“In fact, a big dimension of building the work life you want is IGNORING WHAT OTHER PEOPLE BELIEVE IS NORMAL. Sure, you have to conform in plenty of ways. That goes without saying. For some of us to thrive, we have to figure out what we want, and we also have to refuse to engage with or overexplain or justify the complicated layers of WHY WE WANT WHAT WE WANT. This might not apply to everyone alive, but for someone like you or me, explaining and trying to be understood is a trap that actually erodes our ability to do our jobs.
Who fucking cares if other people call that difficult or fucked up? What do they know? The first rule of building the career you want is: RESPECT YOUR OWN WEIRD, FUCKED UP NEEDS. Why? Because the more you trust yourself to respect your own natural patterns and affinities and desires, the more your relationship to work and to yourself with be repaired.”
— Heather Havrilesky