Jackie Danicki

Stolen shamelessly from Damian, this Paul Graham quotation reminds me of what some people used to tell me when I was leaving high school, starting university, and totally unsure about what I wanted to do when I grew up:

A friend of mine who is a quite successful doctor complains constantly about her job. When people applying to medical school ask her for advice, she wants to shake them and yell “Don’t do it!” (But she never does.) How did she get into this fix? In high school she already wanted to be a doctor. And she is so ambitious and determined that she overcame every obstacle along the way—including, unfortunately, not liking it.

Now she has a life chosen for her by a high-school kid.

Sometimes, you have to do a lot of stuff to realise what it is you don’t want to do, and to get so tired and fed up of doing what it is you don’t want to do that it becomes easier to throw yourself into doing what it is that you do want to do. (The more you know firsthand what I’m talking about, the more crystal clear that should be.) And yes, I think that applies as much to home life and other relationships as it does to how you earn your crust.

Filed under: Friends, Happiness, Home, Life, Relationships, Work