Good Work : Reclaiming Your Inner Ambition

So I came up with a mantra for future decisions: “Coming alive over getting ahead.” It was a reminder to choose work that lit me up, rather than work that merely serves to earn more money.

"I don't know where I'm going, but I know exactly how to get there."

The questions I most often come back to include: What is work? How did you arrive at that conclusion? What scripts are you unconsciously living out? Are they serving you or holding you back? Is there a better script for your life, right now?

This is a crucial point: by worrying first and foremost about figuring out what people will pay for, too many people on the path toward good work short-circuit their own interests, curiosity, and energy. Instead of searching for skill-market fit, you should start with person-interest fit. What are the activities you absolutely must do? What do you

Perhaps you loved the initial path you embarked on, much like I enjoyed consulting in my first couple of years. If that fire has become a small flame, vow to yourself: I will not let this flame die.

By taking a break and learning to follow their interests, people start to ask new questions, ones that plant the seeds for a much bigger vision of life.

This is why when people ask me, “How can I do what you’re doing?” I can’t tell them what they want to hear. They want easy answers, a shortcut to a future state of success. But the path that will lead us to the life we want is uniquely our own, inevitably filled with the exact challenges we’d rather avoid.

I was leaving behind my home and my identity as an achiever, a safe refuge which had gotten me to this point but was no longer serving me.

Angie and I joked that in just a few months, we had already spent more time together than career-focused couples do in a whole year. This felt important: she took quality time seriously and was willing to sacrifice things like money in return for connection, adventure, and love.