Jordan Peterson: Top 3 Career Tips

Jordan Peterson is a cultural phenomenon. He’s one of the most well-known public intellectuals on the speaking circuit. He’s a clinical psychologist and a best-selling author who comments on a variety of cultural issues. Peterson is not a professing Christian at least at the time of this video’s release, but he is friendly to the Christian faith. He’ll use biblical references in his talks and has a high regard for the Bible.

What you may not know is Peterson has some excellent career advice to anyone considering what to do with their life. And strangely, his advice connects to biblical wisdom. In this video, we’re going to look at one of Peterson’s class lectures where he tells young people about career planning and we’ll see how it connects to the Bible.

In this video, we’re going to try something a little different. I found a great clip of Jordan Peterson riffing about meaningful work and life. I’m going to play a short clip of Peterson and make some comments on what he’s saying and how it relates to planning your career.

Find a Purpose-Driven Career

Peterson points out a simple, perhaps too obvious, but still very important point: we derive positive emotion when we are proceeding toward a goal we value. None of us are happy when we’re making “progress” on something that doesn’t ultimately matter. If you get a well-paying job, but you hate it, what’s the point? It’s hard to appreciate life when you’re going to a job you can’t stand? Or if you make a lot of money working your fingers to the bone, and you’re finally ready to get married and sail around the world – but then die before your wedding and trip – what good was that?

You want to pursue a career that fits into your overall life goals. If you don’t, whatever prestige, toys, or investments you gain won’t make up for the lack of meaning in your work and life. Those are just the costs associated with indirection on this earth — that’s not even touching the eternal losses related to blindly approaching your work or career. Let’s move on to the next section.

Reject Immediate Pleasure Seeking

The raw pursuit of pleasure in your career is not a good long-term approach to work. There are costs associated with doing what feels good for that reason alone. Eating too much leads to unnecessary weight gain. Sex outside the confines of a monogamous heterosexual marriage leads to heartbreak and disease — sure, it may feel good for the moment, but the relational, physical, and relational costs are too high.

And it’s interesting that even a non-Christian like Jordan Peterson can acknowledge the problems with a hedonistic, pleasure-seeking life. Or career.

Make Conscientious Decisions

In the final clip, Peterson touches on conscientiousness. I think this is a great one to end on. When you are conscientious in your work, that’s a value that will transfer to positive benefits wherever you go. If you faithfully discharge your duties at your job, it will turn into good things in the long run. Peterson says it’s an excellent predictor of long-term success.

Maybe you’ve already seen some of those benefits…

If you’re working a fast food restaurant and you’re a better worker than your colleagues, you’ll likely be one of the first people they ask to join management. The same goes for a job out of college, or a contractor position. Conscientiousness at work leads to more responsibility and reward.

A couple thousand years ago, Jesus said something similar about the benefits of conscientiousness.

Luke records Jesus when he said, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?” (Luke 16:10-11)