In this episode of the Transform Your Workplace podcast, Brandon Laws dives into the topics discussed in Andy Storch’s debut book, Own Your Career, Own Your Life. Own Your Career, Own Your Life. The two discuss what it means to stop operating in reaction mode and start taking ownership of your career. Your day-to-day and ultimately the trajectory of your career depends on it.
GUEST AT A GLANCE
Andy Storch is a talent development connector, consultant, motivational speaker, podcast host, and the author of his debut book, Own Your Career, Own Your Life: Stop Drifting and Take Control of Your Future. His mission is to “get the absolute most out of life and inspire others to do the same.”
A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST
🔊 Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, Sponsored by Xenium HR
🎙️ Host: Brandon Laws
📋 In his own words: “The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders.”
TOP TIP FROM THIS EPISODE
Taking ownership means taking full responsibility. It means taking initiative. It means treating your career like it’s your business.
Andy Storch has been working in the field of corporate consulting for nearly a decade, with executives and managers from different companies and industries all over the world. From one company to another, Andy has noticed one common denominator: a general complacency — people just “drifting through” their careers. “They’re operating in reaction mode, waiting for their boss, their manager, their colleagues, or someone else to tell them what to do […] or what their next move should be,” Andy says.
To get out of this “reaction mode,” Andy encourages his clients, listeners, and readers to own their careers. He says, “Nobody should care more about your career than you do.” And, if that’s the case, you must commit to being more engaged, to finding more fulfilling work, to doing the thing that you love to do. Even though these are trying times, Andy says that “the biggest thing [you can do] is make that shift from a victim mindset to an ownership mindset, from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.” It’s time to view your challenges as opportunities.
PODCAST EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
The dream job
“When baseball was my dream, I was practicing when the coach said to practice. I was going to the games, but I really wasn’t that good. But if I truly desired that dream, that goal, I would’ve put more of a plan in place — gone to my parents or the coach and said, ‘Hey, what do I need to improve? This is my goal. How do I get there?’ But that never really happened. And I ended up quitting when I got to high school.”
“This symbolizes how we often approach things in life. The people we admire who go out and achieve their goals are usually taking risks and putting more thought into their goals and their plans. And they’re taking consistent action to go out and achieve those things.”
Giving up too soon
“Especially for early career professionals, the attrition rate is so high at the two to three-year mark because people get into a job, and then they get a little bit bored, or they get a little bit frustrated. And instead of having that conversation with their manager or taking the initiative to go and figure it out — what would make this job more challenging or exciting or what other opportunities are inside my company — they just think, ‘well, I’m unhappy, so I’m going to make a change.’ It’s so easy to go out and look for other jobs on LinkedIn and social media that people are quick to jump.”
Time to reflect
“Think about where you want to go with your career now. It takes a lot of self-reflection — thinking about who you are, what you enjoy doing, your strengths, your weaknesses, your passion, your purpose, your values, what you care about, your priorities, where and how you want to spend your time, and getting some suggestions and feedback from people around you. Put all that together and then start to design a career and a life that you want. This means setting a vision for where you want to go. And it doesn’t have to be exact. It doesn’t have to be concrete. It can change over time. It almost always does.”
Anticipating change
“We can spend all this time making a plan and creating a vision, which I do talk about in the beginning of the book, but things are always going to change, right? Stuff is going to come up. Your company is going to change strategies. Your boss is going to leave. You’re going to get laid off. A new opportunity is going to come along. Maybe a global pandemic is going to hit and completely shut industries down and change everything that we know about the working world like it did in 2020. You just can’t predict everything that’s coming.”
“So you’ve got to be thinking about the future and doing the things that are going to help not only set you up for success but also help you be ready and willing to pivot.”
Building your personal brand
“Whether you want to think about it or not, you already have a personal brand because a personal brand is simply your reputation in the marketplace. It’s how you show up in the world and what people think about you, what they say about you when you’re not around.”
“And it can be really beneficial down the line when you are applying for the next job.[…] If you have a reputation as someone who is eager, hardworking, fun to work with, collaborative, versus another person who may be more experienced than you, but they’re grouchy and hard to get along with, you’re going to have a better chance of getting that job.”
“And as we move into more of a project-based gig-type economy down the line, that’s going to become more and more important. As people are vying for different projects, the person with the better reputation, the better brand, is going to end up getting a lot of those projects.”
An abundance of success
“I wrote a chapter on comparison because I know so many people struggle with this and because I have struggled with it as well. You know, comparison has been around for generations, […] but social media heightens it. And one thing I always remind people of is that you can’t compare your whole life to someone else’s highlight reel, and social media is a highlight reel.”
“But the success thing is interesting too because a lot of us are competitive. We’re trying to achieve things. I see people almost actively rooting against others because of that comparison thing. We’ve got to remember that success is unlimited. There is an abundant amount of success and money in the world. It’s not going to run out. And when someone else is successful, it doesn’t really take anything away from you with few exceptions, right? Most of the time, we’re not actually competing with anybody. We’re all on our own journey.”
LEARN MORE
If this podcast piqued your interest and you’re ready for more, pick up a copy of Andy Storch’s book, Own Your Career, Own Your Life: Stop Drifting and Take Control of Your Future, available on Amazon. He has also created a companion journal to go along with the book and a 90-day guide with morning rituals and evening prompts so that you can track progress towards your goals. If you want to connect with Andy, find him on LinkedIn or Instagram.