Tinyiko Ndlala | Director | Business Unit | Leagas Delaney South Africa | mail me |
Forget the year-end strategy sessions and performance reviews. I want to talk about something often forgotten – your career fantasy. Not the sanitised LinkedIn version, but the real one.
Here, I reflect on why we stop dreaming once we hit our ’30s. I also share how to find our way back to those aspirations tucked away when life got busy. As such, this article is, at its core, a career fantasy reflection for anyone seeking to reconnect with their professional desires.
It’s been a year. Year-end fatigue is settling in. I don’t know about you, but I am done reading anything with steps, strategies, tips, or tricks. I am ready to wrap things up. No shade, no tea.
Getting caught up and forgetting about dreaming
As the year ends, I find myself reflecting on career dreams. These quiet, persistent visions sometimes get put aside as life gets busy. A little career fantasy reflection reminds us why we started on our paths in the first place.
I’m taken back to my high school valedictorian, one of my fondest memories. We were reminded of Dr. Seuss’s words: “Oh, the places you’ll go”. I remember my English teacher reciting the book. Even now, whenever something happens – good, bad or unexpected, the words come back to me. They remind me that life is not intended to be linear. Most importantly, those words felt limitless.
Somewhere along the way, especially in our ’30s, we get caught up in doing and forget dreaming. We focus so much on tasks, KPIs and daily deadlines that we neglect to ask ourselves what we truly want from our careers. In addition, we forget what would make our work meaningful. We also forget what would make our professional journey exhilarating.
Why do we stop dreaming
Something shifts in your ’30s that nobody really warns you about. The world starts asking different questions. Suddenly, it’s not “What do you want to be when you grow up?” but “Where are you in your career progression?”
Conversations move from possibility to positioning. We trade wonder for stability. Somewhere in that exchange, we convince ourselves that dreaming is for people who haven’t figured it out yet.
Responsibilities also creep in. Paying bonds, supporting dependents, and securing medical aid or a decent pension add pressure. Exhaustion plays a role, too. When you juggle client demands, team management and the quest for work-life balance, fantasising about your career can feel like an indulgence you cannot afford.
Here’s the key insight – when we stop dreaming, we stop growing. We become maintainers rather than creators of our own professional narratives. A little career fantasy reflection encourages curiosity and imagination.
Finding your way back
When I first started out, I had a long list of aspirations. Some were clear. Some evolved from full stops to question marks. Others were written in tiny font, and a few in bold red caps. Some I couldn’t have imagined at all. For instance, I was one of two people selected to represent my agency in Paris for a WPP programme called Craft Skills Training. That wasn’t on my list, but it became a career highlight.
More recently, opportunities such as writing and sharing parts of my professional journey reminded me how fulfilling it feels to see my words out there and connect with others. Moments like these make me realise that career success isn’t always linear or predictable. It often comes unexpectedly and feels wonderfully serendipitous.
If you’re reading this and thinking, “I can’t even remember what my career dreams were”, you’re not alone. Reconnecting with those buried aspirations doesn’t require a dramatic overhaul or a vision board. No judgment if that’s your thing. Start small. Ask yourself: Which parts of my work genuinely excite me? What would I do more of if I could? What opportunities have I dismissed because they seemed impractical or far-fetched?
Sometimes, looking sideways rather than up helps. Your dream might not be the next rung on the corporate ladder. It could involve mentoring junior colleagues, speaking at industry events, learning a new skill unrelated to your current role or even working fewer hours to pursue something meaningful outside the office. Permit yourself to want something different from what you thought you should want.
Career fantasies come in all shapes and sizes
Not all career fantasies have to end up on LinkedIn. For some, it’s a coveted title. For others, financial freedom. Some involve working on a passion project, building something of your own or simply carving out time to live fully outside work.
Big ones, small ones, they all matter. Careers should be more than a value exchange measured solely by time and remuneration. Ideally, we should walk away from our careers with more than just a retirement annuity. Who did you meet along the way? Where did your journey take you? How did you positively influence someone else’s path?
The fantasy isn’t just about a title, salary or accolade. It’s about fulfilment, impact, growth and joy. Aligning work with values and making space for things that light you up matters. Sometimes, the fantasy is daring. Other times, it is quiet but no less powerful. The little victories, the risks you took, the lessons learned and the stories you’ll carry forward truly define it.
As this year winds down, I’m asking you: What’s your career fantasy? Say it out loud. Write it down. Share it with someone you trust. Give it the space to exist, even if it feels far away or unconventional. As Dr. Seuss reminds us, “Oh, the places you’ll go. How much can you lose? How much can you win?” Read that again. Let it sink in. Then start imagining the next chapter with courage, curiosity and a teaspoon of audacity.
