Why Your Career Isn’t Linear (And Why That’s a Good Thing)

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  “Why Your Career Isn’t Linear (And Why That’s a Good Thing)”

  • normalise nonlinear paths, building momentum for the book’s broader themes

Why Your Career Isn’t Linear (And Why That’s a Good Thing)

By Dr. Angela C. Meyers

Somewhere along the way, we were sold a story:

Start at point A, move to point B, climb steadily toward point C.

School → Degree → Job → Promotion → Success.

Nice. Neat. Predictable.

But here’s the truth most of us live:

Zigzag. Detour. Pivot. Stall. Leap. Reroute. Bloom.

Your career isn’t linear. And it was never meant to be.

The Old Story No Longer Fits

We used to live in a world where staying in one role, one company, even one industry for 30 years was the norm. But that world is gone.

Today, industries evolve overnight. New technologies emerge.

Whole job categories disappear. Passions change. Life intervenes.

And more than ever, professionals are blending experiences across sectors, geographies, and identities.

That’s not failure. That’s evolution.

Your Nonlinear Path Is a Strength

Polymathic people — the curious, creative, multi-passionate ones — often feel like misfits in the traditional career mold. You might wonder:

• Why can’t I just stick to one thing?

  
  

• Why did I shift fields so many times?

  
  

• Why doesn’t my résumé make a straight line?

But what if that winding path is exactly what made you wise?

What if every “detour” was actually a deepening?

The Myth of the Ladder vs. the Reality of the Labyrinth

Career paths today look less like ladders and more like labyrinths.

You move forward, yes — but through exploration, experimentation, even retreat.

In The Polymathic Method™, I invite professionals to stop apologizing for their multidimensional lives and start celebrating them.

Because the “nonlinear” resume is often a sign of:

• Adaptability

  
  

• Lifelong learning

  
  

• Breadth of vision

  
  

• Resilience

  
  

• Unmatched creativity

These aren’t soft skills. They’re survival skills for the future of work.

You’re Not Lost — You’re Layered

When someone says, “I don’t know what to do next,” I often respond:

“You’re not stuck. You’re integrating.”

Sometimes the next step is upward. Sometimes it’s inward.

Sometimes it’s sideways into something wildly new — but still deeply you.

The most fulfilling careers are those that reflect who you’ve become, not just what you studied at 22.

Own the Shape of Your Journey

If your story doesn’t fit on a clean timeline, good.

It means you’ve lived.

It means you’ve grown.

It means you’re not a cog in someone else’s machine.

You’re a human — evolving, expanding, still unfolding.

And that is a beautiful thing.