The World’s a Mess. Build Your Career Anyway.
Chaos favors the prepared. Here’s how to stay ahead when everyone else panics.
Welcome to Career Field Guide—a newsletter for ambitious professionals who want to build meaningful careers with real momentum. I share actionable strategies and hard-earned lessons from my time at Amazon, Microsoft, and private equity-backed companies.
All articles are free to read—if something resonates, I’d be grateful if share it with someone who’d benefit.
If 2025 were your boss, it’d cancel your 1:1, ghost your Slack message, move the deadline up by a week, and tell you to “just be flexible—stop looking so stressed out.”
The Noise Is Louder Than Ever
Tariffs. Elections. H1B visa policy. Interest rate whiplash. Layoffs.
Headlines make it feel like we’re one tweet away from collapse. The stock market is acting like a meme stock and the uncertainty index is off the charts—almost literally.
If you’re waiting for “things to calm down” or hoping for better days, you may be waiting a long time. So what do you do in the meantime?
The professionals who thrive in this kind of market aren’t lucky. They’re prepared. They’re grounded. And they obsess over what they can control.
Shrink the Battlefield
Your career doesn’t hinge on Jerome Powell’s next move. It hinges on whether you show up prepared tomorrow.
In times of chaos, you need to narrow your focus and double down on your circle of control.
The circle of control has been one of the most useful tools I’ve relied on when the world feels off the rails.
Here’s the truth: some CEO, government policy, or economic shock is always lurking around the corner.
The past 100 days didn’t invent uncertainty—they just made it impossible to ignore.
For many young professionals, this is their first real economic storm. I’ve been laid off. I know the feeling. It’s disorienting, and it can mess with your confidence. But fear multiplies when you don’t know where to focus.
When that anxiety creeps in, ask yourself:
What can I control right now?
What’s one move I can make to improve this situation?
What’s the very next step?
Focus On What You Can Control
COVID is barely in our rearview mirror and we’re already facing a new kind of economic anxiety that’s seeping into our personal and professional lives.
So let me say this clearly:
Now is the time to channel your energy into what you can do—not overindex on the things out of your control.
You can’t control interest rates. You can control your savings rate.
You may not prevent a layoff. You can build an emergency fund and become essential to your team.
You can’t guess what the Fed, your CEO, or the election will do next. You can decide how you’ll respond to uncertainty—today.
It’s Always Darkest Before the Dawn
Warren Buffett, a man I deeply admire, recently announced he’s stepping down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
Born in 1930, Buffet has lived through:
The Great Depression
World War II
Black Monday—the largest one-day stock market crash in U.S. history
The Great Recession
9/11
COVID-19
And yet, as he wrote:
“In the 20th century, the United States endured two world wars and other traumatic and expensive military conflicts... the Great Depression, a dozen or so recessions, oil shocks, a flu pandemic, and the resignation of a disgraced president. Yet the Dow rose from 66 to 11,497.”
— Warren Buffet
I don’t want to cheapen the real human toll that comes with these seasons of suffering.
But it’s important to say this clearly: this season will end.
The job market will recover.
The economy will stabilize.
You will move forward.
Since 1926, the S&P 500 has returned an average of ~10% per year. That number doesn’t just reflect gains. It reflects survival. Progress through recessions. Resilience after shocks. Recovery after loss.
We endure.
We adapt.
And if we keep our focus, we grow.
Take the long view. Keep building. Stay steady. The dawn is coming.
Take the Next Steps
Want to build a long-term career strategy?
Check out my Four-Step Career Plan—a simple, actionable framework to help you clarify your vision, build a strategic roadmap, and take concrete steps toward the career you actually want.
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