9 Timeless Principles for Career Fulfillment
Start by choosing ‘enlargement’ over happiness
“Knowing what you know now, if you were starting your career today, what advice would you give yourself?”
This past winter I began teaching leadership and communication skills to MBA students and I was asked a variation of the question above numerous times.
In addition to prioritizing hobbies that strengthened my brain cells instead of ones that stole them, below are the pieces of advice I touched upon along with a few extras I’ve been thinking about.
1. Choose blisters over bliss
For over a decade, Oliver Burkeman — the author of the new hit book “Four Thousand Weeks” — ran a weekly advice column for The Guardian. I was devasted when I learned he was publishing his last post. But my tears quickly dried when I began to read his parting words and came across this whopper of a statement —
“When stumped by a life choice, choose ‘enlargement’ over happiness.”
I couldn’t agree more with this. Nothing worth having comes cheap. Every single aspect of my career I love today initially hurt.
