Too many people have taken an offer because it meets one important criterion, such as increased compensation or shorter commute, without looking at the totality of the job. A happy work-life means that most of the aspects of the job that are important to you are met.

Should I go with the new employer or stay at my current employer? There is no one right answer to this question. A lot of this will be in the “it depends” category. One thing you must do is go back and assess the reason(s) that you decided to look for a new job in the first place. Will your issues be addressed by the counter offer?

In marketing, we talk about the “value proposition” and what do you bring, what do you stand for? Very few people, I think, do the hard work of figuring that out for themselves. When you have that value proposition and you know exactly what it is, everything you do becomes a lot easier.