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You joyfully take the job with the prestigious firm, only to lament the back-stabbing culture. 

Or you accept a cubicle instead of following the call of the great outdoors. 

You swear it’s only temporary.

But then one year stretches into another.  You build a great looking resume instead of a life you love. 

Place and atmosphere are vital to our well being, yet many of us consistently undervalue it.  It’s not just what you’re doing that matters, but where, with whom, and how. 

How many of us would accept a job to work on an isolated island, surrounded by hostile natives, just for bragging rights?  Unfortunately, many careers don’t offer much better.

Having just returned from flat hunting in London, I was struck by the idea that searching for “home sweet home” is nearly the same as looking for “work sweet work.”

(The fact we never say the latter only emphasizes how often we fail to take these concepts to heart.)  

Neither process has to be hard.  If you have the skills to find a place to live, you can find a career that fits.  You just have to have a plan.

5 tips to shape your career landscape

Here’s how we managed to search one of the world’s largest cities to find a new home in under a week.  Turns out, the same strategy works when looking for a comfortable career.

1. Ignore well intentioned advice

My husband’s new office will be in the far, northwestern area of Greater London known as Ruislip.  Most of the people who work there choose to live in nearby suburbs, or farther out in trendy areas like Beaconsfield or Gerrards Cross.

They love it.

But we knew right away those places wouldn’t be a good fit for us.  For example, we wanted a place that didn’t require a car for at least the first year.  We valued proximity to the city over square footage.

Neither set of criteria is right or wrong.  It’s just personal. 

What was strange was how resistant others were to our ideas.  When we talked to people who lived in Ruislip or in nearby areas, they honestly thought we had a screw loose for looking anywhere else. 

The more we talked with them however, the more we worried they might be right.  It was undermining what we thought we wanted for ourselves.

My point is, even very well intentioned people (or perhaps especially well intentioned people) often have difficulty giving any advice other than what they have chosen for themselves. They might acknowledge that everyone has different needs, but unconsciously, they want to justify their own decisions. 

We say people are different, but we advise as if everyone is identical.

Do you see the connection to choosing a career?  People do the exact same thing.  You don’t realize how powerful group think is until you escape it. 

It’s okay to have someone challenge your ideas.  In fact, I think that’s healthy. 

But to find the environment that’s right for you, you may have to ignore or leave some well intentioned people behind. 

2.  Ask for adjectives

In a guidebook on London for Londoners, they describe the neighborhood of Hampstead as “bookish and arty.” 

Touring through Hampstead myself, I might have said it’s hip, without being edgy.  My husband noted it felt vibrant, but not frenzied.

I don’t know that I could have come up with those adjectives as my criteria had you asked me.  But as soon as I heard them and saw the place for myself, I thought, “this is it.”

Before you consider working at a company, ask them for the adjectives they think best describe the culture and working environment. 

For example, descriptions like “prestigious” can be followed by words like “intense” or “competitive” if you dig a little deeper. 

Is that right for you?  Only you can decide.

3. Know your people

While there, we attended a party thrown by friend and fellow blogger Arvind Devalia.  At the time he made his guest list, he had no idea what neighborhood we’d likely be living.  He just invited some Londoners he thought we’d enjoy meeting.

Imagine our surprise to discover more than half of them lived in Hampstead, the very neighborhood we’d chosen!

Sometimes you find your people, sometimes they find you.

Every place I’ve ever worked has described themselves as a “family,”  but it took more than 10 years in the workplace before I experienced the feeling myself.

That’s not to say everything was heaven.  Coming from a rather dysfunctional family, I wasn’t even sure having a “family” at work was such a good thing. 

It certainly didn’t prevent me from calling some policies dumb, or occasionally bickering with co-workers on approach or protecting our imagined turfs.

What I will say is that every frustration was offset by an incredible generosity and camaraderie I didn’t believe existed until I experienced it.  I sometimes disagreed with my boss or co-workers, but we always had each others’ back.

I’ve never felt more loyal to an organization and its purpose in my life.

It’s hard to know whether you’re going to inherit a family when you take a new job, but try to spend as much time as you can with them socially before taking the plunge. 

They always say that people leave bad bosses, not bad jobs, but that’s only half the truth.  An enemy in accounting who holds up your work can be just as frustrating and emotionally draining.  Think bigger than the person above you.

4. Be honest with yourself

Once we narrowed down our neighborhood, we were struggling to decide between two flats.  One had an amazing, private garden (what Americans refer to as a backyard), but was more expensive.  The other looked out onto someone else’s lovely garden.

If we’d felt the garden was important, we’d have paid the extra money.  But we realized that we had a perfectly good backyard now that we hardly ever used. 

What we really wanted was a nice view.

As I’ve said many times, knowing what you want and why is not straightforward at all.  It’s worth spending some time (and ego) debating your own preconceptions.

For example, you might think you couldn’t handle a commute longer than 15 minutes. But what if you could do the commute on public transportation and use it to read, something you miss in your life right now?  Maybe what you hate is the frustration and waste of time that comes with driving, not commuting per se.

5. Beware the zone of indifference

Those lucky enough to choose between two great positions often don’t feel lucky at all.  Instead, they agonize over the decision in an attempt to optimize.

We did the same thing, trying to decide between the flats we loved (even after the big garden a-ha). 

One had a bigger reception room (a dining/living room combo), but the other had more storage.  One decreased my husband’s commute, the other was closer to a large park for our daughter.

On and on, back and forth.

Gary Klein, the father of naturalistic decision making, calls this the “zone of indifference.” 

The idea is this: if one choice is obviously good and the other is obviously bad, it’s easy.  Go with the one that’s obviously good. 

When the choices are very close together, our first instinct says that this is going to be a very difficult decision indeed.  We’re probably going to have to study the problem very hard, do some research, make lists of pros and cons, etc.

In fact, it really doesn’t matter which choice you make–they are essentially equal. Which means you can stop agonizing and just pick one. 

Counter-intuitively, the more you contemplate your choice, the more regret you’ll feel over the option you decided against. 

A work environment checklist

Finding the right environment can get complicated by competing desires. For example, most people will say they want a “challenging” environment, but few sign up for a “stressful” one.  And while “adopting a persona” may sound negative to your ears, it’s essential to careers like sales, teaching, therapy, and (obviously) acting.

This checklist isn’t meant to be exhaustive as much as it’s intended to help you unravel some of your career conundrums. 

In general, environmental considerations can be divided into three categories: physical, emotional, and social.  The questions below are meant to be answered with your ideal working environment in mind.

Physical (what does your job look like?)
- Inside or outside?
- City or rural setting?
- How long does it take to commute?
- How do you get to work (car, public transportation, walk etc)?
- How often do you travel?
- How many hours do you work?
- Cubicle, office, or shared space (i.e. lab, kitchen, or classroom)?
- Noisy or quiet?

Emotional (how does your job make you feel)?
- What’s the pace of your work?
- Content or driven?
- Playful or focused?
- Relaxing or stimulating?
- Stable or enterprising?
- Predictable or unpredictable?
- Structured or unstructured?
- Can you be yourself or do you adopt a persona?

Social (with whom and how do you interact?)
- Do you spend most of your time with clients or colleagues?
- Do you lead or follow?
- Do you work in teams or on your own?
- Collaborative or competitive?
- Flat or hierarchical?
- Large or small organization?
- Liberal or conservative?
- What are the demographics of your colleagues?

Not all of those factors will be important or even applicable to your situation.  The key is to identify the handful that are and commit to them.

There’s this vague notion that you have to sacrifice if you want to be successful, and sadly, the quality of the workplace environment is often the first to go. 

We think we can drain our emotional bank accounts to fill our physical ones without penalty.

Now you know better.

The question is: when are you going to do something about it?

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50 Responses to Finding A Career That Fits

    • On
    • May 31, 2011 at 9:20 am
    • Martha
    • Said...

    I’m 53 and have finally after 30 years on / off in the workplace found the job that makes me do the happy dance. And have finally found the town and house that makes me feel the same. How? By ignoring the advice of others and listening to what made my heart sing – great post today about finding a career that fits – and that can also be applied to finding a life that fits, too. Thanks for sharing your gift of writing.

    • Yay, Martha! Learning to listen to your own voice amid the cacophony of others is a powerful lesson. And what a terrific reward you got in return. Glad this message spoke to your heart!

    • On
    • May 31, 2011 at 9:32 am
    • barbara
    • Said...

    An isolated island with hostile natives… give me a moment I’m having a flashback. OMG!

    I love the way your mind works. Comparing house hunting to job hunting is spot on. I’ve moved many times in my life, and I’ve had many diverse careers, but I never thought about the correlation to house hunting.

    As for decision making… I sometimes jump too quickly and then may regret the choice but I accept it’s my impatience and try not to beat myself up over it.

    A former friend of ours is the type of person who agonizes over every decision from white or brown rice to mac vs. pc. She agonized over the last one so long she missed the opportunity for a new computer that still had windows xp and ended up with vista.

    She does this with almost everything and it’s painful to watch. I’m all about researching products but at some point you need to pull the trigger and just do it.

    Of course she does enjoy beating herself up over her ‘stupid’ choices so I guess she gets satisfaction in that. Which is why she’s a ‘former’ friend.

    I’m very excited for you and your family’s big adventure of moving to England. So happy we have the blogosphere to stay in touch.

    I would have chosen the same area you did. Sounds very much like where I live.

    Great post! Thanks.

    • That’s interesting that you tend to jump too quickly and then experience regret. I think that’s relatively rare, simply because most people have the need to justify their own decisions, even to themselves.

      But I still think that’s preferable to the alternative, as you describe with your friend. Whew!

      We’re very excited about the move. We did say that we wanted to recreate the feel of Bethesda, MD as much as possible, and this comes darn close. Come visit!

        • On
        • May 31, 2011 at 8:12 pm
        • barbara
        • Said...

        I would love to come visit. I’ve never been to England. You never know.
        b

    • On
    • May 31, 2011 at 9:55 am
    • Chapin
    • Said...

    This is a great post! I am going through both an apartment and job search at the same time (moving out of the area) and I have been getting many opinions. People feel very strongly about where their friend or loved one chooses to live! I am getting so many mixed opinions but I am lucky to have an instinct toward one that I will likely follow. I love your adjective idea as well – I definitely will use that in upcoming interviews. Great post!

    • It’s a funny thing, isn’t it? I mean, advice is one thing, but expectations are quite another. Definitely keep listening to your inner voice, and use it when you’re doing your interviews. Too much advice out there on how to hide your inner voice instead of share it. If you want a good fit, you have to take your real self into the interview.

      Let me know how the “asking for adjectives” works for you. It’s always a relief to know I’m not weird. :)

    • On
    • May 31, 2011 at 10:04 am
    • Lindsay
    • Said...

    “We think we can drain our emotional bank accounts to fill our physical ones without penalty”.

    I’m suffering through this right now. I’m draining my emotional account to fill my physical one. It’s not worth it. I have reached the point where I’d rather be poor than miserable. My Mom always says “money isn’t everything!” and she’s absolutely right.

    Wonderful analogy, good work on this article!

    • I used to be right there with you, Lindsay. Best decision I ever made was to quit and follow my instincts. Even better, my money fears turned out to be mostly shadows. I’d been tormenting myself over money for years for … nothing.

      I hope your experience is equally positive!

  5. Your point about being honest with yourself is soooo important. Not only in careers but in life as well.

    There have been so many times where I tried to trick myself. I remember wanting to volunteer at two non profits, take a full level of classes, do a sport, and a job. It was well intentioned, but deep inside I knew it was too much. But I didn’t listen and got super stressed. And I ended up having to drop most of it.

    • I know, Brandon. The garden is just one example of many where I called myself out. It makes you wonder: how many times do you fail to notice?

      I think the key is to continually question yourself and your motives. Not in a dramatic or drawn out way–it needn’t take longer than any other decision–but through a commitment to thoughtfulness.

      On the other hand, I would add not to beat yourself up too much either. We all fool ourselves sometimes! :)

    • On
    • May 31, 2011 at 11:11 am
    • Martha
    • Said...

    I think it is very important to know the difference between ‘wanting to do things’ and ‘wanting to want to do things’. When I ask myself if I really want to do it – or if I’m just dreaming that it’s something I want to do, the choices become clearer and I don’t tend to overcommit.

  7. This is one of the most incredibly helpful posts I have ever read…anywhere! Thank you. I want to print it out and wallpaper my writing/working area with it.

    “We think we can drain our emotional bank accounts to fill our physical ones without penalty.” One of the best quotes I have ever heard too. So much food for thought here. Thank you so much!

    • Denise, your note just made my day. I worried the post was too long and no one would take the time to read it. I’m glad this one touched you.

      Thanks for being such a terrific luminary!

  8. I thought the point about not worrying over two essentially same choices was a good one. I never thought of it that way, but the next time I catch myself obsessing over minute differences, I’m totally going to use that.

    • It was hugely helpful for me when I heard that advice too, Shanna. You have to catch yourself doing it to implement, but once you do, it really takes the stress out of a good situation!

  9. I think of it this way: you and your family are going to have great experience. The question is what do you want to make primary amongst that set of experiences?

    Years back I faced a similar choice, briefly looking at a house in Pinner (not far from Ruislip, in what appeared to be a quaint little English village), but instead chose a flat in Maida Vale for its easy access to the heart of London by tube, bus, taxi and on foot. We loved the vibrancy of the city and all it could offer, and I expect you will have much of that at your doorstep from Hampstead, plus access to the Heath. By the way, I expect you will need car in Hampstead, just so you can be more spontaneous and efficient in your discovery of all there is to offer. But you can rent one as needed during your first year.

    I don’t believe you were caught in the zone of indifference as much as you were facing the limits of critical thinking where you have limited access to the criteria that impact your decision making….critical thinking is not just separating good choices from bad ones; it is also the ability to distinguish amongst several good choices. House hunting, far from home, with a limited time to do it, and knowing that you don’t have access to all the information you need, makes the task all the more challenging and often triggers the emotional side of what you hope might be a straightforward logical task.

    You stumbled onto a great resource — meeting others and asking about what makes their experience special (in this case in Hampstead vs being even further outside the city).

    When checking out a potential employer, it’s good to speak to current and former employees as well as check out sites like glassdoor.com. Similar advice applies here – follow up with an expat who lives in London – even better find one who lives in a small town further out and then one who lives in your target area. See what they each say as the pros and cons. That will quickly help you expand your sense of what may be possible in the new situation. You should be able to find links to blogs about life in London and surely the experience of Hampstead.

    For what it’s worth, we never regretted the choice to move closer to the city. My advice is to be clear, even write down, why you chose the option you pursued, so you can revisit that and learn from it should you find yourself someday romanticizing the option not followed.

    • Marc,
      I so appreciate your response. I also look at the decision to forgo a car the first year a grand experiment. I know several minimalists are doing it back here in the States, where there is decent public transportation (like Portland and San Francisco), and making it work. I’d like to think I can do the same in London. We even made ourselves walk to the tube in the rain, to make sure we were up for that. I reminded myself how much my daughter actually enjoys walking in the rain! LOL

      Many also recommended Pinner to us, but it wasn’t a good fit. It was like walking into a bar and just not feeling the love. What can I say! :) I don’t think we’ll regret Hampstead either. Maybe we’ll even add it to the list of recommendations for others.

  10. Love this! On all of my job searches, the only objective I ever had was to get a job. With experience, I learned that I cared about commute time and whether I would have to dress up, but I still didn’t look any deeper than that. It was never a matter of whether I would choose them, it was always just hoping someone would choose me. You really leave a lot to fate/luck that way.

    • Cara, I think most people approach job hunting that way. And who is out there telling you differently? It’s like we never get over being the last one picked for kickball!

      I think that’s a brilliant way to put it, and I’ll have to capture that somewhere: choose, don’t wait for someone to choose you.

      Love your perspective, as always!

  11. Excellent post – well written as usual and a thought provoking comparison between home and job hunting. Like many of the commenters I will use some of the lessons from this post.

    • Thanks, Cherry. That’s a real compliment from an already wise woman. :)

    • On
    • June 1, 2011 at 12:11 pm
    • Melissa
    • Said...

    I really enjoyed this post. I’m currently a stay at home mom and even though I am not looking for work, I find your writing thought provoking and inspirational, and not limited to the workplace. I really enjoyed this post. Sometimes, I find myself paralyzed by indecision and making that list of pros and cons. It doesn’t help. It makes the anxiety of the decision that much worse. I also know many well intentioned know it alls (and can be one myself) who freely weigh in on matters from where I went to college and what major to pursue to how to raise my kids. It’s hard to tune out those voices but I do find that it becomes easier the older I get, especially when I read advice like yours. Thanks.

    • Thanks, Melissa! I think many of us struggle with decision making. We’re so afraid of choosing the wrong thing! So we ask for advice (or get offered it) from people who don’t necessarily share our values and dreams. I just try to be that light in the dark that says it’s okay to be your own brand of happy. So glad it’s helping you–that’s what success looks like for me!

    • On
    • June 1, 2011 at 1:23 pm
    • Felicia Shelton
    • Said...

    What a post and so on time with what’s currently going on in my life.
    I just returned to the States after having completed my contract in Seoul, South Korea. The easy thing to do would be to return but in all honesty I’m hesitating about returning. On the one hand, it’s the easy thing to do, I know the job, the drill, etc. but on the other hand I want to take a break from teaching or at least teach in a new country. I love to travel and now I’m beginning to get more and more gigs as a photographer from different magazines. It’s strange, the easy way to get to other countries is to teach English but on a full time schedule it leaves little time to work on my photography which is what I really love to do. I’ve lived around the world and want to continue doing this but as a photographer. What I’m thinking of doing now is choosing another worldly city in regards to my work as a photographer. The question is how would I support myself fully because I’m used to not sweating over housing, food, and other essentials while in the new city. Oy! In a way, I think your move is amazingly simple. You’re moving there due to your husband’s career, all you have to do is pick where you want to live, then set up house…in England. You’re going to love it! Congratulations!

    • Felicia, are you still struggling with how to balance your photography and wanderlust? I thought you had a plan?! I agree that you don’t want to be sweating over housing and other essentials, but I think you’re making this harder than it needs to be. Why not use your photography skills to make money (outside of the magazine work) instead of teaching? It might take a while to build up the business, so save up some money to tide you over until it pays the bills. There are so many ways to make money in this world–think bigger!

      • Hello again!
        Thank you for responding, you’re amazing. You’re so sought-after, don’t know how you do it but am glad that you do!
        I’m now in the States and falling in love all over again with the landscape, the people, etc. The best thing for me (to take the pressure off of myself) is to just focus on the project I’ll work on in Paris. I would love to stop teaching and move more into photography but so far teaching has been the job that helps me to travel. I’m hoping that this design project will start me on a different path. Einstein was right about the definition of insanity. It’s time to do something different. Photography has always been a part of my life, and travel is a huge part of who I am. Thanks again.

        • Believe in yourself, Felicia. Step out there and take a risk. Pledge to ask 2 businesses if you could do some photography work for them. I can’t tell you how many times I’m facing some issue or problem as a new business owner, and I think, why isn’t anyone trying to solve this for me? Surely there are people out there who know how to do this–why aren’t they asking for work? You’ve done so many courageous things in your life. This is nothing!

          Best wishes and let me know how you make out. I keep up with responses because I enjoy it, plain and simple. :)

            Thank you, thank you, thank you! I will go into the city tomorrow and do exactly what you said. I have some favorite businesses in D.C. and I’m going to see if they would like for me to photograph their wares, space, etc.
            Today, I’ll just make a map and perhaps send a quick email to those places I’ll visit tomorrow. Thank you for for your encouragement and very wise words.

            At some point, think about defining what kinds of businesses you want to target, what their goals/need are, and how you can help them achieve those goals. Then put together a little script so you make sure you don’t miss key selling points in the heat of conversation. A lot of folks fail to get business due to presenation, not lack of skill. You might even consider Ramit Sethi’s Earn1K program, which I took and really enjoyed.

  14. Wasn’t trying to trivialize your research into different neighborhoods in England, just want you to see you’re so lucky, but I think that you know that. I’m very happy for you!

    • No offense taken. :)

      I DO realize how fortunate I am. We always assumed we’d have to wait until my husband retired to live out this dream. I’m very glad we don’t have to make the details of that work.

      Don’t forget, folks would be extremely envious of your past travels as well. We tend to marginalize our own efforts, as if it were easy. You’ve already done some extraordinary things. Give yourself credit, and believe you’ll continue to find a way!

    • Just read your last comment and I think that’s a great idea. I was working on it yesterday. I have to be prepared and I that I’ll use today and this weekend to strategize and be more than prepared next week, when I’ll set out in several neighborhoods that flourish with the kind of businesses I would love to shoot or otherwise be a part of in a creative way. Thank you so much, Jennifer.

      • Let me know how it goes. You know how to reach me. :)

    • On
    • June 1, 2011 at 3:14 pm
    • Heather
    • Said...

    Great advice Jennifer! It generalises to any decision really. I wish you well in your new adventure!

    • Thank you, Heather! I’m still pinching myself. :)

  16. Jen, thanks so much for this article! After I read the guest post on your site by Stacey Curnow, I started trying to figure out how to quit my job! The only thing I could think was that I really wanted my old position back (sadly, it’s four states away). So I brainstormed a list of projects I could work on remotely, and my old boss was thrilled to give me some contract work! You never know until you ask.

    • Brooke,

      I couldn’t agree more. The first step one takes with courage is to ask for what they want. Quitting isn’t always the right option. That’s why guided career design is so helpful–it’s too easy to fool ourselves. Glad it worked out even better than you imagined!

      Jen

  17. Hi Jennifer,

    That’s amazing you found a place to live in such a short time frame, but it makes sense when you use the guidelines above.

    Your post reminded me of the videos I’ve been making the past couple of weeks that go through our assessment reports.

    One of the values people have is aesthetic. People with high aesthetic motivators are affected by their surroundings and work environment significantly. We’ve helped a number of clients who realized that was one of their top values and they call us up thanking us when they find their next job and they took their surroundings as a serious consideration for the job.

    It’s a true point you make and I just wanted to second it.

    • We thought it was pretty amazing too–that’s what got me thinking about the process. Once I saw the connection, I had to share of course!

      Thanks for adding your perspective and experience. Always appreciated!

    • On
    • June 4, 2011 at 9:13 am
    • Vanessa
    • Said...

    Jen – this post struck a chord with me, especially the part about choosing between two fairly equal options. I really struggle with decision making sometimes, so worried about making the wrong choice. Sometimes I second guess my choice but generally after agonizing I make the right one. But then I always wish I made it sooner.

    The well intentioned advice about people giving advice that justifies their choices is so true. I’ve been guilty of this myself, although not so much in the context of careers. I’m going to try and be more aware of this in myself and be mindful with others.

    The list of criteria in a job are spot on – I feel like bookmarking this post for future reference. Thank you for being so generous with your words of wisdom and all the best in your new London adventure!

    • Vanessa,
      You’re not alone! Everyone worries about making the wrong choice. I think the big myth is that the choices we’re agonizing are terribly different. Usually, we can’t make a wrong choice b/c both choices are equally good (or equally bad for the pessimists out there!).

      Glad this is worthy of a bookmark. That’s always what I’m shooting for in my posts. And thanks for the well wishes on London. It looks like everything is going through with the flat we picked out. Whoop!

    • On
    • June 4, 2011 at 9:46 am
    • Daria
    • Said...

    Yay! Congratulations on the move and also on the flat choice. Sounds wonderful that you already have friends in your neighborhood and connections to the community. So happy for you! AND your post is great and very timely for me, so thank you – again – for some really great, tangible, advice.

    • Yes, I had you in the back of my mind while writing this. How’s the job search going?

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  21. Jen, thank you for an interesting narrative about decisions and how we arrive at them. I can certainly relate to your indicators of job connectedness and the sense of well-being (or not) that work may sustain.

    With respect to significant problems and decisions, sometimes snap decisions must be made according to what we know at the time and our present emotions and feelings. For other decisions, I think it is important to gather objective information and comparisons first. That can help us to contextual and evaluate our feelings about present circumstances and possible futures.

    I think it helps to alternate the rational consideration of alternatives with periods of mindfulness, by which we let go of the problem for a while. There is a lot going on below the level of consciousness in mind and body and it best to let those processes take their course. I have often reached satisfying decisions that way.

    • Andrew,

      I completely agree that important topics, especially something as important as career change, should be thoroughly researched. In fact, that’s why I’m now offering coaching on that process, as it can be overwhelming on your own. And I very much like your suggestion of mindfulness, or quiet time to let all that research gestate in your head.

      But once that’s done, I think making the decision should be fairly straightforward. Either you need more research or you need to make a decision. Usually it’s the latter, but you’re struggling because you’re in the zone of indifference, but think you can somehow optimize two equally good options. There are always pros and cons. Too many use that as an excuse to endlessly debate themselves. My hope is this post gives folks permission to stop doing that. :)

      Thanks for the add on mindfulness. That is important.

  22. Jen,

    What an amazing experience and perfect comparison. I apologize for being slow to get to this great post and comment.

    You make so many fabulous observations here, so it was hard to pick. But I do love your point about how so many never call it “work sweet work.” We would all be so much happier if that phrase became our overarching career goal!

    It’s your observations about the adjectives that were so exciting and revealing. I had never thought of adjectives as being the real clues to making our career and other best decisions. This line is so true:”Before you consider working at a company, ask them for the adjectives they think best describe the culture and working environment.” I can think of many situations where my adjectives we polar opposities from my bosses.

    Then this observation really struck a chord:”Sometimes you find your people, sometimes they find you.” So true and so important. It should give us all comfort.

    Well, you’re in for another amazing adventure and endless content for your blogs. Thanks for sharing your insights. They are amazing. ~Dawn

    • I agree, Dawn. They say you know you’ve impacted a community when they start using your language and terms for things. Maybe that will be my indicator I’ve made progress in my mission to get people to prioritize happiness in their work and careers.

      I’m so glad you enjoyed the adjectives exercise. It was a surprise to me too at how quickly it helped narrow down my choices. Had I done the exercise prior to arriving, I might have gotten a flat in just a couple of days! :)

      Excited to be on this journey, and to have such wonderful people such as yourself to share it with!