​​​You need to stay relevant.

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​​Taking responsibility for your career interests and management, is your responsibility not your employers!

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Here's a number of watch outs for you to be aware of:

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Change and relevance are constant themes. 

• Prepare to Pivot—Again and Again

• Industries and jobs shift due to economic cycles and technological change. Your marketability can shift quickly, demanding that you keep your skills both current and in demand.

• Even highly successful brands and sectors can fade, illustrating the need to catch the next wave rather than relying on past success.

Career paths are non-linear and full of disruptions.

• Expect a mix of highs and lows, some of which are out of your control: recession, layoffs, changing employer priorities, and personal crises will disrupt your trajectory at some stage.

• Adaptability—not strength or experience alone—is the best predictor of survival and success in the workplace.

Learning slows as you age, but knowledge decay accelerates.

• Early in your career, learning is rapid. As you establish expertise, the rate of learning tailors off, and some knowledge fades. You need to continually refresh and re-acquire what you forget, as well as learn new approaches and techniques.

• For specialists and subject experts, this is especially crucial: without ongoing learning, technical edge and relevance will wane.

Self-awareness is crucial—everyone has blind spots.

• Most people, regardless of age or intelligence, tend to overestimate their own ability and competence.

• Developing humility and regularly recalibrating what you know (and don't know) makes a tangible difference in career longevity and credibility.

Tenure tells a story—too short looks flakey, too long can look stagnant.

• If you switch roles every 18 months, you may look unstable. If you stay with the same employer for 7–10 years with little change, you’re at risk of being seen as institutionalised and perhaps unwilling to adapt.

• Employers want to see stability with progress and evidence you can deliver return on investment in a role—be mindful of the narrative your CV projects.

Career plateaus and decay are real; upward progress is not guaranteed.

• Many plateau or decline before retirement, not from a lack of experience, but from failing to maintain the currency of their skills and approach.

• Creators of their own stagnation often keep talking about what they once did, not what they still can do.

• To avoid this, regularly assess your skills, upgrade them, and stay engaged with the present—not just the past.

Younger professionals: avoid the early-career traps.

• It’s common in your twenties and early thirties to either overrate your skills or lack confidence entirely. Either extreme undermines your long-term credibility.

• Your first career steps do not need to dictate your lifelong direction: it’s appropriate to recalibrate once you know yourself better.

• Beware of becoming too narrowly specialised (the “silo” effect) or flitting between employers too quickly—both can limit later options.