4 ms·

When I was at Nortel, they sent everyone on the "Seven Habits" course. The instructors led everyone through an analysis of what was truly important to them. T

When I was at Nortel, they sent everyone on the "Seven Habits" course. The instructors led everyone through an analysis of what was truly important to them. They also bragged that something like 25% of attendees changed careers within the year. :) Life's too short to not be doing something you really want to do.

jschwartzi 11y ago
Life's also too short to spend it chasing a career that doesn't exist or that you can't make a living at.
- Retra 11y ago
  If you can't make a living doing what you want, it's probably worth spending your life creating what you want so you can do it for a living.
  - jschwartzi 11y ago
    How well does living in a cabin in the woods, chopping wood, and hunting and gardening for food pay? Edit: To clarify, a lot of people in the professional world just take it as a given that everyone wants to be in the professional world for the rest of their lives. I'm trying to make the point that a lot of us are only here because it's the best option out of a number of crappy alternatives. To even ask "What would your ideal position be?" implies that the interviewee wants to work professional jobs for the rest of their lives. On the contrary, most of us don't. If we had an out that allowed us to leave the office for the last time we would take it in a heartbeat. That doesn't make us bad workers, but it's worth considering the fundamental assumptions behind your interview questions before you ask them. A lot of people have professional lives that are an endless series of compromises where they have to choose the least-worst option repeatedly. You rapidly lose your enthusiasm for a life like that.
  - JackFr 11y ago
    No, it's not. The answer is to stop defining yourself by how you earn a living. Pretty good basketball players, pretty good singers, pretty good poets (hell, even the best poets) can't make a living what they love. That doesn't mean they should stop writing poetry or singing or playing basketball. It means they should find a job they like, and continue to do what they love on their own time.
    - Retra 11y ago
      All of their time is their own time.
tertius 11y ago
This is a 1% problem.
intopieces 11y ago
>Life's too short to not be doing something you really want to do. By that metric, a vast majority of the world is wasting their lives doing things they don't love. Unfortunately, they are not in a position to quit their day jobs and pursue that dream.
- redblacktree 11y ago
  Right, and this kind of platitude is an oversimplification. There are a lot of things to consider when it comes to fulfillment in life. For example, do you have children? Perhaps it's more important to you to be a good father and provide for them, even if your job is somewhat mediocre.
jamesdutc 11y ago
"A well-ordered society advances the good of each and all of its members, so that there is no one from whose gaze or plight we have to avert our eyes, no one whose complaints can be met only with lies or pious nonsense about following one’s dream." http://www.lrb.co.uk/v21/n14/jeremy-waldron/the-plight-of-the-poor-in-the-midst-of-plenty http://www.lrb.co.uk/v21/n14/jeremy-waldron/the-plight-of-th...

jschwartzi 11y ago

Life's also too short to spend it chasing a career that doesn't exist or that you can't make a living at.

Retra 11y ago
If you can't make a living doing what you want, it's probably worth spending your life creating what you want so you can do it for a living.
- jschwartzi 11y ago
  How well does living in a cabin in the woods, chopping wood, and hunting and gardening for food pay? Edit: To clarify, a lot of people in the professional world just take it as a given that everyone wants to be in the professional world for the rest of their lives. I'm trying to make the point that a lot of us are only here because it's the best option out of a number of crappy alternatives. To even ask "What would your ideal position be?" implies that the interviewee wants to work professional jobs for the rest of their lives. On the contrary, most of us don't. If we had an out that allowed us to leave the office for the last time we would take it in a heartbeat. That doesn't make us bad workers, but it's worth considering the fundamental assumptions behind your interview questions before you ask them. A lot of people have professional lives that are an endless series of compromises where they have to choose the least-worst option repeatedly. You rapidly lose your enthusiasm for a life like that.
- JackFr 11y ago
  No, it's not. The answer is to stop defining yourself by how you earn a living. Pretty good basketball players, pretty good singers, pretty good poets (hell, even the best poets) can't make a living what they love. That doesn't mean they should stop writing poetry or singing or playing basketball. It means they should find a job they like, and continue to do what they love on their own time.
  - Retra 11y ago
    All of their time is their own time.

tertius 11y ago

This is a 1% problem.

intopieces 11y ago

>Life's too short to not be doing something you really want to do. By that metric, a vast majority of the world is wasting their lives doing things they don't love. Unfortunately, they are not in a position to quit their day jobs and pursue that dream.

redblacktree 11y ago
Right, and this kind of platitude is an oversimplification. There are a lot of things to consider when it comes to fulfillment in life. For example, do you have children? Perhaps it's more important to you to be a good father and provide for them, even if your job is somewhat mediocre.

jamesdutc 11y ago

"A well-ordered society advances the good of each and all of its members, so that there is no one from whose gaze or plight we have to avert our eyes, no one whose complaints can be met only with lies or pious nonsense about following one’s dream." http://www.lrb.co.uk/v21/n14/jeremy-waldron/the-plight-of-the-poor-in-the-midst-of-plenty http://www.lrb.co.uk/v21/n14/jeremy-waldron/the-plight-of-th...