If I had taken the time to look at a few things I would have discovered my first problem, I am not a very academic person.

This problem was highlighted early in primary school when I could not learn my times tables, in secondary school my highest GCSE grades were B for Drama, B (initially was an E) for English and C for Business studies, E for Maths and the rest were D’s, E’s and F’s; I flopped.

I never liked school, but so much of the future I bank on depended on me being something I have not been, and the grades I attained suggested I should lean towards practical careers which require language skills and/or are creative/language based. I didn’t, whilst some of my natural core skills would be used, career wise I would be a cork floating in the sea; I would stay above water and make it look freeing but ultimately I relied on the waves to deposit me, I was not in control.

I did not even take the time to research accounting! this is and was my biggest career mistake; don’t make the same.

All I wanted to do is work, I didn’t know about the different roles and Industries and the long term impact this can have on your career if you get it wrong, I also naively trusted recruitment agents and managers, to guide my career.

I thought people were like me, they would give you advise based on what’s best for you, but I found ‘no one cares about your career, more than you’, live by these words.

I burned my 20’s working early mornings, late nights, weekends and bank holidays (no overtime pay), working my socks off to get specialised in an area of my career and sector I didn’t want to do long term! This was very unwise, I also allowed myself to be lead with a carrot on a stick.

The above is more to give a picture of where I was and what I was thinking, how it went against what I could see with my own two eyes and how I literally went down a path but never really thought about it; now in my 30s, life is a different and I’ve got to correct all of those mistakes.

Therefore getting your 20s right is like a superpower, if you know what you want to do, go hard for it, become obsessed with it, get the pain out in your 20s and by the time you are into your mid/late 20s, you’ve become experienced enough to be in a senior position and may even be recognised as a specialist by your peers. Meet and keep the right people, ideally people in your chosen field and ones linked to it.

You’ll make mistake, get managers you don’t get on with, have WTF moments, question yourself, have doubts, face imposter syndrome and may even get stuck in a job for a while that may break your confidence & self-esteem, worry not. It’s more common than you think.

Learn from my mistakes!

Here’s the link for part 1:

https://brainthrough.co.uk/2020/10/29/30-accounting-and-getting-your-20s-right-pt1/

@Brainthrough