I am 43 this year. Have been working as a teacher since I graduated from college at the tender age of 26. So I have 17 years of working experience under my belt. While I don’t claim to wake up enthusiastically and raring to report to work every day, I don’t dread work either. I have always worked professionally as a teacher - other than a 3-month stint as a PR executive (which obviously didn’t work out).

So how do I maintain a fresh attitude towards work? I think it has a lot to do with my job hopping practices. I worked for three years at a junior college, then two years at a polytechnic, then two years as an assistant language teacher in Japan, then five years at a specialised school, then three years at a primary school and finally back at the same specialised school. Mind you, there are things that I gave up in order to have such a rich and broad spectrum of teaching experiences. If I had stayed on in my first job and focused on climbing the corporate ladder, I would have ascended to be a manager by now. But due to me switching to drastically different educational institutions, I always started from scratch, so I’m still an ordinary teacher. I have yet to be promoted at my specialised school.

This is where self awareness comes in. While I bemoan not earning as much money as I could have, I don’t regret the career choices I made. Living and working in Japan was a life-changing experience. Also, because I worked in so many types of educational institutions, I find that I have become rather good at connecting random dots and suggesting creative and out-of-the-box ideas because I just mix and match my disparate experiences together. I feel like I have fresh perspectives and novel insights that not many other teachers can lay claim to. And because I’m confident in what I have to say and do, I don’t feel jaded. I’m not particularly fazed by another twenty years of working because I can see myself switching to an entirely different educational line in the future.

Your answer may not lie in frequent job hopping. If it helps, my MBTI profile is ENFP, so I like to try new things randomly. Your MBTI profile will guide you accordingly. But I posted this because I want to let you know that you will eventually find your own coping mechanisms. You have the power to shape the extent to which work impacts your emotional well-being. Delight in exercising control over your work!