Career Happiness

From short order cook at Roy Roger’s to heavy lifting on an assembly line to bellhop/doorman at a hotel, I had many jobs that were not particularly enjoyable.  Half of my legal career was similar. I enjoyed my public service jobs and did not like my private sector jobs.  With work that I didn’t like, […]

Jiro Dreams of Sushi is worth watching if you want to see a master at his craft.  I had no interest in watching the movie.  Strange title and I don’t eat sushi.  But, I saw the rave reviews as I was scrolling through Netflix documentaries and soon found myself mesmerized. Jiro is a master sushi chef. […]

“I can’t leave my job to something so uncertain.” so spoke a career counseling client who worked at a large corporation. “Alyssa” had just finished telling me how much she hated her job.  She didn’t like the people. Several of her co-workers were the adult equivalent of mean girls and her boss was the Queen […]

I had one of those horribly vivid dreams a few months ago.  I was in law school and wondering where I would work after I graduated.  I couldn’t find anything that interested me and was also having anxiety over whether I wanted to practice law at all.  As I was struggled to awake from my […]

There is a new reason to find work enjoyable. You will likely work well past 65. Most everyone over 40 has been culturally programmed to lock in age 65 as the retirement end zone.  There are certainly statutory requirements related to social security and tax deferred retirement accounts, that make 65 a number of real […]

I was definitely not happy at work during my time in private legal practice in a Washington DC big law firm. During the initial stages of work unhappiness, I tried to compartmentalize the situation. I was happy outside of work and not so happy while at work. Split life. Then, I started noticing the inevitable […]

“I’m depressed and anxious,” she continued. “I’ve been seeing a therapist but, I realized that most of my issues center around my job.” Some career counseling clients come to me after they have been to therapists. They tell me that they have been diagnosed with anxiety and/or depression. I sympathize. Some should seek therapy. When […]

More than a few of my career counseling clients have noticed the obvious joy I have in my work.  “I wish I could feel that way,” a recent client said as he conveyed his dread at heading back to his office. “I just feel anxious all the time, wondering what I am going to do […]

Even though it was almost twenty years ago, I vividly remember how work at the law firm affected my weekends. Saturdays were mostly fine. Sunday afternoons would bring a few flashes of anxiety. As Sunday night approached, anxiety would turn into dread. It is one thing to justify a miserable Monday through Friday at work […]

Jiro Dreams of Sushi is worth watching if you want to see a master at his craft. I had no interest in watching the movie. Strange title and I don’t eat sushi. But, I saw the Netflix reviews as I was scrolling through documentaries. I soon found myself mesmerized because of the career lessons imparted. […]