CALLED TO A CONSCIOUS CAREER

By Maria Kostelac contributed to the creation of today’s career-driven society, billion in 2009, and a predicted 4.9 million by 2030.

Careers are currency.

It was around the middle of the 20th century, following the end of World War II, that the modern career as we know it was born; although Jane Austen’s pre-industrial era novels offer the seeds of its germination. Through the lens of a contemporary, Western democracy, an individual’s cultivation of their career extends

beyond work, and into the definition of their very identity and place in this world.

In modern times, careers have played a key role in economic commercial habits of the global middle class by 2017.

stability, global migration, social integration, democracy, societal ideas of prosperity, and social standing and mobility. As the social and economic value of education and ‘skilled’ labour has grown over the past few centuries, so too has humanity’s hunger for knowledge and empowerment. It is because of this, and the revolutionary movements that it has inspired, that the average person now has access to knowledge and information that was once closely guarded as ‘privileged’.

economic emancipation, the workplace has become the locus of activist voices and political transformation. Historians posit that the kind of social transformations driven by workplace activities and discussions could likely only have been wrought through brutal uprisings, civil war and populist rebellion in times past. A wide range of historical events and movements has including industrialisation, workers’ rights, urbanisation, globalisation and free-market enterprise. It is worth noting that our current career-oriented paradigm has caused a significant expansion of the global middle class. In fact, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that the present-day global middle class consists of an estimated 3.2 billion people, compared to 1.8

These numbers are striking, particularly considering they have come about during the worldwide recovery from the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent global recession. According to Homi Kharas’ 2017 article The Unprecedented Expansion of the Global Middle Class, this “implies a tipping point where a majority of the world’s population, for the first time ever, live in middle-class or rich households”, with one third of the world’s economy solely attributable to the In the striving of marginalised groups for social, political and

At this point, you’re likely considering the oddities of the idea that we are living in the most educationally and economically prosperous population and era in human history, considering the myriad challenges facing us from all angles. For centuries, humanity has had to grapple with

simultaneous, incongruous and dangerous actions of democratic and autocratic forces of power; but the severity and frequency of horrific abuses of political power seem to be worse than ever. Furthermore, the collision of a worldwide pandemic with a planet on the precipice of so many changes has exposed the full scope of humanity’s darker side, particularly of those in positions of power. And, of course, early financial indicators show that the middle classes are most profoundly impacted by the economic reset of COVID-induced purchase paralysis. Many have watched their careers – and, consequently, their lives – set adrift.

But the pandemic is just a portion of the story - it’s too easy to let it hog the economic limelight. The predictable, macro-

economic world of work as we knew it was already on

life support prior to lockdown. The emergent Gig Economy (characteriaed by freelance, flexible, on-demand work, rather than the conventional 9 - 5 cubicle model) was already well on track by 2017, undermining the traditional labour market of full-time workers who rarely change positions and are focused on a lifetime career. Furthermore, digital transformation and technological development have fuelled market disruption in even the most deeply entrenched of industries.

So, in recognising: (a) the acceleration of human development over the last 150 odd years, (b) the highly-valued role of work, rapid technological advancement and careers in that trajectory, and (c) the tidal shifts presented by the world of commerce, it appears that humankind stands at the onramp to its next stage of evolutionary advancement. With this in mind, we must consider that this phase of humanity’s evolution is distinct from those pasts by the sheer vastness of numbers on the planet (from 1 billion 200 years ago to 7.7 billion in 2019). The human collective, by that tally alone, is a formidable planetary force. We need to use that power wisely, responsibly and compassionately.

When we lose consciousness of our actions, we present a

dire existential threat to the earth. There is great danger in becoming collectively lost in the commercial and economic objectives that have been so prioritised by modern society; especially in contemplating the brutal parallels between colonialisation and corporatisation of the planet, in a time when socioeconomic transformation is of paramount importance. However, if we see this crisis as the threshold to the birth of our species’ next phase of evolution, we have the opportunity to accept an invitation of cosmic proportions. In navigating the storm, a conscious awareness and deep desire for a loving world has begun to rise from the ashes of our consumerism, mass individuation and social disconnect. We’ve called the collective expression of this desire activism. We see it at play in the immense power and beauty of people and movements such as those evoked by Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, Princess Diana, Jane Goodall, Sir Richard Attenborough, Greta Thunberg, the Arab Spring, #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter. The moving strength of these remarkable individuals and their work can act as fierce fuel for those of us who share their vision for a better, brighter world, if we are prepared to commit to a vocational journey which supports the realisation thereof.

The call to a more conscious, life-integrated career is hard to ignore.

Right now, we’re all being invited to transform our professional lives into the vehicles through which we express our greatest longing and unique gift in this world. We need to afford ourselves and each other

the opportunity to enjoy a holistic relationship

with work. A career is merely one of 12 aspects of a rounded life, including health and vitality, intellectual life, emotional life, character, spiritual life, love relationships, parenting, social life, financial life, quality of life, and life vision. I think we can all agree that our work should not overshadow the rest of these vital ingredients for a happy and healthy life.

To know the truth of the evolutionary impulse that is your vocation, and to harness your career to enact positive change, you will need to delve into an exploration of who you are in all aspects of your life – if you’re not sure where to start, take a look at the list above. Furthermore, you will need to develop an understanding of your driving beliefs and biases, and commit to clearing your heart of emotional burdens.

In the process, you will find an awakening to the wholeness of who you are as a conscious creator within what we still call ‘commerce’, and the pivotal realisation...you are your only work.