For work success to lead to confidence, the job has to be challenging and it must require effort. It has to be done without too much help. And it cannot go well every single day. A long run of easy successes creates a sort of fragile confidence, the kind that is shattered when the first failure comes along. A more resilient confidence comes from su

Despite thinking I wanted fun and joy at work for most of my career, when I reflect on the most meaningful moments of my career, they involve overcoming obstacles, or getting through setbacks to complete something I didn’t think I could.

The problem is when security dominates our passage through life and leaves no room for taking risks. Reflection, risk and contribution—three pillars to a meaningful life. Perhaps we can better express it in an equation: Reflection + Risk = Contribution