Write down what you want work to feel like in 10 years

Idea 071 of 100

Write down what you want work to feel like in 10 years

Not the title. The feeling, the hours, the people, the commute.

Career planning usually stops at the job title, which is the least predictive detail available. The texture of the day is what you actually live in.

Write a normal Tuesday ten years out: what time it starts, who is in it, what you are being asked for, what you are not.

Then look at this year's decisions and check whether any of them point that way.

Write down what you want work to feel like in 10 years, 1
Date it.
Write down what you want work to feel like in 10 years, 2
Do it.
Write down what you want work to feel like in 10 years, 3
Done it.

How to actually do it

  1. 01Write one page describing a Tuesday, not a title.
  2. 02Underline the parts that are already true.
  3. 03Choose one decision this year that moves you toward the rest.

You already know if this is the one. Go put a date on it.

Date it in the app

Send it to whoever came to mind.

More from Work · Ideas 71–80

Raise your rate or ask for the compensation you have earnedEnd one commitment that drains more than it givesStart the project you keep circlingTake one course with a clear result attachedApply to speak at one event this yearBuild a six-month emergency fund