Always flitted betweeen different aims and goals. But i think its natural, as you develop, so do your airms, and you refine your targets as you go on.
When you are young, the targets can take huge tangents, but if you plan well enough you can adapt and make changes, but you must have the dedication and will to do it.
At School/Uni, i wanted to be involved in sports somehow... but after conking out through injury i had to re-assess what i wanted to do. I was studying a sports degree, and was losing interest quickly, but i found music, and focused on that.
After graduation, i worked in a recording studio, found through networking with the local populace, rather than hanging with students. This led to the first of my singles to be released.... down the line, i had to move to London to continue to pursue this 'career', but to survive in London i needed a job.
This is where the realisation that i was producing music in a niche market, and at that point, never going to 'sell out' to make money and how 'political' the music industry was, so i had to focus on regular work, and keep thye music as a hobby.
I ended up in QA, with a skill for automatic testing. Probably due to my ability with music sequencers (automating music playback and composition). So they were sort of related... As the QA career progressed, the music one went into decline...... but i ended up specialising, so i'm pretty much an expert and specialist in SW testing. So now its time to develop further.
Once you get to a certain point, and you are a specialist, it gets pretty difficult to move sideways into another industry or function.
As an example, take a Surgeon, they have specialised and its highly unlikely they will change industries or function.
IMO, this leaves little scope for career developmnent, except along that narrow line.
My next step? Attempting to move to a product management role and taking an MBA, so that i can generalise again, so that i don't need to be specialist, and also giving me the skills to be able to change functions and industries.
At the lower levels, its good to specialise... helps you climb the 'ladder' quickly' but you can hit a ceiling pretty quickly. Then its a case of looking to generalise to advance further. (
IMO)
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