WHAT YOU DO FOR OTHERS, NOT JUST WHAT YOU DO

"One lives in the world's memory only by what they have done in the world's behalf."

Proverb

In your business career as well.

You are paid for what you do to benefit others, not simply for what you do.

ONLY IF IT FITS

"The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases."

Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) Swiss psychologist/psychiatrist.

We'd all like to find the "silver bullet" for self improvement, which thankfully doesn't exist.

We are individuals for a reason.

Our way is there to be found.

THE RIGHT ONE, NOT JUST ANY ONE

"The lonely one offers his hand too quickly to whomever he encounters."

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) German-Swiss philosopher/writer.

Also true when job hunting.

Be available, responsive, but take the time necessary to insure you do only when you should.

You are not right for all jobs and all jobs are not right for you.

Accepting the wrong one often means you must look for another sooner than you'd like.

MONEY BUYS . . .

"It is neither wealth nor splendor; but tranquillity and occupation which give happiness."

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) Third president of the United States.

Good for all of us to remember and none more than those just beginning their careers.

Happiness comes from what we do for a living and how we relax when not working, not the wealth that comes with the job or the things we buy hoping for happiness.

Money buys a lot, just not happiness.

IT'S YOUR TIME; HOW YOU SPEND IT IS LARGELY UP TO YOU

"To do the same thing over and over again is not only boredom: it is to be controlled by rather than to control what you do."

Heraclitus (c. 535 BCE-c. 475 BCE) Greek philosopher.

We all must endure a certain amount of boredom and how much that will be is largely up to us.

If what you're doing bores you devise a plan that will lead to something else.

Easier said than done?

No more than also being worth the effort.

YOU KNOW WHEN YOU KNOW IT

"The price one pays for pursuing any profession, or calling, is an immediate knowledge of its ugly side."

James Baldwin (1924-1987) American writer.

Because there is downside to everything even that with tremendous upside.

Look for both before you choose your career.

WHAT YOU MUST DO, WHAT YOU LIKE TO DO

"Medicine is my lawful wife and literature my mistress; when I get tired of one, I spend the night with the other."

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) Russian author.

So many unhappy at work.

We recreate to offset the time spent doing what we must rather than what we like, often without the option of deciding when we will do either of them.

One third of your life will be spent working; do your best to insure the majority of that time will be enjoyable.

WHAT WILL YOU DO?

"It is the first of all problems for a man to find out what kind of work he is to do in this universe."

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) British historian/essayist

Arguably the biggest of all problems because if you get that wrong, all else that follows will only be worse.

Choose your career carefully.

FEAR THE ACCIDENTAL CAREER

"The great art of life is sensation, to feel that we exist, even in pain."

Lord Byron (1788-1824) British poet

Obviously about life in general but think about this relative to your career.

You don't want to only "exist" in whatever job you do, which you will if you don't consciously, with much thought, determine your life's work.

JUST IN CASE . . .

"Doesn't anybody stay in one place any more?"

Carole King, 20th century American recording artist

from the song "Far Away"

You might ask this if primary your career goal is to stay with just one company.

Maybe you can but be prepared if you can't.

PAY ATTENTION; THEY HAVE A LOT TO TEACH, YOU HAVE A LOT TO LEARN

"Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but religiously follows the new."

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American naturalist, poet/philosopher

In every aspect of life, including business.

If you are just beginning your career, do yourself a favor and pay attention to those further along in theirs.

You might be surprised concerning how much they can teach you.

THAT'S HOME??

"Where thou art, that is home."

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) American poet

Those who agree with this will have an easier time building a career than will those who believe otherwise.

I was always of the mind that it was more important to find a job where I wanted to live than it was to live where I found a job.

Jobs come and go; how bad would it be to be without one in a place you wouldn't otherwise choose to be?

LIFE/WORK BALANCE

"No man tastes pleasures truly, who does not earn them by previous business; and few people do business well, who do nothing else."

Lord Chesterfield

18th century British statesman

Your title should be what you do, it is not who you are.

IT'S ALL IN HOW YOU LOOK AT IT

"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered."

Gilbert Keith Chesterton

Late 19th/early 20th century British journalist/novelist/poet

Not sure this will work as an explanation to stockholders concerning failed investments, but there is value in the thought as you make your way through business and career challenges.

TRUE FOR PEOPLE AS WELL

"Neither have they hearts to stay, nor wit enough to run away."

Samuel Butler

17th century British poet/satirist

When it comes to careers this is true for way too many people, and, as a result, the source of much professional and personal unhappiness.

If you are not happy with what you do, create a plan to become happy.

Leaving things as they are should not be considered a viable option.

Well?

"The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone."

Harriet Beecher Stowe

19th century American writer and philanthropist

If your business, your career, is not going to be the success you originally envisioned, are you really OK with it being because of things you knew you should but never attempted to do?

Do it!

Doing What You Wish Beats Doing What You Must

"If a man loves the labor of his trade apart from any question of success or fame, the Gods have called him."

Robert Louis Stevenson

19th century Scottish essayist/novelist

If you're just beginning your career, or even just thinking about what you want to do when you graduate, think about this a lot.

You have to make enough to live however you wish, but the cost of spending your entire life doing something you don't want to do will be much greater than you can imagine.

There are many things in life over which you have no control. This doesn't have to be one of them.

Which Dog Will You Work For?

"Don't mistake pleasure for happiness. They are a different breed of dogs."

Josh Billings

19th century American humorist

Your career may bring one, sometimes both, occasionally neither.

Make sure you strive for the one you need as much if not more than the one you want.

Behind the Veil Of What Might Be

"It is the dim haze of mystery that adds enchantment to pursuit."

Antoine Rivarol

19th century French writer

"Mystery", "enchantment"; not likely words you associate with your job are they?

Particularly not when you think about your career "pursuit".

But why shouldn't they be?

The Passionate Choice

"Do what you love.  Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw at it still."

Henry David Thoreau

18th century American naturalist

Because doing what you don't love is difficult at best, if not impossible for long.