The world of work is changing . . . at times so fast that if you listen closely you can hear the buzz rush past your ears!

Until recently, a career was usually seen as a course of successive situations that make up a person’s occupation. You have a childhood, an education, then a career, and then you retire. Full stop. Now the speed of change has rapidly increased around how work is performed.

Work, like the rest of the world, has become digital, virtual, and global. This means, of course, that the workday no longer is neatly compressed between 9 and 5. No longer does it need to be done in an office, or face-to-face with a work team. And with more women in the workforce than men, for the first time, employers can offer new types of flexibility that provides parents with alternatives. Flexible, portable, virtual … these approaches exist and smart companies rely on them to recruit and retain the talent they need to succeed.

As for retirement, that too looks very different in today’s world. With the Baby Boomers growing older, no longer is age 65 the norm for retirement. And retirement, for that matter, no longer means “rest homes.” We’re living and working longer—life extends to 80, 90, even 100 years for increasingly larger groups of people. And with individuals leading much more active lives, they have a bigger canvas on which to paint their entire life’s work.

Combine these factors with the ever-fluctuating economy and the need to continue working outweighs the desire to simply remain active. What was once considered economic security by way of a company job, has long since become mythology . . . the stuff of legend. The only economic security that you can create is through your own innovation, through continually developing yourself to add value to a variety of organizations.

With these changes in expectations from the ways work was traditionally performed to our contemporary approaches, there are both losses and gains. We’re all beginning to understand that fulfillment and meaning in our careers is not only something we can strive for, but it’s something we can actually achieve. And something we’re not willing to give up. Certainly this wasn’t part of the work equation for our fathers.

The new trends, in conjunction with demographic changes, influence the very meaning of career. We’re experiencing a new slash movement—a customized career trend. Unique and multiple career descriptions belong to the same individual, promoting and accentuating sometimes vastly different histories and skills, such as attorney / musician, or doctor / reporter / blogger. Does a life with multiple income streams appeal to you? Often this type of work history is the outcome of participating in the “gig economy,” where increasingly, highly paid knowledge workers freelance from gig to gig.

So what does this all mean for you as a career participant? Simply that you own your career. The whole thing. Whether you’re currently inside a large corporation with a single work focus, or whether you’ve already embraced the gig economy, you own the decisions about and the development of your career.

With so many people currently worried about work and their relationship to an employer in today’s contracted economy, it’s crucial to keep one thing in mind: the economy will most certainly bounce back, but the sequential career path with a single employer will not.

So what can you do to better prepare yourself for these changes? Journey with us and discover the choices you can make now to move your career forward and to find increased satisfaction in your work.