It is not how much time you have; it is what you do with it. I have met people in the industry with 20 years of experience, and yet somehow, it feels like some interns and working students have more experience than them after two semesters of working half time.

Seneca reminds us that it is not because we are old that we have lived a lot. The same can be said of work — it is not because you have worked long hours for many years that you have accomplished many things or gathered a lot of experience and wisdom.

That is why it is essential to go deep into our work. By living the task, we may experience something beyond the amount of time spent. How can you be a leader if you cannot go deep because that job or that task is rotting your soul? Call it quits and find something worth getting up for in the morning. Remember Marcus Aurelius, emperor of Rome, who said: “This task can be your last — Remember death”

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