Why Following Your Passion is Bad Advice | Laura Gassner-Otting on Defining Your Own Success

Laura Gassner-Otting (Wall Street Journal bestselling author) joins Cathal in the London studio to challenge everything we think we know about success.

This is Laura's UK/Ireland podcast debut, recorded at Christmas after a mulled wine with incredible energy.

IN THIS EPISODE:

The Four Horsemen of Success (and why they drive Laura batty):

1. "I'll be happy when..." - Life is short. Refuse to not be happy NOW.

2. Purpose - Your job doesn't need a white hat to have purpose.

3. Follow your passion - The "live, laugh, love" tattoo of career advice.

4. Balance - We need alignment, not balance. Code-switching is exhausting.

Need to Make vs Want to Make Numbers:

We all have two numbers. Need to make: bills, food, school. Want to make: Claridge's vs Holiday Inn, Rolls Royce vs Hyundai. In between are the sacrifices you'll make.

Caroline's Story:

Laura wanted to promote her to VP. Caroline said no thank you. She'd just had a baby and wanted to be present. Three years later, she got promoted. Still with the firm 10 years after Laura sold it.

Eleanor Roosevelt: "We would worry much less about what other people thought about us if we realised how seldom they did."

Whose Goal Is This?

We define success at 17-18 before our frontal lobe is fully formed. Laura dropped out of law school - it was her fourth grade teacher's goal, not hers. Give yourself grace to change.

Work-Life Alignment > Balance:

You're friends with coworkers on social media. It's already integrated. Stop separating work and life. Find alignment instead. Code-switching is exhausting.

Feeling Seen vs Feeling Loved:

Laura's therapy revelation: She felt loved transactionally (got grades = we love you). But did she feel seen? Could she have said "I don't want law school, I want to be an artist"?

Key Insights:

"I refuse to not be happy NOW. They retire and have heart attacks."

"Follow your passion is the live, laugh, love tattoo of career advice."

"I think we're not too busy. We're too busy doing things that don't matter to us."

"When you find alignment, you just move from one to the other pretty seamlessly."

ABOUT LAURA GASSNER-OTTING:

Author of "Limitless: How to Ignore Everybody, Carve Your Own Path" and "Wonderhell: Why Success Doesn't Feel Like It Should."

20 years as executive recruiter, sold her firm, now speaker/consultant. Regularly on Good Morning America.

Website: lauragassnerotting.com

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Better at Work - Making work better, one conversation at a time.

New episodes every Thursday.

Hosted by Cathal Quinlan