Have a life and a career. (Personal Growth).

Lately, the complaint we hear most is not a frustrated desire for advancement but a longing for more control over their work lives. This complaint is not limited to the under-thirty set. Forty-and fiftysomethings want more leisure and less face time with the boss, a.k.a. more control over day-to-day work. However, you can't have what you can't name, describe, or recognize. Too many people find themselves making a disproportionate commitment to work because they have not generated specific alternatives. Here's what we hear:

"I'm miserable in my job. I'd quit but I need the money."

"Why are you miserable?"

"I'm overworked."

"What does overwork mean?"

"You know, too many hours."

"How many hours would be your ideal?"

"Less."

It will take a dedicated questioner to get to the bottom of this complaint, if it's possible at all. Free-floating pain must be pinned down. You must decide what "having a life" means to you. Can you describe your ideal …