I love Robert Frost. (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44272/the-road-not-taken )[1]
When I think about the road not travelled, it is mostly about my career. Perhaps because I don’t think I have a Career. In truth, while I have been seeing professional success and accomplishments for 30 years, I fell into every job I have had. There was no plan. There was no path I was travelling. If you think you cannot fall into a second bachelor’s degree and this one in electrical engineering, … well that is why you should read this blog.
I must admit I have been lucky.
But because I have no plan, I find myself regretting the plan I didn’t execute. I see where I would like to have gone, and I regret not going there. In one moment, I wish I were designing circuits. In another, I wish I were testing algorithms. Sometimes, I wish I were a show runner for a well loved but not top 10 dramady about growing up in the Midwest. At other times, I wish I felt like I reach fluency in a second or third language, and I wish I hadn’t left the study of history behind.
I will never work those jobs. I probably wouldn’t like working those jobs. (Translating Latin is HARD!)
There are downsides to pivoting quickly and wanting to know a little bit about everything. I never think I know enough, and it frustrates me. If I hit a bump in the road with my boss, I immediately jump on LinkedIn and try and figure out a different path to fall into and see how it goes. I have a tendency to think I can start in the middle and become an expert in 5 easy steps.
Youtube videos are not really my friend because after watching two on a subject, I think I can do it.
I do love learning new things and applying them out in the world. I love adding a bit of value and making a difference. And somehow, in my mind, I think I am entitled to make a difference. Because I see a better way, wherever I work should want to follow my better way. One of my core values is to reduce waste. If everyone would just listen to me, I am sure I could reduce the waste.
As I come up on my five year anniversary in my current career, I find myself wanting two things at once. I am itching to make a change, but I also want the security and compensation of staying right where I am. This perspective is new. While I love this poem, I rarely thought about the path I didn’t travel because I always believed I could go back and travel it later if the first path didn’t work out. I don’t feel that way anymore. There are paths I cannot find my way back to start again.
Maybe there are other paths I am qualified to take that were not an option before?
I have stopped applying for new jobs in new careers. Instead, I am focusing on looking for other paths and other skills and other ideas I have not considered before. The journey is the goal right now, even if I see things I could change but can’t change along the way.
Thanks for watching as I see where it leads.
[1] As always, I didn’t remember the wording exactly. I am keeping my title the same. Read the poem. It’s awesome. I first read it in when I was in Mrs. Dobbs’ class in Second Grade, and it has stayed with me for 44 years.