advise and champion you. A role model, however, simply inspires. In fact, a role model may not be a person you know. A role model simply shows you what is possible. Because no matter where you are in your career, even towards the end, you have room to grow.
A collage of inspiration
Chances are, one role model will not do. Instead, consider forming a pantheon of role models. Being late-career, it’s all about wisdom, the intangibles. You’re looking for role models who embody not just what you want to do, but also who you want to be. It’s tough to find all that in one person. So think of your pantheon of role models as a vision board of sorts, a collage of inspiration.
So will be in your role-model pantheon? Questions like these can surface your candidates:
- What kind of work do you want to be doing in five or 10 years? Who is making contributions like this?
- What qualities or values do you want to foster in yourself? Who embodies these qualities?
- How do you handle struggles? Who candidly shares their challenges, while also being resilient?
- What lifestyle do you see for yourself in five or 10 years? Who is living this?
Keeping the vision
Now that you’ve assembled your pantheon, what’s next? Well, that’s up to you. Ask yourself how you can best keep your role models top-of-mind. If you have a vision board, add their images to the board. If there are books or articles they’ve written, read. If they’ve been interviewed on podcasts, listen. Set up a Google alert for when they’re mentioned online. Get creative about how they can inspire you in the upcoming years.
One warning: Everyone is human. Sometimes role models knock themselves off the pedestal. There’s a writer I loved in my forties who wrote candidly about aging. She was my aging hero. But as time went on, her writings showed her as someone I did not want to be. I forgave her and moved on, while still appreciating her earlier writing.
Think even broader
Adapt this practice beyond career. The pantheon exercise can bridge into your retirement years, a time much less prescribed than during our parents’ generation. The clarity you can gain in looking to others as retirement role models can ease your transition out of work. You can also apply this process to other aspects of aging—health/fitness, spirituality, or even fashion.
Who has the honor of being in your pantheon of role models, inspiring you on the next leg of your career journey?