Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. -Attributed to Confucius
This past weekend, I unfortunately had to attend my uncle’s funeral. My uncle was a Federal Administrative Law Judge in the Bronx. It’s a great gig – he’s appointed for life and no one ever says ‘no’ to you. It’s just “yes, Judge” all day long. He loved his job.
What I didn’t know is just how much he loved his job (both his current position and his prior decades as a practicing attorney). He loved it so much that he commuted several hours a day to get into the Bronx from the Hudson River Valley. One of the stories that I heard over and over again was how he was offered a seat on the bench in White Plains, New York – a much nicer district and a position that would significantly reduce his commute.
As the story was told, he considered that transfer for less than ten seconds. He wasn’t about to leave the job he loved, the people he admired and the work he was doing – not for more money, not for a better location.
As a guy who deals with attorneys who sometimes feel stuck in their current position, I urge you to consider that. Have you ever felt that way? If there is a pang of doubt about whether the grass might be greener at another firm/position, you owe it to yourself to explore it. You might even be as happy as Judge Scheer was every single day.