Best Job Ever!

Chapter 1You Don't Have to Wait for Your Dream Career to Be Happy

The grass is always greener where you water it.

—Unknown

Success is liking what you do and liking how you do it.

—Maya Angelou

One of the first questions I ask my clients is, “If you could have any job, what would be your dream job, your perfect career?” Hearing their answers is always one of the best parts of my day. Let me share a few of their responses:

Client 1:

I would travel Europe for a year.

Me:

That's not a job, that's a vacation. Try again.

Client 2:

I would own a business that I could live anywhere and only have to work three hours a day from a beach.

Me:

Very few people I know can make a living working three hours a day from the beach to support their spouse and three kids with the same lifestyle they currently have. Plus you would get skin cancer.

Client 3:

I want any job that pays me double the salary I make right now.

Me Brilliant!:

Except according to employee market values, you already make 15 percent more than you should right now.

Client 4:

I'm going to win the lottery so I don't have to answer your dumb questions.

Me:

How long have you been playing the lottery?

Client:

Twenty years.

Me:

How much have you won?

Client:

Fifty dollars.

Me:

Excellent! You're on track to quit your job and start your perfect career when you are 2,500 years old. Why don't we start over and let's get you that dream job in the next year without the lottery. (This is where I restate my original question.)

Client 5: ...