My Life Blog

I’m reading two very different books right now. One is Sojourner: An Insider’s View of the Mars Pathfinder Mission and the other is DW: A Lifetime Going Around in Circles.

Folks, these are two very different books. One is about a very technical team seeking to find the right approach to build a rover that can withstand the trip to Mars and succeed once it gets there. The other is about a man with humble beginnings driven to succeed as a race car driver.

So what do they have in common?

Passion. Dedication. Teamwork.

These are things I think I’m lacking right now for my current job, so I’m seeking some inspiration from those who love can care about what they do. I want to regain that passion that makes you want to stay at work even though you don’t have to. That dedication that makes you want to continually improve on your design and be the best that you can possibly be. And I want to again remember what its like to have a single unified team that would run through a wall for each other.

I didn’t use to feel this way. I used to get all I could at work and come home and do my own midnight engineering. I can’t say that that was good for my personal life, but at least I had a purpose and a passion.

So my question is: is this typical once you’ve been in the workforce for nearly 20 years? And what is it like beyond those 20 years?