It’s hard to come to terms with the gap between where you are and where you want to be. I’ve always believed I could do something about that, but I wasn’t always as clear on how.
It wasn’t until my twenties that I felt like I’d started to figure it out.
And it wasn’t until my thirties that I realized I was wrong.
The Unobstructed Podcast: Episode 31
This episode of The Unobstructed Podcast is about trade-offs.
Caleb Walker and I recently chatted about the pitfalls of polished social media profiles (he’s the Managing Director of Digital Strategy for an agency). Part of that conversation touched on how our digital presence can impact job opportunities, but we felt there was more to talk about; so we got together to keep digging.
This time, we wanted to understand what it’s like to bust your ass to get a job, only for the reality of the role to be completely different than you’d expected. Full disclosure: Caleb and I used to work together, so we’re pretty familiar with each other’s career paths. Which means, we both know the other has felt deflated after landing jobs they’d hoped would be life-changing.
Most of them were—just not the kind of changes we’d had in mind.
Still, our journeys have been pretty different. One thing we agree on is that customizing your career path—by intentionally making trade-offs—is the key to creating a more fulfilling life with more satisfying work. Unfortunately, most of us get misled, going after roles that don’t actually align with what we want… we just think the accolade will be a stepping stone in the right direction.
We talk about all of this and more in the episode. You can listen above via Substack and also on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music.
onward.
P.S. If you’re new to my work, I think you’d also enjoy my blog. That’s where you’ll find everything I write, including my daily email series.
