Any relationship can go through ups and downs, and that includes our relationships with our jobs. Sometimes it’s wise to move on, but sometimes a reasonable job can be made much better with deliberate effort.
In today’s episode of Best of Both Worlds, Sarah and I discuss practical strategies for making an average job better. We look at a framework of four dimensions where improvement is possible: Passion, People, Progress, and Pleasure. Bonus: There is a discussion of some of our teenage jobs. Sarah once worked in a video store — remember those?
In the Q&A we give advice to a listener who is considering having a dog join their family. Her partner is more ambivalent and he is the one who might naturally have to do more of the care (i.e. he works from home). We discuss some questions she should think through before the family takes on this new responsibility.
Please give the episode a listen! As always we welcome ratings and reviews. And now that we are part of iHeartMedia, you can listen to our show through iHeart too.
I loved the dog conversation. Of course it helps that both my husband and I are dog lovers. When I met my husband he had a dog and I grew up with dogs and love them but as they do our dog passed when my kids were little and having an 18-month old and a 4.5 year old was not the best time to get another. It just felt like another obligation and would definitely not be fun. And you know what? It was great not having to worry about walks, and vet visits and what we need to do when we went on vacation but in the end we still really felt like having a dog was something we wanted.
Fast forward to 2022 and the kids are bigger so we got a puppy. I was nervous about the extra work but in the end she brings so much joy to the house. We got a Lab – and she’s a wonderful, snuggly, happy, generally well-behaved pup. We all love her so much and I find myself so often thinking about how great it is to have a dog again. This is despite the occasional vomit, chewed pillow and having fish some random garbage out of her mouth. So i just tell people now that if you’re on the fence just do it. The happiness is worth it. But if you’re really a no then don’t do it. It helps that we both are dog people, but with the busy-ness of both parents working and two kids with activities i was worried about the ‘work’ but it’s been fine.
Plus, there’s the Norah Ephron quote about getting a dog when your kids are teenagers so ‘someone’s happy to see you when you get home’ – LOL!
@Jen – thanks for sharing your experience! I think dogs can bring dog people a lot of joy. There are people who are not so much dog people, and it’s probably good to know this about yourself!
That is quite a useful episode for me.