| Start by expelling any false expectations you may have and then analyze what you have accomplished as compared to alternatives from peers or the marketplace. If you are not happy with your current path then make a change. This is challenging if you have dependents, but if you are single then just go do something else. Nothing is stopping you from a life change more than yourself. Here are some common expectations to dispell: * Unless it is in writing and legally binding nobody owns you anything. This is deeper than it sounds and many people struggle with this in a very infantile way. * Don't be a freeloader. Don't expect people to give you assistance. Assistance is wonderful when you need it, but if you are dependent upon assistance people will come to think of you as a disease. * Don't wait for somebody to tell when you when to start. Waiting is a waste. Just go. If you are wrong about something you can correct for it later. * Don't expect all of life's problems to be solved by social structures. I have spoken with teenagers who expect to get into a good school or expect to have the most wonderful job once they graduate. Imposing false promises upon yourself results in more disappointment than action. If you want a wonderful job then start by working your ass off to be wonderful at your job. * Don't expect somebody else to do your job for you, which includes tools and frameworks. Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty to solve a problem. Reliance on helpers to do your job for you is great until they can't solve a given problem then your fucked. Even worse is when that tool is no longer available, which is worse because the result is defensive behavior that nobody wants to associate with. * Be goal oriented. If you know what you are striving for you can backwards plan the steps necessary to accomplish it. If you manage a team write those goals down and expose them to your team so that the team moves towards the goal as a collected unit. * Understand the nature of vanity. Vanity is necessary to set positive impressions and satisfy customer experience. Beyond that vanity carries a diminishing return over time with an inversely proportional cost. |