Submitted by Manal Touihmi & Photo by Abdou Faiz on Unsplash (Moroccan Pathway – Dadès Gorges)
I get students in my DMs asking for career advice. I can’t tell you what to do, because I don’t know much about your specific situation, and I’m still figuring so many things out myself..
But here are some reflections on what’s worked/ing for me so far.
Take what resonates, leave the rest!
TL;DR / Main takeaway for you: Instead of asking for prescriptive advice, arm yourself with the right tools to properly decide what’s best for you, based on what you know about yourself and your external environment. Then remove distractions and just work, stay open to change, stay connected, and keep improving.
Self introspection
After I graduated in 2020, in the middle of the COVID-29 crisis, I took some time to just rest and think, while almost everybody I knew was rushing to find work or was already working.
Being mindful about my own rhythm, my values, my needs and constraints, my blind spots, my skills, talents and resources when I am deciding helps me make choices attuned to my own specific case – not what’s perceived as the norm, or the social expectation.
I don’t believe there is THE strategy, THE methodology, THE answer, THE path.. Instead, there is THE right choice for THIS profile/situation in THESE circumstances.
Walking, moving, traveling, writing, research, but also conversations with other people, reading fiction, watching movies, documentaries.. these things not only help me explore myself and clarify my mind – they also spark creative ideas and create unusual concepts and combinations in my work.
Collecting data, not decisions
In the final year of high school, I had to choose between the specialty I loved (maths) and what I thought was the “easy” one (physics/chemistry). It was a tough decision because while I loved maths and wanted to continue that path.. I didn’t have a sufficient score to maximize my chances of getting to the school of my “dreams” (architecture).
I lacked clarity to make that decision, so I searched online forums, asked older students, consulted with teachers and orientation professionals, looked for testimonials on YouTube, read both curriculums to understand what both programs entailed, looked into what schools ask for in terms of speciality, score and quotas.. then I synthesized into a list of pros and cons, prayed – and decided.
Finding information from different perspectives offers me a balanced view of my options. When I go to someone with questions, I try to go educated about them and the topic, ask specific questions that are relevant to them and useful to me. Because everyone is inherently biased, I am more interested in their “why” and what it means to me.
Putting in the real work
In this New Normal (post COVID era), purpose and significance in work have gained more importance for employees – but not all work is supposed to mean something or be impactful, sometimes it’s part of the process, sometimes the outcome is purely an exchange for the perceived economic value or benefit you’re creating.
Learning the fundamentals, redoing resumes every time, sending specialized notes when it matters, internships in places you know are not a fit, late nights and struggling with tight deadlines, making effort to understand a subject you really don’t care about but have to pass, learning a new language or software, taking smaller exhausting clients, upskilling to have better opportunities.. are not always fun.
But now, with AI, the technological democratization, all the performative personal branding circus.. it’s becoming harder to separate real expertise from bloated fluff. It’s dangerous to let AI be critical, analytical, make decisions, be creative (not yet..), problem-solve, think in systems.. while we just consume. We should be able to do all those things well.
So widen your horizon, chase your goals, but also invest in the means to reach them.
Focus / Filtering the noise
I made the mistake of trying to take shortcuts when I was just starting out, and lost so much time, energy, and money in the things that were the wrong fit (I’m happy I got that out of the way early though..).
But the friend’s MLM, the course or tool to “change your life”, “invest in crypto and retire early”, dropshipping, print on demand, day trading, marketing that overpromises..: all these business models that look relatively easy, effortless, low-risk/high-reward seem “too good to be true” because they’re not true.
These aren’t inherently scams – but they’re sold as easy shortcuts when they require significant capital, skill, timing, or luck that marketing conveniently leaves out. There are so many variables at play, and why would they be selling you a course about it if it were already making them so rich?
If you see me calling out the “coaches coaching coaches how to coach coaches” (with zero expertise), hustle bros (and their toxic masculinity), spiritual/religious grifters and “energy healers” (yes they exist in Morocco).. it’s because I’ve tried (sometimes out of curiosity, other times really believing them) or at least deeply researched almost all those shiny things.
Please guard your precious resources, be critical (and cautious), listen to your gut.
Creating space to experiment
I used to think that as soon as you make a career decision, it’s for life! I stressed and obsessed about making the “right” one, but still made wrong choice after wrong choice – which led me to question what “right” even means.
What followed was me unconsciously (then consciously) embarking on a quest to find THE thing for me – and to get there I know I have to try different things. I worked in a variety of modes, methodologies, industries, environments, and with different profiles of clients.. and I’m still exploring.
I have a vision, and the day-to-day is still experimental. I don’t love change, I think it’s very uncomfortable, but because of all the exposure, the constant feedback loops from my experiences (and observations), I can know quicker when something is working for me in the short or long run, if it’s aligned with the vision, and adjust appropriately.
I’m not inconsistent, unreliable or irresponsible – I honor my commitments because I believe it’s right. But I’m also clear on when or whether I should stay or leave.
Curious, not easily impressed
A lot of people in “third-world” countries (not a fan of this classification..) are so impressed by the West that they want to copy, try, adopt everything without thinking.. this creates global boring copycats and a one-directional trend of outsourcing culture, mannerism, slang, style, identity, even beliefs.. losing their essence and voice in the process.
The problem is that those trends or identities, imported without adaptation, do not fit in the host environments and create more damage than good.. and you become the crow that imitated the eagle and forgot his own walk: an outsider in both contexts, a fraud.
I found myself naturally working a “global” career after I graduated, I consider myself to be open-minded, I respect and appreciate everyone, I’m up-to-date with what’s going on in the world and relate to so many things.. But I’m proud of my history, origins, geography, culture, ancestors, values, my religion.. – I am equally aware of the shortcomings and blind spots of both worlds.
I see the same thing happening with titles, number of “years”, names, prizes, references, physical belongings.. they might carry meaning, or they can be superficial.
Quitting the unfair race
As a woman, I sometimes struggle with keeping up with the crazy standards I previously set for myself. I excelled academically, always loved learning and “performed” well.
When I started my career, I regurgitated all the toxic hustle bros advice: doing so many things at once (and well), saying yes a lot, checking extensive to-do lists, working days, evenings and weekends, trying to please everyone.. until my body literally broke down.
I didn’t do it because I was stupid and easily fell for the scam (because it is), but because that’s what I was doing before anyway. I didn’t even question it. Even when I created art, it was in a rush, trying to perfect every little detail instead of enjoying the process.
It was an unhealthy mix of my own dysfunctional habits and behaviors, and toxic environments that loved to take advantage of them, that led to a state of semi-permanent burnout, inflammation, hormonal issues, and a low threshold of stress.
Now I am very mindful about my choices and how they affect my health, I stopped pushing my body and brain beyond their capacity. If you’re a woman, please decide carefully the type of career you want (or if you even want one), the job, the work environment.. and beware of the ideologies you’re being fed.
Surrounding myself well
A lot of people put “self-taught” in their bios and claim they’ve accomplished things on their own. I don’t believe you learn alone: there are always free YouTube videos, affordable courses, open-source softwares, ebooks, articles, communities..
You always find people willing to help if you just ask them, people who observe, see you’re lost, guide you and support you in different ways.. But there was also unsolicited advice from people who projected their own failures and insecurities onto me: because I cherished them, I trusted them blindly – and it held me back from trying.
When I became a freelancer, I found those who have the knowledge and the resources but not the time to execute: working with them repeatedly gave me the mentorship I lacked from not being an employee, while being useful and paid fairly.
I am also grateful to managers and clients who trusted me to experiment and learn on the job, gave me access to resources to upskill, and treated me so humanly (not solely based on the transaction) – and to senior professionals or anyone who shares real value, to elevate others.
Just being in the right environments and communities is so important, even as a consumer, even if you don’t interact (although why not?) – it will open doors for you.
That’s all.
I hope this is useful.
If you have any specific questions, DM me here.
