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Career clues from my childhood

21 February, 2014 By Anna Lundberg Leave a Comment

A couple of weeks ago, I talked about different ways to find your passion, to find that unfulfilled dream that might still be achievable. One of the routes I proposed was looking back, and this week I’ve gone way, way back…

Having returned to the UK, I’ve had the opportunity to go through my old things at my parents’ house, the same house in which I grew up. The attic, as it turns out, has been accommodating every single exercise book I’ve ever had from starting school at four, right through to my graduation in 2000.

After only scratching the surface, I’ve already found some quite revealing signs as to my biggest interests during those years.

7 signs it's time to re-think your career

Discover some of the common signs it's time to re-think your career


Do you fantasise about a world in which you love your job to the point that you jump out of bed in the morning with excitement at the thought of what you’re going to do today? Do you long for more freedom and flexibility in your daily schedule? Do you wish that you were creating something really meaningful, that could make a difference to something that matters?

READ MORE AND ACCESS THE CHECKLIST HERE >>

Ladies and Gentleman of the Jury, I invite you to examine the evidence:

Exhibit A, 1995: What’s New magazine

"What's New"
Note the fabulous use of effects and icons to bring the text to life

THE must-read publication at Sir William Perkins’s School, with all the hot goss on who fancied whom. (Mostly, all of us at the all girls’ school fancied all the boys at the neighbouring boys’ school. Go figure.)

I also used to do newspaper layouts with pretend interviews with my family (and these days I’m responsible for the Christmas newsletter).

Exhibit B, 1995: Art project to design a magazine

Alas, this creation was only in pencil so the photo perhaps does not capture the potential of this hot new publication
Alas, this creation was only in pencil so the photo perhaps does not capture the potential of this hot new publication

I’d like to draw your attention to the teacher’s comment: “This seems very much like other magazines.” Excuse me, do other magazines include one-off articles like “I died… and lived to tell the tale!” along with love spells and poster prints of cute lil puppies? Didn’t think so.

I also produced similarly original pieces of literature that represented attempts at emulating such greats as Sweet Valley High and Nancy Drew. I’ll have to search for these but most likely I burned them in a previous clear-out.

Exhibit C, 1997: My birth chart

This astrologer seems to have had amazing insight into who I was as a person... except for how to spell my name
This astrologer seems to have had amazing insight into who I was as a person… except for how to spell my name

Now I have zero recollection of ever consulting an astrologer (from the name, it looks like it might be a classmate’s mother) but it would seem that I did in fact do so and the results, I think you’ll agree, are spookily insightful:

“Very good communicator. This is partly due to the fact that her ascendant (how the world sees her), her mid-heaven (what she does in the world) and her five major planets are all in air.”

“A bit of a drama queen. Drama is good as a hobby (not as a career).”

“Needs to work in communications (e.g. computers).”

“Very logical and creative.”

“More an ‘ideas’ person. With planets in Libra, very good at organising and having ideas, but may need other people to put her ideas into practice.”

“In her career, she may travel.”

“Has a very outward personality. But because of this, she has to be careful that people don’t take advantage of her.”

“Split personality? In ways very attached to her home and in other ways very detached.”

Given that I work internationally in digital marketing, while doing amateur theatre, I much prefer enabling others to follow through on my ideas than actually doing the work myself, and I’m torn between settling down and remaining free to wander the earth, that’s a pretty good assessment, whatever you think of such hocus-pocus.

(For those of you who care, I was born 3rd October 1982 at 21.15 in Chertsey, England.)

Exhibit D, 1998: Careers leaflets

Among the leaflets I selected to learn more about particular careers are “careers in journalism”, “advertising” and “design”
I’m not entirely sure what the purpose of these leaflets was at this stage, but together with a host of different personality tests I suppose it did get us to start thinking about what we might Want To Be

Among the leaflets I selected to learn more about particular careers are “careers in journalism”, “advertising” and “design”.

In the interest of full disclosure, I also picked up brochures on medicine and the music industry.

Exhibit E, 1998: Mizz Magazine

If you look closely, you'll see that I am both "the model" in the picture AND "Susan, 14" in the silhouette. Let the records show that I have never had a substance abuse problem
If you look closely, you’ll see that I am both “the model” in the picture AND “Susan, 14, from Bristol” in the silhouette. Let the record show that I have never had a substance abuse problem

As part of our compulsory summer work experience, I chose to do a week at Mizz Magazine. Highlights included being asked to rate random young men on the street, and modelling as a drug addict.

I should point out that I also did a week folding clothes at Debenham’s (=fashion!) as well as a week in a London law firm.

Exhibit F, 2001: Front-page article in the university newspaper

Please ignore the reference to someone's thighs in the big red box below my journalistic masterpiece
Please ignore the reference to someone’s thighs in the big red box below my journalistic masterpiece

My brief stint at Cherwell involved, yes, a cover article on Harry Potter (I seem to remember the editors massacring what I had actually written but, hey, it’s still my byline), as well as a review of Paul McCartney’s specially commissioned oratorio Ecce Cor Meum.

I also became Publications Officer at college, editing the Freshers’ Handbook 2002 as well as the regular newsletter, the very highbrow Bogsheet.

Exhibit G, 2006-2014: Writing

Writing
Writing on the Island of Skyros, Greece, September 2010

Since starting to work in the world of marketing, I’ve chosen to spend a good deal of my spare time (apart from being a drama queen, obviously) writing. I’ve done a two-year NCTJ course on Writing for the Periodical Press, a ten-week online Creative Writing course at Oxford, a two-week course in Greece, and a MatadorU online Travel Writing course (still in progress); I now have this blog; and I have a weekend course planned in a few weeks’ time on the Isle of Wight.

 

The defence rests. (Or am I the prosecution?)

Filed Under: Leaving the Corporate 9 to 5 Tagged With: career, career choices, finding your passion, marketing, personal strengths, productivity, writing

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Anna Lundberg is a success coach and business strategist who helps experienced corporate professionals reimagine success outside of the 9 to 5.

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