Don’t Wish Upon a Star, Make Yourself One

Lillian Gish never earned a master's degree or a Ph.D., but she was a consummate artist in her field.

Gish began her career in 1912 in silent movies. Acting in such films as The Birth of a Nation and The Scarlet Letter, she demonstrated a peerless expertise in nonverbal communications. Her ability to touch an audience without words made her one of America's most beloved actresses, and then all of a sudden, the field of acting changed forever. The technology of sound was introduced.

Many of Gish's fellow actors were unable or unwilling to adjust, but she did. She acquired the skills and knowledge required for excellence in speaking parts and combined that new competence with her foundational training in acting. Her flexibility and willingness to learn enabled her to act for 50 more years and earned her a Special Academy Award "For superlative artistry and for distinguished contribution to the progress of motion pictures."

Gish's experience is a wonderful illustration of what it takes to succeed in today's ever-changing world of work. In fields as different as medicine and higher education, logistics and publishing, we are seeing transformative developments as radical as the shift from silent movies to sound, black and white to color, realism to animation and galaxies far, far away. The truth, however hard it may be to accept, is that change is now permeating every corner of the workplace.

The only way to survive, let alone prosper, in such a constantly shifting environment is to be a lifelong student in one's field and to be a lifelong networker among one's peers. In the Career Fitness System, those two activities are the first two of the seven regular exercises a person must practice to build a healthy and rewarding career:

· Exercise I: Pump Up Your Circulatory System recognizes that your expertise in your field is the very heart of your career. If you don't constantly push yourself to extend and enrich that knowledge, your expertise will atrophy and your ability to compete for employment will decline.

· Exercise II: Strengthen Your Circulatory System acknowledges the limitations of your personal awareness and access. If you don't build up and maintain supportive contacts in your field, you will likely miss out on opportunities for which you are qualified and be overlooked for others.

Both of these two activities can be accomplished in many different ways, so each of the exercises in the Career Fitness System involves four steps. Some people elect to do all four, while others pick and choose those that seem best for them. The key, however, is to ensure that you're performing each of the exercises in some way and doing so on a regular basis. That may not win you an Academy Award, but it will make you are a star who's widely recognized in your field. And, as Lillian Gish proved, there's no better security than that.

Thanks for reading,
Peter

P.S. My new book, The Career Activist Republic, has just hit bookstore shelves. You'll find it at Amazon.com and in many bookstores around the country. I'll quote one description: "The most innovative and exhilarating examination of the American workplace since The Free Agent Nation, and one that makes more sense!". I hope you'll take a look at it.