People love to ask what you do for work and understand your professional trajectory. Often, it’s a surface question. Or, used to quickly categorize people in familiar boxes. But beneath this lies a far more interesting story. 
I don’t think you can truly answer questions about work without exploring ambition and identity. Looking back over the last... See more

But having an enviable career is one thing, and being a happy person is another.

Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is... See more

1. Your career is not your life2. Explore, then exploit3. Don't do the job you want to tell other people you do. Do the job you want to do.4. Be ruthlessly honest with yourself about what you value—and how much professional success matters to you5. Flow comes from voluntary, difficult, worthwhile work