We don’t need articles on how to get a promotion at work, we need articles on how to get promotions at life
Work is work
Work will always be work, no matter how much we put effort into it, companies will keep us as long as we are useful, when we are not we will be discarded, and we should not get emotionally attached to any job or any company. It’s a means to an end and it should be treated as such. This modern obsession with working for big tech companies, so-called Big tech (Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, etc), is a weird one to have. To prove that they are overhyped, the average tenure for Big tech companies is around 2 years, so this begs the question, why is everyone so obsessed with big tech companies?
Life promotions
Longest running study on happiness, done by Harvard, came to one conclusion, the most positive impact on our happiness is social connections, friends, and family, everything else does not matter in the end. This is so basic to understand, we are social by our nature, and ignoring this fact will only lead us to a path of misery. So how can we take advantage of this idea? Simple, focus on being a better partner, better parent, and better friend, but also, a better version of yourself. Can I get a little bit more disciplined? Can I get in a bit better physical shape? Can I cut out negativity from my life? Focusing on that will matter more in the end than any job title.
Consistency over everything
What should we care a lot more about is what Cal Newport calls “Slow productivity”. Slow Productivity is what we produce on a larger time scale, what impactful work can we produce over the next 5 to 10 years? There are few but very valuable things we can work on that will actually matter. This is way more important than putting all of your eggs in one basket by going all in on your work for a company that looks at you just as you look at your car, a tool to do a specific job. This does not have to be related to our professional lives, but personal to, what sort of a friend or family member do I want to be in the next 5 to 10 years? What are my goals and “promotions” that I want to get at in my personal life, with my family and friends? I think those questions are way more important than how you get promotions at work. The slow productivity shifts our focus from the current job that will probably last 2 years on average to something much bigger, longer, and more impactful.