Reverse Engineering the Perfect Job

As I mentioned in the last entry, I had a bit of a career epiphany while on vacation. However, it doesn't seem to have gotten me too much farther in the mean time. Here's what I have for my perfect job description:


1) Must be production oriented, and focused on Getting Things Done, not talking about getting things done;

2) Ideally works closely with creative people (writers, musicians, artists, etc.);

3) Ideally is a position where most, if not all, primary decision makers are close at hand (that one's practically a pipe dream in this corporate age, but we're talking ideals here, right?);

4) Should be a smaller company with great flexibility and variety in daily routine.


So how does one go from a list of ideals like the above to an actual position? About now, I'm less concerned with whether I could get such a job (which, in all modesty, I know I could) as I am with what such a job would be.

I don't suppose this is a rare thing, what I'm experiencing right now. It's probably par for the course for mid-career professionals looking to make a change into something completely new. But it surely makes it clear to me why so many people just slide from job to job, always taking the next available step, and winding up in positions that they absolutely hate. It's death by a thousand paper cuts, really. Each blind step from one place to the next can be the one that turns us down the path from job satisfaction and a long and happy career to decades of watching the clock.

Happiness is damn hard work, but when I get there, I'll be sure to leave a trail of bread crumbs for y'all. And I will leave you with one of the few pieces of advice my father ever gave to me:

Don't be good at something you don't like to do.

That's some serious wisdom right there, boys and girls.