Apparently I haven’t had a “career”.
A mate told me I’ve had “more than a career” — like they were commenting on the weather — and it absolutely short-circuited my brain.
Because I was doing the usual inventory of detours:
Manchester → Berlin → back again.
Agency years. Burnout patches. Side projects that became real things. Others that quietly didn’t.
I said something like:
“I don’t feel like I’ve had a proper career.”
They just went:
“You’ve had more than a career.”
And suddenly the same timeline stopped looking like:
- missed ladders
- unfinished chapters
- “should be further along”
…and started looking like:
- cities that rewired me
- people who shaped me
- projects that rearranged my insides
So if you’re convinced you’ve messed it up — try one thing:
ask someone you trust to describe your career back to you.
You might realise you’re building a collage, not a ladder.
And honestly? Good.
Written by Ryan Taylor