Don't Be Too Eager
"Don't be too eager to move on; enjoy where you are in your career."
That's advice I hear about a year ago from someone in my field. At the time, I thought it was lack of ambition. After all, good Americans are supposed to want more work and think of it all the time.
Well...wrong.
See, I've changed my mind on the advice. It has deeper meaning than I realized.
On the surface, it means simply to enjoy the moment. That's important, but not all it offers.
Another level down it tells you not to move on before you are ready. People are often promoted up to the level of their competence then can't go any higher. You may be able to reduce the odds of this happening to you by achieving the level of competence needed before moving on. Even if you are offered a position, it may not be the best move at that time. You may just be setting yourself up for failure. In this regard, "don't be too eager to move on" is sound advice. Your eagerness and ambition may just be your downfall. So take the time to learn, enjoy your work and then move up when you know you'll have a decent chance of success.
That's not to say ambition is always a bad thing -- like most things in life, ambition is a double-edged sword. If you can wield it properly, you have a career weapon in your career arsenal. If not, it'll cut you.
Then again, I have a tendency to overthink things. Maybe I should just take it at face value.
