“Your words do not communicate your value, your work does.”

The quality of your life is directly related to the quality of your stories. Especially those you tell yourself.

Your body of work is everything you create, contribute, affect, and impact. For individuals, it is the personal legacy you leave at the end of your life, including all the tangible and intangible things you have created. Individuals who structure their careers around autonomy, mastery, and purpose will have a powerful body of work.

How do you make sense of your career in a work environment that no longer has any predictable career paths?

-        How do you create stability in a world that has no job security, uncertain markets, threats of terrorism, and a fiercely competitive global workforce?

            How do you balance making a living with making time for family, health, and recreation?

-        How do you develop relationships with mentors when everyone is so busy?

-        How do you keep your skills relevant in a world that moves so quickly that companies are launched, or destroyed, in a day?

How do you plan for your financial future when you have no idea if your income stream will slow to a trickle, or even dry up completely if you get laid off or go through a difficult stage of business?

Standard career advice would say to get more education, work harder, and make yourself indispensable to your organization or customer base. This advice made a lot of sense in the twentieth century. In the twenty-first century, this advice is incomplete.

From these experiences I know the following to be true: No one is looking out for your career anymore. You must find meaning, locate opportunities, sell yourself, and plan for failure, calamity, and unexpected disasters. You must develop a set of skills that makes you able to earn an income in as many ways as possible.

The new world of work requires a new lens and skill set to ensure career success. You must create your own body of work as you operate in different organizational systems and structures.

Body of Work by Pamela Slim

Pamela Slim is an award-winning author, business coach and speaker.