The third module talks about the importance of finding one’s passion to inform one’s ideal career, but more importantly, it notes the difficulty in identifying and pinpointing what’s engaging, especially in a society that’s become so open. In having seemingly unlimited options, trying to narrow your focus into one career can be extremely overwhelming especially if your interests don’t align exactly. This is something that I’ve struggled with in the past as, whenever someone asks me what I want to do and I respond with I’m not sure, there’s an assumption that I haven’t found something I think is worth engaging yet when in reality, there are a couple of career paths that are extremely appealing to me, however, have completely different tracks or paths to achieving those roles. For example, I’ve always been intrigued by law as well a love for building things with my hands and the notion of being able to become an industrial designer or engineer. The fact that both careers require extensive studying and have relatively rigid pathways to follow, feeling the need to choose one over the other, when I really don’t have a great sense of what the career entails on a daily basis is simply just scary.
While the previous educational institutions I’ve attended have always stressed the importance of having a growth mindset it was interesting to hear it reappear in the workplace as it’s a constant reminder that a fixed mindset, a self-imposed mindset, has the ability to limit and restrict your greatest potential. I thought it was interesting to think about how these self-imposed fixed mindsets often stem from societal notions. The negative mindset is absorbed or assumed by individuals who have been told they shouldn’t be able to or can’t do something. This internalized negativity and societal norms is harmful as it continues the cycle of self-doubt so many struggles with.
The second part of Week three discussed the importance of setting your goals and determining what gives you satisfaction or what/how you want to feel on a daily basis. It’s important for me to have great relationships with co-workers as well as it’s important that I feel engaged, connected, and invested in the work I do every day. For me, I think I’ve determined that it’s important for me to see or have some tangible measure of success as it’s a reminder of the reason I’m putting in the hard work as well as feels that much more rewarding when all the effort is able to receive feedback. I became clearer throughout the module on the importance of work-life balance through the exercise of the Mind Map, especially that of the personal projects. I think that it’s easy to feel like you can choose to bring your work to the office and your home self at home, but it’s in between time, evenings, and weekends that creating boundaries for yourself in each aspect becomes very important. By making sure that I’m happy and satisfied outside of the workforce, I will ensure that I can bring the best version of myself to work and enjoy the daily tasks each and every day.
