William James said to change your life immediately and dramatically. When planning a career, consider how it fits with the rest of your life, such as where you live and how you spend free time. This career planning should also involve life planning by thinking about the type of life you want. A career counselor asks clients about their desired lifestyle before discussing career options, because work should complement an enjoyable life rather than define it. Society often expects people to work at jobs they dislike most hours in order to have little free time for preferred activities.

1. Get a life, not just a job
“To change one’s life: start immediately, do it flamboyantly. No
exceptions.”
William James
As you determine the course of your career path, you’ll discover that other facets of your
life will enter into the picture as well—where you live, how you spend your money, how you
spend your free time. This career-planning time is also time to think about life planning. When I
meet with my clients for the first time, before I ask them what they want to do, I ask them what
kind of life they want to live.
Even in carefree Hawaii, there’s an expression – Pau Hana—meaning “after work,” Until
the last decade, most of our lives were built around work and after work. It always seemed
upside-down to me that our society encourages us to work long hours at something we hate in
order to get a few hours to do something we really love. Where I grew up in the Midwest,