Santa Claus, astronaut, race car driver, commercial pilot, professional boxer, hedge fund manager, professional gamer, startup CEO, software engineer, a manager, a leader, happy.
Those are all things I wanted to be growing up. I’m sure your list is also as confusing as mine, but an important pattern for me is how I started with fairly specific goals and as I progressed further in my career, they started to generalize. I realized that what I wanted to be now hadn’t changed from when I wanted to be Santa Claus. I just wanted to be happy.
Of course, happiness is truly what you make it. For me, happiness is, among many other things, living life to the fullest. Trying out every dish, traveling around the world, growing a family, bringing people together to collaborate on cutting edge technology, being good at a video game, managing my own money, sparring in the ring, driving a fast car, fly to the moon, and also seeing the joy in tearing away the wrapping on a present.
After switching majors, moving to different countries, taking different jobs, and so many other changes of heart, I still don’t regret any of those decisions.
When I left behind everything in Michigan to take an unappealing contracting job in California, the initial regret and loneliness hit me hard. I really struggled, but over time I came to realize all the new things in my life. I made lifelong friends, learned more in that first year than any other year of my life, experienced an exciting tech culture only found in the Bay Area (at the time), and was truly lucky to have been mentored by awesome managers and leaders. I might have lost some relationships and familiarity from the move, but I gained it all back tenfold.
I realize now that my happiness isn’t about how much I know or how much money I make, but more about who I’ve become. How have my experiences and the people I’ve met shaped the person I am today? How am I making the world a better place? How am I making others happy? My core drives shifted away from self-serving goals and yet it felt so much more self-fulfilling.
Recently, an opportunity came in to leave behind everything again and to relocate to Minnesota and I didn’t hesitate. A door to a whole new world presented itself and this time I wasn’t afraid of what was waiting on the other side.
Want to take a leap yourself and see what’s behind that door? Check out all our awesome opportunities at Target here: corporate.target.com/careers
See you there!
