Starting a journey can often be the hardest part. Of course the desire to reach the destination is there but the struggles and roadblocks along the way strain the courage you have making that first step. Even harder than starting one journey is to abandon it and begin a new one. The judgment of those around you, be it friends or foes, can often make you feel like you are making a bad decision even though you believe it to be the right decision for you. What matters in a change of journey is that you are being your authentic self and marking a path that is true to who you are, not who others might want you to be.
I wanted to be a student affairs professional. It made sense to me because I love working with and impacting the lives of undergraduate Sigma Chis and I am good at it. But when I began to consider how a career in this field would impact my life I started to look deeper into myself and my motivations. I love working with Sigma Chi and making that impact every day. I also love seeing the development of these young brothers into strong men ready to take on their own journeys. Yet these loves are limited to my involvement in Sigma Chi. I don’t want to sound selfish or close-minded, but I don’t want to do this work outside of Sigma Chi. Plus, the thrill for me is volunteering. I like making the difference without payback, although in all honesty the rewards outweigh the work by far.
Aside from my realization that my desires were limited I realized how much I love the business world. I left my last job in a blaze of fury. My experience made me hate what I was doing and pushed me to the limit. Since starting my new job with a great company last year I have seen it isn’t like that everywhere. In fact I LOVE my job. I don’t say that lightly or to suck up to anyone because I have no telling who will ever see this. I say that with complete honesty. I am making a huge difference and have had some amazing success. In addition, it has helped re-reveal a passion I lost in my negative experience at a previous company that shall remain anonymous: developing an organization and leaders within that organization. I love seeing others grow and become successful using the tools of business and entrepreneurship. And, selfishly, I love the feeling I have when I grow and become successful.
So, this leads to a change in my destination but not a drastic change. While my focus shifts from developing undergraduate leaders to developing business leaders the bottom line remains the same: I want to make an impact on the world by developing others to make a difference. In fact, my actual life quest map has only had one change: I will now apply to grad school with a focus on human resources and organizational development. And the timeline is extended a little due to the timing of my decisions. This entire change reflects what I want and who I want to be. As I said in the beginning of this blog, it can be hard to deal with the judgments of others but I know the people who judge or question are only doing it to ensure I remain true to my authentic self and I love each of them for it. In fact, I welcome it. In fact, as Warren Bennis has said, “Have some group that will tell you the truth and whom you can tell the truth. If you have people like that around you, what else matters?”
I hope you will join me on this journey and keep me authentic. It will not be easy and I hope to learn more about myself and others as I embark. In the meantime, thank you for reading this re-launch of my blog. It is just a beginning with many more to come.
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