How Do Women Plan Their Careers?! – and What Life Really Makes of It

Ever since I was a little girl, I knew what I wanted to be: a doctor.

Not because anyone in my family had studied medicine – quite the opposite. There were no academics, no doctors, no role models. Maybe that’s exactly what made my determination so strong. My teddy bears certainly had to endure a lot; none of them escaped an appendectomy!

From the Football Field to Medical School

As a teenager, I was anything but what people would call “girly.” I went skiing, played football, and pushed myself through all kinds of athletic challenges. The whole “becoming a woman” thing was sometimes more complicated than any downhill race or match.

At 18, I sat down with a friend, and we knew exactly what we wanted to do: We’re going to plan out our lives!

Medical school, residency (maybe surgery, maybe gynecology – who knows?), a career in the hospital, maybe even becoming a department head. And of course, a small private practice on the side – that part was obvious. And the rest of the time?

Traveling, enjoying life, being free.

We worked up the years, all the way up to age 45. In the middle of our perfectly planned future vision, we suddenly noticed something:

We had forgotten the man and the children.

Oops. 😅

Can you relate to that feeling?

That moment when you’ved sketched out your path with total enthusiasm – and then life politely but firmly gives you a reality check?

Life Writes Its Own Story

Today, many years later, I know from experience: planning is good – but living in the moment is better.

My career turned out completely differently than the one I designed at 18. I became a doctor, a mother, an entrepreneur, a mentor. Not in that order, and not always according to plan – but with a depth no Excel spreadsheet could have predicted.

What I’ve learned: women rarely “plan” their careers in a straight line.

We grow – in phases, in roles, in experiences. And sometimes it’s exactly these twists and turns that lead us to where we truly belong.

So: stay open, stay curious – and dare to live without a plan now and then.

Because that might be exactly the moment when life surprises you, and you will end up exactly where you are meant to be.

Love, Irene