One Thing None Of Us Wants To Admit

In Susan Cain’s book Quiet: The Power of Introverts In A World That Can’t Stop Talking she wrote about three key steps in identifying work you love.

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She says one of those steps is to pay attention to what you envy.

Finally, pay attention to what you envy. Jealousy is an ugly emotion, but it tells the truth. You mostly envy those who have what you desire.”
– Susan Cain

Is She Right?

As much as I dislike the idea of diving into such a negative space I have to admit I think she’s right. Envy is something none of us wants but, if we’re honest with ourselves, we all experience it from time to time.

Although envy is not a place we want to stay, we can use it when it thrusts itself on us.

Susan talks about her own envy when some of her former law school classmates got together and compared notes on their careers. She said most of them spoke with admiration and jealousy of a classmate who often appeared before the Supreme Court.

She realized she wasn’t envious of this person because she never wanted to argue a case before the Supreme Court or do any of the other duties of being a lawyer. So who did she envy?

Her college classmates who’d become writers and psychologists. This was her clue to discover what she wanted to pursue as a new career.

How You Can Use This

What about you? When jealousy rears it’s ugly head, what or who do you envy?

Do you feel a pang of jealousy when you get that Facebook post from your friend who is running a small non-profit in Uganda to provide clean drinking water to the people. Or is it when your sibling texts you to say she was just promoted to Vice President of regional operations?

Whatever it is for you, pay attention to it. Don’t harbor it, certainly don’t act out in a negative way, but congratulate the person and harness that emotion into something productive.

It may be the exact clue you need to discover your next career move.

Question: What else has given you clues about work you’d rather be doing?