What career goals do you have? Are you okay with simplicity, or do you value a good challenge? Are you happy with where you are, or do you prefer to not stay in the same place for too long? There are no wrong answers to these questions – the only requirement I believe needs to be met is that regardless of your goals, they should make you happy. This week, I asked a coworker of mine what his goals were and he told me that his lifelong aspiration was to be able to own a house on a nearby lake. This goal is admirable, achievable, and concrete. He then asked me what my goals were, and I didn’t really have an answer. Herein lies an issue of mine – I do not have any concrete goals (long-term or otherwise). Although, what I do have is a “vision” or a place I want to get to. It is aptly summarized by yet another Hamilton reference: I want to be in the room where it happens.
The idea of being in such a room has driven me long before I ever was a fan of Hamilton. I don’t think there’s been too many times in life where I’ve been okay with staying where I’m at: I’ve always aspired toward being in the room where it happens. Okay, but what is this “room” and what is “happening” in it? I’m not sure. Admittedly, I don’t even know if it exists. If it does exist, it could even be the case that it isn’t related to the mining industry at all. So much for guidance or planning, right? This room might not even exist. How do I strive towards something that may not exist? This is the pinnacle of why I am goal-less. Albeit, what I do know about myself is that I aspire to grow into a position (wherever it may be) where I can be trusted to make big decisions and have a great impact on the place I work. That is what happens, in the aforementioned room. I realize that this is such a broad goal (and subject to continuous change) but I can trust that the following is necessary: wherever I go, I need to work hard and learn as much as possible.
However, like any other endeavor I partake in, I always worry about the control I have (or lack thereof) within this pursuit. Am I doing all the right things in the facets I have control over? What if I do all the right things but it’s ultimately the things I can’t control that prevent me from getting into the room? What if I don’t do the right things at all? Do “the right things” exist, or is it all just luck? I’m afraid that the only person who knows the answer to these things is someone on the other side – someone who is in the future and can’t help me right now. I recently had a conversation with one of my supervisors that appeased these worries a bit, and in summary, it went like this:
“I’m worried that I’m not doing enough.”
“well, are you always busy during the day?”
“yeah, I feel like I am.”
“then, you are doing enough.”
Perhaps I am doing enough, but I’ll never be convinced of it. Well, how about we hash it out right now – let’s make some concrete career goals and objectives. Perhaps it’s the case that I am so worried about the future and not doing enough because my goals are broad and are not objectively “achievable”. I don’t think I can re-work my entire mindset within a small writing exercise, but I think that asking myself the following questions is a good start:
- What do I want my role to be?
- What makes me happy?
- What can I do now to progress to this role while also accommodating my happiness?
Role: I value being knowledgeable. I want to teach and advise on things, preferably technical in nature. This is different than being a manager or supervisor – I don’t really know how I’d fit in a role where I am responsible for others. I think I need more experience before I feel confident in doing that, or before I’d want to do it. I just want to be trusted as someone who understands a lot about a particular subject in the industry. Some people aspire to be innovators or leaders; I just want to be knowledgeable. Right now, I suppose that subject is batteries – I want to learn everything I can about batteries.
Happiness: Learning makes me happy. This obviously isn’t unrelated to the previous point, you must learn to be knowledgeable. I’m also happiest when I’m challenged; when I feel like I’m working my way towards something grand. Learning difficult things makes me feel happy and gives me purpose.
Action Items: Considering the previous points in unison with my technical knowledge toolbox, I think I can begin with some simple tasks:
- Read one academic paper about contemporary battery research per week;
- Learn about one new electrical engineering concept per week;
- Identify questions and discuss newfound knowledge with supervisors.
Hopefully while completing these tasks, I will develop concrete career goals and learn enough to be happy. Understanding the fundamentals of the project I’m working on (in this case, batteries) will be helpful in all regards; It will make me more proficient at my job (battery-wise and engineering-wise) while also ensuring that I’m happy.
Perhaps what I am certain of is that I always want to be progressing towards the room where it happens, for the rest of my life. This reality, in and of itself, is a dilemma. I cannot ever well-define the “room where it happens”, because if I get there – then I won’t be able to progress towards it any longer. The room has always gotten bigger. For instance, my job right now is exactly where I wanted to be last summer. This was the room where it happened. Of course, ever since I got here, this was no longer the room. Is this good? Is this bad? Is this a bit of both? Probably. It’s good because I’ll always have something to strive for; It’s bad because I’ll have a difficult time feeling satisfied with where I am, and I’ll never feel as if I’ve done enough. As mentioned above, the only person that truly knows whether or not I’m doing enough right now, is on the other side. Although, I’m currently “on the other side” from the perspective of who I was before – and as such, I can say for certain that what I did last summer was enough (and even then I worried, too). Perhaps I should just keep doing what I’m doing and the room (and my goals) will manifest itself into existence.
(August 26th, 2020)
astronomine 
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