2196: The Challenge of Choosing the Right Career by Steve Pavlina on Career Advice
Optimal Work Daily - Career, Productivity and EntrepreneurshipShow Notes
Get the 200+ Page Optimal Living Daily Workbook (PDF) - Free.
Want to turn today's episode into an actionable plan? Join the Optimal Living Weekly newsletter and I'll send you our 200-page digital workbook immediately. It's packed with the best takeaways from the show, formatted for easy reading and implementation at home.
Get your free PDF workbook here: https://oldpodcast.eo.page/join
Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com
Episode 2196:
Steve Pavlina argues that most career choices are wrong the first time, and that this is a feature of the decision rather than a failure of the person making it. His point is that you cannot know how a career will actually feel until you have committed to it, which makes the useful skill not perfect foresight but the willingness to recognize a bad fit and leave quickly instead of pretending. He closes with a group of self-made millionaires who averaged seventeen careers before the one that worked, which reframes a string of wrong turns as the ordinary cost of finding the right one.
Read along with the original article(s) here: https://stevepavlina.com/blog/2007/11/the-challenge-of-choosing-the-right-career/
Quotes to ponder:
"A good career is one of the greatest blessings you'll ever experience, and a bad career is one of life's greatest curses."
"Once you recognize your mistake, cut your losses and get out as soon as possible."
"A wrong decision doesn't become a right decision by pretending."
Optimal Work Daily is a daily career advice podcast where we narrate the best articles on productivity, entrepreneurship, and work-life balance, read to you by a professional narrator so you can grow your career a little more every day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from Optimal Work Daily - Career, Productivity and Entrepreneurship
Get the 200+ Page Optimal Living Daily Workbook (PDF) - Free. Want to turn today's episode into an actionable plan? Join the Optimal Living Weekly newsletter and I'll send you our 200-page digital workbook immediately. It's packed with the best takeaways from the show, formatted for easy reading and implementation at home. Get your free PDF workbook here: https://oldpodcast.eo.page/join Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com Episode 2214: Michelle Schroeder-Gardner explains how to prepare to quit a day job and become self-employed, drawing on her own move to working for herself full-time. In this first part, she makes the case for building a business on the side first, which lowers the risk while testing whether the idea can actually replace a full-time income. She also walks through pricing out health insurance and the other benefits an employer used to cover, so the switch to entrepreneurship brings fewer surprises. Read along with the original article here: https://www.makingsenseofcents.com/2022/01/how-to-quit-your-job-and-become-self-employed.html Quotes to ponder: "Starting your business on the side of your full-time job can reduce a lot of stress." "Self-employment isn't for everyone." "It's much better to do your research and price out how much things like health and dental insurance will cost before you quit your job." Optimal Work Daily is a daily career advice podcast where we narrate the best articles on productivity, entrepreneurship, and work-life balance, read to you by a professional narrator so you can grow your career a little more every day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Get the 200+ Page Optimal Living Daily Workbook (PDF) - Free. Want to turn today's episode into an actionable plan? Join the Optimal Living Weekly newsletter and I'll send you our 200-page digital workbook immediately. It's packed with the best takeaways from the show, formatted for easy reading and implementation at home. Get your free PDF workbook here: https://oldpodcast.eo.page/join Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com Episode 2213: Lisa Whitley explains why leaving an investment banking job in New York to join the Peace Corps in Zimbabwe was the best career decision she ever made. She describes how two years advising new entrepreneurs showed her where her passion and skills fit in international economic development, which led to an 18-year career as a foreign service officer. She argues that a career switch does not require knowing the whole next chapter in advance, and credits earlier choices, like less expensive schools and staying free of debt, with giving her the flexibility to take the leap. Read along with the original article here: https://womenwhomoney.com/career-move-joining-peace-corps/ Quotes to ponder: "It was the best career decision that I had ever made." "The biggest obstacle to making a career switch can be the very understandable compulsion that you need to know exactly what the next chapter will look like before you take the plunge." "But the choices that you make now can allow you the freedom to flex later." Optimal Work Daily is a daily career advice podcast where we narrate the best articles on productivity, entrepreneurship, and work-life balance, read to you by a professional narrator so you can grow your career a little more every day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Get the 200+ Page Optimal Living Daily Workbook (PDF) - Free. Want to turn today's episode into an actionable plan? Join the Optimal Living Weekly newsletter and I'll send you our 200-page digital workbook immediately. It's packed with the best takeaways from the show, formatted for easy reading and implementation at home. Get your free PDF workbook here: https://oldpodcast.eo.page/join Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com Episode 2212: Michael Mehlberg explains why finding a competitor already serving a market is no reason to shelve a business idea. Drawing on advice from his business coach and the law of exclusivity from The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, he argues that no company owns a market outright and that customers routinely buy from competing providers. The entrepreneurship lesson is to recognize the value in hard-won knowledge, find a distinct angle, double down on why customers choose the business, and take action. Read along with the original article here: https://michaelmehlberg.com/blog/2018/5/14/finding-your-value-despite-the-competition Quotes to ponder: "If you have something of value to offer the world, there's usually a business in it." "They may have market share, but they don't own it." "Just because someone else is doing something similar doesn't mean you can't build a business." Optimal Work Daily is a daily career advice podcast where we narrate the best articles on productivity, entrepreneurship, and work-life balance, read to you by a professional narrator so you can grow your career a little more every day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Get the 200+ Page Optimal Living Daily Workbook (PDF) - Free. Want to turn today's episode into an actionable plan? Join the Optimal Living Weekly newsletter and I'll send you our 200-page digital workbook immediately. It's packed with the best takeaways from the show, formatted for easy reading and implementation at home. Get your free PDF workbook here: https://oldpodcast.eo.page/join Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com Episode 2211: Kevin of Financial Panther explains how leaving his day job changed the way work fits into his life. He argues that most people give their best, most productive hours to an employer and squeeze everything else into what is left, while self-employment let him take back control of his schedule. The takeaway is that financial independence is really about control, and a job built around one's life can deliver much of that work-life balance well before the money does. Read along with the original article here: https://financialpanther.com/make-your-job-fit-around-your-life/ Quotes to ponder: "Instead of your life fitting around your job, your job should fit around your life." "The point of financial independence isn't about accumulating money. It's about getting back control of our lives." "My job fits around my life, not the other way around." Optimal Work Daily is a daily career advice podcast where we narrate the best articles on productivity, entrepreneurship, and work-life balance, read to you by a professional narrator so you can grow your career a little more every day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Get the 200+ Page Optimal Living Daily Workbook (PDF) - Free.