While many people in the world are quite content to go do their job every day until they retire, there are others who can't seem to stay happy in a job for more than 4-5 years. If you are once of these people, there is someting you need to know:
The 5 Year Cycle of Creative People.
Don't worry, it's not a bad thing... unless you don't know about it, or worse - ignore it.
Of the Six Basic Human Needs described by Tony Robbins, creative people usually have a very high need for Growth.
See if you recognize the following cycle in your life:
Year 1 - Dependancy: You start a new job. The place is new, the people are new and you have a high dependancy on others in order to learn.
Year 2 - Interdependancy: It is in this year that you are becoming comfortable with the job. Your dependance on others is lower and your working relationship with those around you transitions into a state of interdependance.
Year 3 - Independant: You are familiar with all the products, all the services, all the policies and procedures. Customers love you. You Are The Job.
Year 4 - Explore: You begin to explore how the business could be improved, processes optimized and products made better. You start to develop new ideas and concepts. This is the creative side of you immerging.
Year 5 - Conceptualize and Development of New Ideas: It is in this fifth year that you must present your great ideas to management. One of two things will happen: You will either be offered the opportunity to move forward with your ideas or you should start looking for a new job.
What if you don't do anything about it? Year 6 and beyond - Without awareness or opportunity to innovate and grow your ideas, you begin to become unhappy, unable to find fulfilment in what you do. Subconciously you will begin to sabotage your job, your business relationships and your career without even knowing why. You could potentially even fall victim to depression.
The good news is that, now that you know about the 5 Year Cycle for Creative People, you can do something about it. With just a little foresight, you can grow with the a great employer for many happy and fulfilling years or plan on contributing other organizations.
Thanks go to John McLean in Ottawa, Canada. After several cycles of repeatedly sabotaging my own career, John helped me become aware of what the problem was and what I had to do in order to avoid it.
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