Best Advice

My first boss, John Grillos, said, "Pick your battles." The criteria for picking them are straightforward:

They have to be important.

They have to be winnable.

They have to be few.

We all have more opportunities to change things or to take on different battles, but you have to know how to choose them. You don't want to be fighting all the time; otherwise, nobody will want to deal with you. Pick things that are important because they will have the longest-lasting effect. Avoid causes that can't be won to conserve your resources for things you can change. If you can examine the battles facing you by these criteria, you generally come out ahead.

Whatever you do, enjoy it. You're going to spend a great majority of your life working at it. Most of us don't have jobs you leave behind - it doesn't end when you walk out the office door. You think about it later, even if you're home. If you enjoy what you're doing, and you're in the backyard thinking about it, that's fun. If you don't enjoy your job, go find another one.