After holding one of the most powerful positions in the world for 8 years, former president Barack Obama, is now sharing career advice for young adults—and honestly all adults—as they navigate life as working Americans. In a recent interview with LinkedIn, the POTUS drops words of wisdom not only about maintaining a career, but also on the importance of work-life balance.
With his youngest daughter Sasha recently receiving her undergraduate degree from USC and oldest daughter Malia officially in full swing of her career as a show writer and developer for Donald Glover’s production company, Gilga—Mr. Obama sees first hand the effects that trying to balance life and a new career can have on young adults.
During his interview, he shares why finding balance is essential and not allowing work to become a substitute for other aspects of your life, like maintaining friendships, spending time with loved ones, and even having a social life.
“Michelle and I always tell our daughters, look, some of work is just a grind. Some of the work is you doing something that is useful to your employer, the person who is paying you, and it may not be fun,” shared Obama with LinkedIn News. “And that’s okay because that’s what it means to be a grown-up. I think that part of the motivation for wanting recognition for work is spot on. Being fairly compensated for your work is spot on. And as you proceed in whatever occupation you’re in, hopefully you have more and more control over how and what you do on your job. That’s gonna give you more satisfaction, more agency.”
“But, what you want is a balance. Young people looking for work that they find interesting that they can throw themselves into, but not thinking that that becomes a substitute for the other aspects of our lives,” he continued. “You know, volunteering, family, friendships, civic engagement, that make for a well-rounded life.”
But, he also urges those just stepping into the workforce to keep one key piece of advice in mind at all times.
“Worry more about what you want to do rather than what you want to be. I think so often, people have in their mind ‘I want to be, you know, running a tech startup by the time I’m 25. I want to be, you know, a congressman by 30. I wanna make X amount of money by this age,'” shared Obama.
“And the people I find that are most successful are the people who say, man, I’m really interested in computers and figuring this stuff out, and then they end up being a Bill Gates,” added the former President. “Or, I’m really interested in how to cure this disease, and maybe they don’t end up winning the Nobel Prize, but you know what, they have an extraordinary career because they’re just interested in the thing itself. And then if you are absorbed by what you’re doing, one of two things is gonna happen. You’re gonna get really good at it, and whether you’re rewarded, recognized, you get the positions that you want or not, the journey will have been a good one.”