I recently switched careers, trading comfort of routine and wealth of accumulated knowledge for the challenges of the unfamiliar and unknown. Suddenly, I knew very little about my job. It seemed I’d be spending so much time “learning the ropes” that I’d be inefficient, ineffective, and my performance unsatisfactory. My solution ended up being a big mistake: Devote every spare minute to my new job.
Committing myself wholly to my new job, it didn’t take long for my relationships with my wife and children to suffer. An uneven work-life balance was not a sustainable solution.
The solution should have been obvious: I expected too much of myself. I used to be among the best in my field but only with the benefit of 13 years of experience. I needed to learn to cut myself some slack, and abandon the pursuit of perfection to embrace excellence. I resolve to patiently wait for the benefit of the next thirteen years of experience and take solace in the words of often-cited poet Douglas Malloch:
If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill, Be a scrub in the valley — but be The best little scrub by the side of the rill; Be a bush if you can't be a tree”
I may not be the best in my new career, but today I admit to myself that for now, it’s OK to be my best.
I’m Brian Wygant and that’s my perspective.