There Comes a Time | Career Angles

When I worked in recruiting, I started as a beginner. I knew less than nothing, and it often showed. Often, I was little more than a puppy with the big lovable look on his face will chase the stick, except I didn’t know what a stick looked like.

The metaphor I often used was a panhandler in the gold rush days in California. I would put the pan in the water and sift the crap hoping the gold would stay on top of the screen. The problem was for a few years; I didn’t know what gold would like. As a result, I worked longer and harder than the more experienced people in my office did.

Eventually, I started to know what it looks like. I noticed patterns and backgrounds, and behaviors and how they would mesh with my clients’ organizations. I was wrong far fewer times and much more successful.

Everything clicked.

As I got older (my late 40s), I started to think about doing something else. I mastered one thing and was bored. I went to grad school to become a therapist in private practice and had the incredible fortune of meeting my wife there. My life changed, and I put some of my aspirations on hold. After all, we wanted to nest together and have a family.

Starting a private practice was not congruent with having a house and a child. At least that’s what I thought. I had no interest in…