Book excerpt: Career Progression Isn't Linear Anymore. Here's Why That's a Good Thing. What if everything we've been told about building a successful career is wrong? What if advice like go to school, get a job at a great company, and rise through the ranks is outdated? What if there's a better way to find fulfilling work that pays well? Connie Steele has spent ten years studying the workplace trends that are now permanent changes. Working at Fortune 500, start-up and scale-up organizations, high-growth tech companies, and consulting with C-level executives, Connie has seen firsthand that business is no longer binary, hierarchical, or absolute. It's non-linear, collaborative, and fluid. You don't have to start at the bottom and earn your way up; you can start at the top, as CEO of you. In Building the Business of You, Connie shares the trends of tomorrow so professionals, entrepreneurs, freelancers, founders, and side hustlers can "skate where the puck will be" and form their own career mashup. This is Connie's term for the career of the future (and the present) in which workers merge their skills, interests, passions, values, hobbies, opportunities, relationships, education, network, identity, and even multiple jobs and gigs. Because the dream job is no longer something you get; it's something you create. And Building the Business of You provides all the practical tools you need for yours.