On Career Decisions
Quotes from a few wise people
I’ve been thinking a lot about how I want to shape the next phase of my career. I swerve between conflicting thoughts, where potential paths forward are extremes apart. A desire to make a meaningful impact, to achieve my potential, lies squarely across from an opposing desire to live a simple, peaceful life (preferably on a tropical island…). Many other options lay in the in-between. I want to do - to be - many things. Yet, dispersed ambition comes at the cost of dilution. There is no limit to what one person can do. But, there is a limit to what can be done at one time. Every decision made in life is a tradeoff, and that is as true in our careers as anything else. I’ve found that the question to ask myself is not “what do I want to do next?” (too restrictive in its view), or “what do I want my life to be?” (too overwhelmingly broad to be fit into one job), but rather, “what do I want to prioritise now and how does that align with what I want long term?”. Long term in this case being my vision for a future state idyllic life, which ultimately is the tangible manifestation of my values.
Values are inescapably intertwined with our careers. Even if you are someone who has chosen not to actively cultivate a career, that choice itself is a demonstration of your values. Perhaps it's choosing family over wealth, creativity over stability, balance over influence. Most of us need to earn a living to maintain a basic quality of life and even in situations of limited options, what we choose to do, or not do, says a lot about our values. As it does our fears. This is why most career advice is largely unhelpful. Any answer you get is often just a reflection of the advisor's values and view of the world. In fact, I’ve inadvertently learned more about some of my friends' inner worlds, and their relationship with money, status, and themselves, by their reaction to my career choices.
That’s not to say that there isn’t merit in seeking advice. I seek a lot of it. It can be insightful. It can reshape our perspective. It should however be decanted, separated from its original source and viewed through the lens of our own personal needs and desires. With that in mind, below are a few quotes that have helped me navigate my conflicting thoughts as I work towards making my next career decision.
“Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.” - Max Ehrmann
This quote shook me out of a phase of nihilism. Even in a world of geopolitical chaos, where AI will steal our jobs (something I am in equal measures optimistic about, and terrified by), there is a lot of joy and dignity to be found in cultivating a skillset that is your own. A career is something you can be pursued for your own satisfaction rather than just a means to an end.
“Once again I found myself contemplating what I should be doing to do something of worth. Everything I came up with seemed irreverent or irrelevant”. - Patti Smith (From Just Kids)
These sentences expressed my feelings better than I ever could. However, it wasn’t this belief that most inspired me but how Smith dealt with it. Her book is filled with countless examples of all the art she created, and jobs she worked during this time. She didn’t let the lack of direction keep her stuck. Instead she kept creating and trying new things. She worked through the lostness to find her path, one step, one piece of work at a time.
“How can I make myself and the act of being alive my vocation, recognising that any job one has is just a passing thing, a kind of filter through which to see the world only for a time, and the real challenge is to make the act of life itself your vocation.” - Wade Davis (Source interview)
Possibly one of the most perfect sets of words ever said.
“Never define your life by your current circumstances.” - Alysia Silberg (Source interview)
This is a good reminder that everything is temporary and there is one fixed path. No one job, career, or outlet of our purpose. Each choice we’re faced with, no matter how unpleasant, is just a stepping stone. Sometimes what we decide may lead us away from the place we want to go, or at least where we think we want to go. It’s not the end. Nearly everything in life can be changed and may impossible seeming dreams are attainable.
“Don’t be a career. The enemy of most dreams and intuitions, and one of the most dangerous and stifling concepts even invented by humans, is the “Career”. A career is a concept for how one is supposed to progress through stages during the training for and practicing of your working life. There are some big problems here. First and foremost is the notion that your work is different and separate from the rest of your life. If you are passionate about your life and your work, this can’t be so. They will become more or less one. This is a much better way to live one’s life”. - Steve Jobs
I have witnessed countless people in my life sacrifice their happiness, health and dreams for the notion of a career. Staying in jobs that are killing their souls and letting go of what they want most because they are stuck on the treadmill of mimetic desires of job titles and LinkedIn prestige. A career is a thing you have, not a thing you are. Unlike Jobs I don’t think it's always possible for your “life’s work” to be your income source. Unfortunately a lot of the most valuable work done in society is monetarily undervalued. However, this quote for me, was a reminder to find my life’s work(s), a purpose that fulfils me, and to design anything else needed around that.
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