Achieving Career Sanity

Everything on this site is an answer to the obvious question: what is “Career Sanity”?

But here is the bottom line on how to achieve it:

Don’t work for jerks. Don’t be a jerk. Don’t go overboard with your spending and obligations.

Decide for yourself what you want to do. Decide for yourself how you feel about what a potential employer is doing, their chances of being or remaining successful, and whether you want to be a part of it.

If you aren’t sure what you want to do – and relatively few are when starting a career – be honest with yourself and proceed from there. Resist – mightily! – any attempts to pressure you into ignoring what you know to be true. You will pay the price if you give in to this.

There is nothing wrong with postponing some of the bigger financial and family obligations until you are sure, or at least reasonably sure, of your career direction. Allowing some time for trial and error, for experimentation, may be the only way to find out what you really want to do. Others may not understand this -- but they aren't going to be living your life.

Whatever you do along the way to your “real” work, do it so well that it brings tears to your eyes. If you wind up flipping burgers for awhile, be the best damned burger flipper that ever breathed. Others will notice. So will you.

We have all at times been let down or kicked around or just plain disappointed by others in one way or another, sometimes by people who care about us a lot. Your fellow humans can be pretty tough to deal with at times. You’re stuck with this, unfortunately.

What you’re not stuck with is how you deal with it. Some get bitter; some get better. Get bitter, bring some of this crap into your dealings with others, cause them some of the aggravation that you’ve experienced. Be another semi-reliable, unpredictably difficult person to deal with, help reinforce the “good help is hard to find” type clichés. How original.

OR:

Get better. Recognizing that pain and suffering are like golf – lower scores are better – resolve to make your dealings with others as positive and productive as possible. Do your part, and show others how to do theirs. Maintain your flexibility so you don’t get stuck with someone who insists on the “pain and suffering” approach.

The “pain and suffering” is bad business, inefficient, wastes resources, and will usually drive customers to the competitors. Steering clear of these situations, while difficult at times, is one of the best things you can do for your career, your health, and your sanity.

Be kind to your future self. He or she may well have to live with some of the decisions you make now.

Career Sanity is good for you. If it catches on, it might even lead to World Sanity.