Close your eyes – blind faith in career development

Change is the only constant

The last twenty years of paramedicine have had one constant: change. On an almost annual basis, the scope of practice evolved, new networks with their bypass protocols & the nature of paramedic decision making changed. There was no standing still, it was onwards, onwards onwards. Relentlessly.

This can easily be evidenced by the way in which the core practice document for paramedics: JRCALC was re-published in shorter & shorter intervals. Indeed, so frequent are the updates now that it has shifted to an online resource!

As practitioners, we all adjust in our own ways. Some with open arms – seeking faster pace of development, other with a more cautious approach. Some suffered the inequities of inertia, with the inevitable dissonance that resulted when the pace of their evolution may not have been optimal.

Glass Ceilings

Even with all this change, there remained a glass ceiling, all be it that it did elevate regularly. For some of us, the pace of change was not enough. I was one such paramedic. Not all the behaviours that resulted from this impatience were positive. One very positive move was the decision to start progressing my academic training – to set off & undertake some post graduate education.

After one or two experimental modules at “MSc” level, I committed to an MSc pathway. At the time, paramedics with MSc degrees were at best rare, and those roles requiring it were equally rare.

What was I thinking?

In short, I was thinking that an MSc would open doors, though which doors remained unknown. Indeed, many of the doors I ended up walking through had not even been envisioned when I commenced the MSc. As it turned out, I was right.

Blind faith vs predicting the future

Do you need to know exactly what you will be doing in five years? I ask all my coaching clients where they see themselves in five years. They all have an answer. Occasionally one will answer in the general: describing a location, or level in an organisation. If this is matched with “I’m not sure, & that’s ok” we are off to the races.

Predicting the future is fraught with pitfalls, & your biases will kick in without doubt. If you incline to the negative, that will impact your vision. If you are an effervescent optimist, guess what will happen? Of course, your “predictions” will reflect your mindset.

How about we don’t try to predict? Anyone want to hazard a prediction about the impact of AI?

Nope? Me neither.

Will there be challenges – of course! Will there be opportunities? No doubt?

Close your eyes

So, close your eyes and have some faith that having a flexible mindset, & being open to opportunities, is the way to go. In the meantime, invest in yourself. Your academic training perhaps, but also your mindset & your wellbeing. Tee up the best version of you to be receptive to the clues and open to the chance to take the paths that probably do not even exist yet.

Change is your constant, the best way to meet it is to be the best version of yourself.