What track are you on? Have you gotten off? Do you need to get back on it?
Three times in the past three days, I’ve heard different friends who are in academia – as counselor and students discussing this idea about “being on track.”
Over sushi lunch with a Harvard University program administrator, she told me that one of the key questions she often asks graduate students who come in for counseling, is – “Are you on track?” She said the statement of purpose students submitted before admission into their fields of study, often demonstrated their specific intent and outstanding accomplishment. Those are indicators of their intellectual ability, acumen, and personal aspiration to use their education for a well-defined purpose.
Yet, after they come to campus and become exposed to the incredibly rich and diverse spectrum of academic and professional fields, they lose sight of their original goal. The more they interact with people of all kinds of backgrounds and experiences, specialized knowledge and aspirations, the more they become overwhelmed with possibilities. Suddenly, they want to do everything, they can’t focus. They get off track. They don’t want to get back on it, or they don’t know if they should. The vicious cycle of self-doubt and argumentative thinking cloud their judgment.
Obviously, purpose can change because people do. That is normal. That is to be expected.
But the trouble is once you toss out one goal, you need to create another goal. You need to find another purpose.
Purpose & Priority
Purpose is the engine that fuels the fire in your belly. It gives you a direction. It grounds you in a domain from which all things flow. When I entered into a graduate program, I too was overwhelmed by the array of classes, lectures, seminars, forums available to me from a cross-section of departments and schools. It would be up to me to set a new goal, like a clothing line, to link and hang all these different courses to fit a new me! The question I was always asking myself – who was this new me? What role did I want to play?
Without thinking hard the sort of person or professional I wanted to become, I would not be able to direct and prioritize my resources – time, energy, money – to form a trajectory that gives me a sense of direction.
I had originally thought I would leave TV news after my graduate program to pursue a consulting career or think-tank, but I changed my mind after courses I’d taken in Chinese and Japanese language, history, economy, as well as electives in conflict resolution, negotiation, and law. They come together to form a very different scenario for me. The idea that I would be applying my acquired knowledge to writing or presenting papers, or advising clients to solve their problems did not appeal to me. I didn’t get excited about that space or that medium as a mode of delivery to produce that kind of deliverables. Once I realized what I didn’t want, I began seeking out media internships that would bring me back to the TV news track after I got my graduate degree. My search paid off. A broadcast network in Tokyo appreciated my graduate coursework with a focus on Japan and China. My personal work style and professional track record of TV news experience also struck them as a clear culture fit. I was offered a position in international news coverage by a leading U.S. broadcast network after a highly productive and satisfying summer internship for them, and for me.
Path
As someone who has been interviewing potential interns and new team members since my TV news days, I understand first hand how recruiters look at candidates. They need to see how you make choices that cohere. Incoherent decisions affect not only how you are perceived, they also alter your personality, your confidence and the energy you bring to a workplace. Of course, life doesn’t always put you on a linear path, in fact, it often throws you curveballs and send you flying off track. But asking ourselves, am I on track? What track am I on? What purpose am I serving for whom and why? All these are important and urgent questions for us to regain our compass and reshape a sense of direction.
We can always change course, but without a clear and compelling reason, we risk wasting time, energy and resources and perhaps hurting others who depend on us to convert our premium education into productive service.