The world of work is changing. According to the World Economic Forum, 65% of children entering primary school today will be employed in jobs that do not yet exist. Sustainable Development Goal 8 aims to increase productivity and tackle unemployment rates. It also aims to eliminate all types of informal work to ensure inclusive and sustainable growth. (Sustainable Development) If most jobs are predicted to be taken over by automation and soon artificial intelligence, how can we prepare ourselves for the future? We need to prepare ourselves in a way that will easily allow us to adapt into future jobs, but as well for us to fulfil our passion. In my opinion, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey is an amazing framework to kick off your plan towards your professional life with success and passion!
Be Proactive
Reactive people focus on the things that are simply out of their control. Proactive people on the other hand realise that complaining about something that is not going to change anything, but there are things that can be controlled that can influence your ultimate goal. People normally focus on the things that they cannot control, because it is simply easier, because it does not require you to actually do something about it. But in order to be successful and to work into creating an outcome you hope to see, do something about it.
Begin with the end in mind
When you leave this earth, what do you want to be remembered by? Are you achieving your goals? Are you actively working towards becoming the person you ultimately want to be? Make sure that what you are doing today contributes to what you want people to remember about you when the time comes and for you to live your life to the fullest.
Put first things first
Think about when someone asks you what you deem as most important in your life, what are you thinking about? Now, think about how much to contributed or spent time with that today and if not today in the past week? Are you truly putting first things first?
Think win-win
This is a crucial point for your future working life and your way up to success. Not everything is a zero sum game, in order for you to win, someone else does not have to lose. If we think this way, we will never be able to fulfil SDG 8 and without a collective win, you will never be able to grow to your fullest potential.
Seek first to understand, then to be understood
Say you worked really hard on a paper for University until it seems like you were putting in more effort into your paper than your friends were in theirs, but you got the lowest grade in the class. This is important, because often times we do not understand what the exercise wants needs or how it is supposed to be answered. We do not listen to what the professor or whoever is grading your paper wants you to mention or how you should structure your paper or what that person wants you to learn from it. So seek first to understand, then to be understood.
Synergise
Team work is the dream work. As cliche as it sounds, if you work as a collective you will be able to achieve much more than you would on your own.
Sharpen the saw
You have to work on the foundation before you build your house. What does that mean? We need to work on the things that mentally and physically do us good in order for us to strive in this life. Do the little things that make us people, that helps us relax, the things that bring us joy, the things that will motivate us and give us the energy to do exactly what we want to achieve.
Start working on this seven points today and await your successful, passion filled journey on contributing the SDG 8. The world is your oyster! What are you doing this summer? Do you want to travel and work on a project based on one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals? Find your perfect match at aiesec.org!
