Keep Your Life in Perspective

Future of You

Finally something to give credence to my varied career tract!

What's the future of You?

It's over. No more vertical. No more ladder. That's not the way careers work anymore. Linearity is out. A career is now a checkerboard. Or even a maze. It's full of moves that go sideways, forward, slide on the diagonal, even go backward when that makes sense. (It often does.) A career is a portfolio of projects that teach you new skills, gain you new expertise, develop new capabilities, grow your colleague set, and constantly reinvent you as a brand.

And how to measure success?

No matter what you're doing today, there are four things you've got to measure yourself against. First, you've got to be a great teammate and a supportive colleague. Second, you've got to be an exceptional expert at something that has real value. Third, you've got to be a broad-gauged visionary -- a leader, a teacher, a farsighted "imagineer." Fourth, you've got to be a businessperson -- you've got to be obsessed with pragmatic outcomes.

From Tom Peters in The Brand Called You.

The Brand Called You

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Johnny Bunko Career Advice

I recently read a creative, non-traditional career advice comic book called The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need" by Daniel Pink. It was a quick, refreshing read compared to most career advice books, with its comic book story line. Its key lessons were:

1. There is no plan.
2. Think strengths, not weaknesses.
3. It's not about you.
4. Persistence trumps talent.
5. Make excellent mistakes.
6. Leave an imprint.
7. Stay hungry (from his website).

I'd highly recommend it for anyone thinking about what to do when they "grow up." Here is a "trailer" they made for the book.

Read this in an op-ed in the FT on Wed titled, "Stop making excuses and just get started."

He quoted Confucius:

"Our greatest glory lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail."

Reading List

I found this reading list on Greg Mankiw's blog and thought they looked interesting.

• Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
  
• Robert Heilbroner, The Worldly Philosophers
  
• Paul Krugman, Peddling Prosperity
  
• Steven Landsburg, The Armchair Economist
  
• P.J. O'Rourke, Eat the Rich
  
• Burton Malkiel, A Random Walk Down Wall Street
  
• Avinash Dixit and Barry Nalebuff, Thinking Strategically
  
• Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, Freakonomics
  
• John McMillan, Reinventing the Bazaar
  
• William Breit and Barry T. Hirsch, Lives of the Laureates
  

Persistence

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

-Calvin Coolidge

Mental Feng Shui

My mom sent this to me. I know it's been going around the web for some time now, but it's definitely worth keeping!

ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

THREE. Don’t believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

FOUR. When you say, “I love you,” mean it.

FIVE. When you say, “I’m sorry,” look the person in the eye.

SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.

EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone’s dreams. People who don’t have dreams don’t have much.

NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it’s the only way to live life completely.

TEN. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

ELEVEN. Don’t judge people by their relatives.

TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.

THIRTEEN. When someone asks you a question you don’t want to answer, smile and ask, “Why do you want to know?”

FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

FIFTEEN. Say “bless you” when you hear someone sneeze.

SIXTEEN. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R’s: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.

EIGHTEEN. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

NINETEEN. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

TWENTY- ONE. Spend some time alone.

What to do when I grow up

Even though some jobs are cooler than others, it's more important for me to enjoy the life associated with that job. After all, a job is not an end in and of itself; it is simply a means to an end.

When we all die, will we think about ours jobs first or the people in our lives first? If you answered people first, it's probably important to consider them in making career decisions.