Slow success is the best

By Daniel Gulati

Meet Generation Impatient: the growing group of 20- and 30-somethings who are smart, ambitious and all-too-eager to quit whatever it is they’re doing right now to get promoted, acquired or make more money somewhere else.

Hating your job on day three? Leave and find something better. Beta launch didn’t work out? Shut it down and move on. Although these individuals come in different forms — from buttoned-up investment bankers to scrappy entrepreneurs — one thing is consistent: they just won’t wait...

Quitting early to avoid getting stuck in a rut is smart. But continually shortening your time horizons for career achievement and shirking hard work in the search for immediate silver bullets may limit your long-term outcomes...

Recent research describes the negative correlation between rapid adoption and eventual failure in everything from baby names to fashion, music and social movements... As neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky says, our sense of well-being is brought about by the pursuit of happiness, not the attainment of it.

Psychological studies prove that the anticipation of an experience has a more profoundly positive effect on our lives than the experience itself. By rushing too fast to the next promotion, job change or new business, you’re shortchanging yourself on what’s most enjoyable: the thrill of the chase.

From “Stop Fast-Tracking Your Career”