We all gripe about our career. It’s natural. That’s why we chase FIRE. I doubt there is anyone who likes 100% percent of their job. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. It affects everyone.

This week I got to reflect on my career based upon a random conversation I had. We all have critical turning points, in our past, that could have led to where we are. The “What Ifs” of different choices are limitless. 

I meet and have open conversations with strangers when I go to the dog park.  The dog park is where you go and let your fur child off leash to play with other fur children.  It is basically a non-structured play date for your dog.  When your dog finds a playmate you inevitably start talking to a stranger you typically wouldn’t meet.

Allison was today’s stranger. As we got talking, we naturally ended up in the typical “What do you do?” conversation. She was cheery, social, and one of those people who is remarkably easy to talk to.

Part of Allison’s easy social charm comes with her line of work. She is a dental hygienist. She sees 8 to 12 people a day and is a true master of small talk in a scenario where no one can talk back to her. It’s a tough skill, and honestly, one I often wish I had.

Yet, mid-conversation, one of her comments referred to her career choice as a “hamster wheel.” Coming from such a pleasant, upbeat person, it actually shocked me.

The truth is, we all feel like our jobs are the same day in and day out, and in many ways, they all are. We are all on a hamster wheel of our own choosing. As long as we keep the wheel spinning, we get our food, water, and comfort.  Once on the wheel it is really hard to jump to a different wheel (career). The golden handcuffs become more like a golden hamster wheel.

Allison has the same day, every single day. One hour looks like the next, just with a different set of characters in the chair. She likes the social aspect of the job, but she is really missing the chance for any meaningful change.

I led her through my own winding career path. The first ten years spent manufacturing hardware for high-tech companies, the second ten years spent exploring different aspects of back-office functions (like Quality) of tech companies, and the third ten in the defense industry.

She envied my ever-changing career. She envied the sheer variety of 14 or so jobs over 30 years. Where I look backward and see stress, volatility, and instability, she looked at it and sees adventure and fun.

In many ways, I envy her job. Meeting new people, getting to know their stories, always being actively engaged.

It got me thinking about my path versus hers. Because i cam close to having a 1 day job cycle versus my corporate job.

Twice in my life, I started down the path to become a teacher. It always held an appeal for me. Standing on a stage, always on, and dealing with strong emotions every single day. Twice I turned away at an inflection point to fall back to my corporate path most travelled.

So how would I have fared in a career that operated on 1-day cycles? Show up and do the exact same core thing day in and day out. A huge percentage of careers are built like this: doctors, dentists, pilots, retail workers, nurses, teachers. There is a massive portion of the workforce where the daily routine is identical every single day.

In some ways, I think I might actually like a 1-day cycle. I suspect those roles can be much more social as different people flow in and out to receive service throughout the day. To get closer to people. In my upcoming retirement, being more social is one specific thing I genuinely strive to achieve.

There is no hiding in 1 -day jobs. Every day you need to put on the positive face and march forward.

When you are locked in a corporate role typically all you can see is the stress and the never-ending barrage of new projects. I typically am on a six-month to one-year cycle. You define a project, work on the process and the team, and then start all over again when the next cycle rolls around. The next project or product don’t seem to change that much. From my own micro-level view, it often feels like I do the same thing over and over again.

I have a natural work style where I do intense, focused sprints, and then get some downtime. I almost need it structured that way. In corporate life, I can have slow days, and slow weeks. I can have days where I recover . If I am in a crappy mood I can hide away behind my door. 

I look back at everything I have been involved with over the decades, and I feel proud of the products I have helped bring to life:

• Early 1990s: Built home computers during the era when every family was getting one.
• Mid-1990s: Built cellular equipment that enabled the mass adoption of mobile phones.
• Late 1990s / Early 2000s: Built internet equipment so everyone could connect at home, with early speeds going from a 9.8 Kbps dial up to full gigabit downloads in seconds.
• Mid-2000s: Worked on broadcast equipment used to air global events like the Super Bowl and the Oscars,
• Mid-2000s: Manufactured one of the top smartphones in the world.
• Present: Build and support mission-critical equipment used by Naval ships around the globe.

For most of my career, without knowing it, I was right in the thick of significant technological shifts.

And if you look at your career, I expect we all have highlights that we never imagined would happen over our 30 or so years.

My ever-changing career path has certainly had its bumps, and it has definitely had its stress. When we are living in the day-to-day grind, we sometimes wish we had taken a different fork in the road. But taking a different path doesn’t mean it would have led to a better life.

I have been truly blessed when I step back and look at the full adventure.

It is remarkable how a chance, 15-minute conversation at a dog park can suddenly grant us a 30,000-foot view of our own lives. I spend so much time down in the trenches—dealing with the quarterly cycles, the corporate politics, and the relentless project roadmaps—that I easily forget I spent three decades sitting in the front row of a cool industry or two.

It will be nice when I can get out of the hamster wheel. Be thankful for your career ups and downs. They have made you who you are.

And who knows? Maybe in retirement I will finally become that teacher (not a chance). Or maybe I will just keep heading down to the dog park to meet interesting strangers.

The grass is definitely not greener at the dog park – more yellow