I don’t understand career goals.

My career is a record of how I spent what little time I have. Is it a list of job titles, start dates, or projects I delivered? I don’t think so.

When I think about the future, it’s through the lens of what skills & opportunities I should prioritize so that I’m able to do work I find meaningful for a wage that reflects the value of those experiences. We’re all just making our best bets on how to be happy. If you anchor your happiness to a single goal, you won’t find what you expected even if you get there.

My martial arts teacher has been studying & practicing for 50 years and meditated every day for most of it. When he was young, he put his hopes in getting a black belt and thought he’d be happy then, feel different, be accomplished.

And he did, for a week or so. Then he chased another, thinking that would be the real one. He has 5 black sashes in different arts now. When he sits to meditate, he’s still just him. He still has health problems and frustrations.

What he loves is the practice. So he gets up every day and teaches every class again. And again. Because it turned out that happiness for him was in the teaching & learning, not the achievement or goal.

It’s good to have a goal sometimes, but don’t make it about your “career” as if it’s something separate from you. It’s just how you hope you get to spend the days ahead, and that you’re able to find happiness in them.

When I reflect on my career, it’s entirely centered on partners — managers, direct reports, peers; the people I did the work with. I think about partners that were a joy to work with, partners who helped me grow, partners I watched grow impossibly fast, and partners who were… challenging.

I wonder if I’ll be a better partner next time. I wonder if the next partner will bring the energy I hope for, or if I’ll be able to provide the energy they need to respond well. I wonder if I’ll be able to pivot if it goes wrong. I wonder if I should worry more when it’s going right.

Perhaps my career goal is just to be the best partner I can, and to find partners who take that as seriously as I do. I wonder what title that’ll be next.