Case Study 1
A professional woman and a mother of two was telling me that whenever she wanted to do something new she often got overwhelmed by so many advice that she lost her initial enthusiasm. She wanted to find the “best” way and for that she first needed to explore all possible information out there. No wonder she felt overwhelmed!
To cater her assumption of “best”, she not only made it a burden on her, even worse sometimes she was sacrificing the original intention altogether.
Case Study 2
A young tech professional, married with no kid, wanted to do a tech project of his own. His concern was that he didn’t have enough time to explore all the technologies out there. His way of exploration was that he wanted to be on top of every shiny new topic/technology he could get access to. In course of our conversation he realized even if he had all the time for himself, it would be impossible for him to explore “everything” that seemed interesting. Not to mention he even didn’t have enough interest on one topic to spend more than two consecutive days on it.
He was hiding under “not enough time” excuse when his problem was elsewhere.
Case Study 3
Many times I get this question, “What helped you to make such a big shift – the career change?” It sure feeds my ego and I can go on and on talking about it. At some point I wondered, who is it serving, is it for me or for the person who asked the question. Everyone is so unique and has unique situations; many times my story only brings a conclusion that “Oh it worked for you because…, but my situation is different”.
These days I am more upfront about it. Instead of telling my story, I ask “I will be happy to share mine, but would you rather discuss your situation and see how you can make progress about your big decision?” Most of them choose the later.
Bottom line
There is a common assumption that the answer is somewhere out there and if I read all possible articles/books/advice I will find it. In reality this “data collection” works only when we know what in particular I am looking for, what the bigger question I want to address. Being mindful, purposeful is the key. Unless the mind is fertile and ready, no great idea would have the chance to grow in there.
There was a time I wished if I could find a ready-made answer to my questions about my career fulfillment, only to be greatly disappointed. Afterwards I accepted that reality, and focused on figuring out my own custom answers, and then finally I got the most rewarding results! It may not be the “best” possible answer in the democratic sense but it sure served me most.
