I'm not leaving

This job is for life.

I don’t ever want to leave my job.

Maybe I just don’t see it yet, the reason around the corner, but I cannot imagine ever willingly walking away.

Not for better money. Not for more security. Not for recognition nor fame.

For someone who changed jobs every 18 months out of boredom, it’s beyond irregular that, five and a half years later, I’m still excited every day to log in.

I hope I get to forever.

Not just a job

This job, I knew even before I got it, isn’t just a job.

This is going to sound pretentious as f*ck, but I don’t see this as just being an assistant or helping me—it’s joining a movement to promote a self-help based on resilience, humility, rationality and tolerance. So, on the surface, it’s an entry-level position that pretty much every Phase 2 candidate is absurdly over-qualified for, but really, I’m looking at someone to grow with the business and to help build out this team for years to come.

Therefore, if you see this position as more of a short-term, “this will be fun/useful for a while,” thing, then it probably isn’t the right fit. But if you want to be part of a growing brand that is hoping to reshape the self-help industry, then hell yeah, hop aboard!

Reading Mark’s email admitting me into Phase 2 of my application to be his Content and Research Assistant, I couldn’t believe how lucky I was. When I got the offer three weeks later, I broke down in tears.

My first two years weren’t without difficulties. Tasks I wasn’t equipped for and a role that changed so often most of the time I didn’t know what it was. But I never lost sight of our mission to reshape the self-help industry, and that made all the moments I didn’t love it worthwhile.

Then, in December 2022, I became Mark’s Newsletter Manager. And if there was any doubt before, my new role extinguished it like a garden hose on a scented candle.

When Mark entrusted me with his email list, he gave me access to hundreds of thousands, now over a million lives. Lives I get to change, every single week, through Mark’s words that I compile into these neat emails. Two things to think about, two questions to ask yourself, one exercise for the week.

More than that, I get to scour our inbox for reader stories to feature every week. Stories of actual humans doing ordinary things that, by their relatability, might spur hundreds, maybe thousands, to action and thereby become extraordinary.

Where else would I get the chance to do this, week in week out, and be paid for the privilege?

“The rest of your life”

I am not naive. I know ours is a money-making, money-chugging business and I am as expendable as everyone else who ever worked for a salary.

But I believe in my value, our mission, and most of all Mark.

I believe it when he said, in that Phase 2 email, he’s “looking at someone to grow with the business and to help build out this team for years to come.”

I believe it when he replied, after receiving a string of queries I sent him before starting, “You’ll have the rest of your life to ask as many questions as you want.”

I believe it when last year he gave me a raise I didn’t deserve because Dad was dying and I wasn’t coping, a raise he said “reflected my potential” and his desire to work with me “long term.”

I believe it when he asked if I was happy and I said yes and he said his team’s happiness is all he wants, but don’t tell anyone because it’s too soppy for the “not-giving-a-f*ck” guy.

I believe this job is an opportunity that comes around once in a lifetime. The kind I’ll never forgive myself if I waste it.

You’re never getting rid of me!

What do you think?

I don’t usually write about work because I want you to read me for me, not for the fact I work for a #1 New York Times bestselling author. But I was in a mood today, and here we are:

Is your job just a job, or is it for life?

I’d love to hear your story, if you want to share it with me. Please hit “reply” or leave a comment—I read every response. If you want, share this post with someone who loves their job to see what resonates.

Finally, I’m happy to announce: We’re back to a weekly schedule as of today!

Until next Friday… stay thoughtful,

Val

P.S. Mark doesn’t hire often, but when we do, we announce it in our free newsletter. Or: bookmark our Jobs page. Maybe one day we’ll get to work together.