Voices
back on their lives and been damn
proud of what they accomplished
at work. Isn’t the goal to find
something you are so passionate
about that you want to be doing
it all the time? Go ahead. Define
yourself by what you do.
2. You probably won’t feel that way
every day, or even every year. The
workplace has changed — job security is more about months than
decades now — and that has freed
workers to change, too. My mother
(who has been a teacher, guidance
counselor, lawyer, businesswoman,
business law professor and travel
agent) believes you should change
careers every seven years so you
don’t get bored. That’s not practical for all of us, but odds are you
will change your feelings about
work at least that often.
3. Embrace that. Ping pong around,
zig and zag — not only from one
job to the next, but from one state
of mind to another. Go full throttle straight out of school. Take a
more scenic side road during the
years while you raise children.
Roar back again when those kids
are grown. Or, maybe, the other
way around. It doesn’t make you
an inconsistent worker, but rather
a better human being.
4. Build your life with someone in a
LISA
BELKIN
HUFFINGTON
02.03.13
different line of work. My two serious relationships before I met my
husband were with journalists. In
one, he was just plain better at it
than I was; in the second, I was
more successful. In both, the feeling of competition broke us. So I
married a pediatrician. He gets to
be the best doctor in our house,
and I get to be the best reporter.
5. Talk to that person about work and
life from the start. Are there unspo-
What seems like a crisis
will probably look far less
dramatic by tomorrow, and it’s
better to take the long view
of life rather than riding the
roller coaster day to day.”
ken assumptions that one of you
will be the breadwinner and the
other the caregiver? You won’t be
able to anticipate the choices life
will throw your way, but you will
get comfortable with the conversation when those choices arise.
6. Stop feeling guilty about the gel
time. The best place to find inspiration, perspective, enthusiasm or
direction in your job is outside of
it. Take a walk, read a book, play
with your kids. When I get stuck