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The Only Career Advice You’ll Ever Need

Five takeaways:

1. Often, when faced with a difficult problem, we struggle. Not because we can’t find the answer, but because we aren’t asking ourselves the right questions. When we find ourselves lacking fulfillment, introspection can be daunting- but it is essential. According to legend, the dictum “Know Thyself” was carved into the stone of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, in ancient Greece. At around the same time, the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu wrote in the Tao Te Ching, “Knowing the self is enlightenment.”
2. The key to finding a fulfilling career lies in first understanding ourselves and our needs, before determining what we are meant to do with our lives. What makes us truly happy, and how do we channel that happiness into our working lives?
3. Studies show that we often have an inaccurate perception of ourselves and our abilities. We tend to overestimate our own skills and overlook some of our own shortcomings. In other areas we underestimate ourselves. True self-knowledge requires diligent self-assessment.
4. Brooks evokes St. Thomas Aquinas and Buddhist teachings to show that self-knowledge leads to a reprioritization of love in one’s life. That excellence is “not separate from love.” So: when young people look to choose a career path, they should not stray from the things they truly love.
5. Love often takes the form of serving others, which underpins the deep fulfillment that work can bring. Who you may serve in your work will vary; it might be your customers, your colleagues, or the public. But dedicating one’s work to the good of others can make what might have been a previously unfulfilling work life into one full of motivation, energy, and happiness.

From Arthur C. Brooks at The Atlantic:
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