Aristotle once said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

Sometimes when I look at my life situationally, especially since I am about to finish school and life is changing constantly, I feel that I have not been able to establish any habits. It seems like I have a new job every four months and that I change my career goals every other day. However, this volatile behavior is decreasing and I am focusing more on the things that I want to do most and am best at.

If I change my point of view and, instead of looking at my live situationally, I look at it characteristically, I feel that I am much more consistent. By that I mean, even though my jobs have changed, I am consistent in looking for opportunities and small entrepreneurial undertakings (which likely fuels the high job turnover.) So, I guess a question that one could ask Aristotle is this–does “repeatedly do” apply to a position (being in one job for a long time) or does it apply to characteristics (being proactive across many jobs)? Is it better to habitually go to work or to habitually be proactive?