10 career mistakes I wish I had never made

10 career mistakes I wish I had never made10 career mistakes I wish I had never madeIts good to learn from your mistakes. Its better to learn from other peoples mistakes. - Warren BuffetIn the last decade, I went from student to entrepreneur to freelancer to climbing the corporate ladder to blogger to teacher.Yes, thats bedrngnis a normal career path, and its also not what I ever expected. But life hardly turns out the way you expect.Thats because were only human. And humans make mistakes.Recently I received an email from a reader. He asked about my biggest career mistake.That got me thinking. And writing. A lot.And after writing more than 2000 words about my career mistakes, I thought Wow dude, youve made every single mistake you possibly could.Anyway, Ive cut out the obvious stuff and I made a list of my top 10 mistakes. I hope that one of the points is useful to you.1. Assuming that your career is linearThat is, by far, the fruchtwein important lesson Ive learned. Firstly, Ive le arned that assumptions are always bad. We collectively assume a lot of things without ever asking or researching.One of those assumptions is that careers progress linearly. Who ever said that? When I think about it, I have no idea why I believed that in the first place.It goes like thisYou get an education.Get an internship.Stay put for three years.Then try to become a low-level managerAfter a few years you move up.And if you stall, you move to another company for a better paying position.OrYoure a freelancer.You start doing work for free.You keep doing that for years.You cant make ends meet.You get a job.You quit your job because you hate it.You start charging for your work.And you increase your rate a little bit every year.Last one youre an entrepreneur, you start a geschftsleben, you grow, you think youre awesome, you spend more than you make, you try to get investors, they own you, and you fuck up.Again Why do we do that stuff? Its so predictable. Lifes way too short for that bo ring stuff.Accelerate your learning curve. Focus on value. Learn more, earn more. Make leaps. And sometimes when you learn, you take a step back. But thats fine because you will earn more in the future.In todays economy, its more about what you have to offer. For the first time in history, a lot of companies (not all) dont look at age, gender, race, degrees - they care about what you have to offer.So offer some great work. How? Learn faster. Access to information has never been this easy. Use it.2. Prioritizing moneyIve done this. And if you do that, there are three things that can happenYou end up in a sales job you hate.You become an aggressive sales oriented business or freelancer.You say yes to work that crushes your soul.Theres nothing wrong with those things, but they are not sustainable. Im not trying to stop you from earning some cash money.But instead of focusing on money why not focus on other things that are more fulfilling? Things like learning, experience, doing work t hat you are interested in, adding value to other peoples lives.Will most people follow this advice? Probably not because they cant say no to money. Theres only one simple rule to money and freedom Live beneath your means. And yes, thats hard.If you want to know more about how you can train yourself not to depend on money, please read Seneca - Letters From A Stoic. He writes about it a lot.3. Wasting timeYou wont believe how many evenings and weekends Ive lost by watching tv, going out, pointless shopping, or whatever leisure activity.Sure, entertainment is good, but you dont have to relax every SINGLE free minute you have.Look, this is your life, and this is your career. Take it seriously.Can I ask you something? Whats your skill? What are you exceptional at?If you dont know the answer, its time to get down to it. Start learning, practicing, doing, whatever. Do something that turns you into an expert at something.4. Choosing a job over an industryIn the last decade, Ive tried my lu ck in several industries, including hospitality, fashion, IT, and banking. But in recent years, Ive only committed to consulting and education.I wish I did that earlier. Hopping from industry to industry has huge costs. You have to learn the industry, market, people, unwritten rules, you name it.Most people decide what they want to be (or they just roll into a profession). And then they try to find a job - they dont care about the industry as long as it pays. Or, they want to be an entrepreneur or freelancer and they follow the money.But thats not an effective strategy on the long-term because you will never become an expert at something. Instead, spielblttchen one or two industries that you love, and commit to finding an opportunity there.5. Getting comfortableAh, Ive worked hard and now Im good. Think again. Youre never safe.Life is competition. The next person is waiting patiently until you mess up, and then they will swoop in and take your position.Is that really true? Well, to be honest, I dont know. But I sure like to think thats the case.Why? Because that keeps me on my toes. The last thing you want is to become comfortable.6. bedrngnis asking for thingsYes, youre a nice person. We get it. But dont be too nice.Other people will take your spot, push you over, and you will end up with nothing. You dont have to be a dick. Just know that when youre in business, its business.And everything is business Art, sports, media, work-relationships, colleagues, you name it.If you want to get something, you have to ask for it. Want a raise? Ask. No one will give it to you. What did you expect?Oh hey, youre such an awesome person. Heres a free bag of money. Never going to happen.7. Not following your interestsThere are two camps on this topic. People who say you should follow your passion, and people who say you shouldnt.The funny thing is, the people who say that you shouldnt follow your passion, didnt follow their passion. Get it? Why on earth would they encourage o thers to follow their passion? And vice versa.Now, I dont really like the word passion- and I dont like the whole discussion. But all I can say is thisLife is not infinite. Do you really want to spend your time doing shit you hate?8. Not listening to peopleWhen I got my Masters degree in Business Administration years ago, I thought I was the man. I didnt listen to people who were more experienced than me. Big mistake.Practice is different from books. I didnt realize that.Now I prefer to be humble and listen to everyone. Also, that means listening to less experienced people. They often have the best ideas.9. Wanting too much, too quicklyEven though your career doesnt have to progress in a linear fashion, you cant make giant leaps every single day. And in the beginning, I especially tried to move too fast.But now Im more patient. Before I started blogging, Id written hundreds of essays when I was getting my degrees, and not to forget two big ass theses.And Ive worked in the trenches o f business and marketing for years before I started coaching/consulting. No one ever saw that. And thats fine because thats how you learn.10. Not asking for helpMaybe youre too proud. Maybe you think people will believe that youre stupid. Maybe youre not raised that way.But if you dont ask for help, one thing is sure You will never get it.Almost everything in life is a team effort. Even if you work entirely for yourself, you still need people. And they need you.The Self-made success stories are all fake.Whenever youre spreading too thin, reach out to others. Reach out to colleagues, partners, friends, family. They will help you, and if they dont, theyre not your friends.Finally This is your careerWhy NOT take it seriously? Thats one thing I didnt do enough until a few years ago. I was too passive.If you find yourself unhappy with your career, or how its progressing Change. Thats the only universal advice there is.And do it today. You know why? If you dont do it today, when will you? You and I both know the answer to that.Thisarticlefirst appeared onDarius Foroux.