I live

Months on the new job. Startup hard. Tired. Miss family. Little time for self, little time for much. But the company is real, the people are fun to work with, and I feel that I am doing valuable work. It is challenging me in different ways than I am accustomed to. My leadership is developing, while I am using about one-sixth of my technical muscle. Maybe one-eighth. It is OK though, I am giving them what they need when they need it. It is not about my ego gratification. It is not about what I want to do. It is about the job at hand and nothing more.

I was starting to do a real mechanical engineering project a few days back, and my direct supervisor commented that we could get an intern to do that. I thought, probably not very well, which is what the last person did, and that is why I need to work on it now. But it is key to pick battles and observe terrain, and shape perception by giving people what they want rather than what they need sometimes.

And then be really sneaky and do something that does fulfill you, and does meet needs, and doesn't get you in trouble because it is so right. Yeah. Take that.