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The five-year plan
Jul. 26th, 2004 01:57 pmProbably because I've been going on interviews where they ask the standard "Where do you see yourself in five years?" question, I've been thinking about my long-term plans.
I've always thought it was kind of silly to plan where I wanted to be five or 10 yeras down the road. I don't fucking know! And things never work out exactly as you plan, anyway, so it's best to keep yourself open to whatever comes. When I graduated from college, I certainly didn't see myself spending 5.5 years at a newspaper, but am glad I did it.
On the other hand, it probably is good to have some kind of plan, even if it's a loose, vague one. You can't accomplish much if you don't plan well. I think probably the best compromise is to have a rough plan, but to recognize and remember that sometimes something exciting will come along that falls outside your plan, and it's best not to be overly-rigid and miss out on an interesting opportunity.
I know that in five years, I want to be doing something related to writing and editing. I don't much care what it is, as long as it's tolerable, pays enough for me to live on, and is something that doesn't cause a great deal of stress.
My job is not my life. My job is something I do to make money so I can do the things that are important to me. I almost lost sight of that my last 8 or 10 months at the newspaper.
I've always thought it was kind of silly to plan where I wanted to be five or 10 yeras down the road. I don't fucking know! And things never work out exactly as you plan, anyway, so it's best to keep yourself open to whatever comes. When I graduated from college, I certainly didn't see myself spending 5.5 years at a newspaper, but am glad I did it.
On the other hand, it probably is good to have some kind of plan, even if it's a loose, vague one. You can't accomplish much if you don't plan well. I think probably the best compromise is to have a rough plan, but to recognize and remember that sometimes something exciting will come along that falls outside your plan, and it's best not to be overly-rigid and miss out on an interesting opportunity.
I know that in five years, I want to be doing something related to writing and editing. I don't much care what it is, as long as it's tolerable, pays enough for me to live on, and is something that doesn't cause a great deal of stress.
My job is not my life. My job is something I do to make money so I can do the things that are important to me. I almost lost sight of that my last 8 or 10 months at the newspaper.
