ERASING THE PAST

What Would Be Your Motivation If You Could Erase One Incident From Your Past?

Focusing On Emotions And Motivation Instead Of Actions

Take a moment to think about the question…

What Would Be Your Motivation If You Could Erase One Incident From Your Past?

What feelings does it bring up? What motivation does it elicit?

Guilt for something you had done to someone else?

Jump back before a mistake was made so you can make a different decision?

Regret of a path you wish you had taken?

A chance to try again on something?

I don’t dwell on the past, but I do wish I had picked a different career path.

I have always been jealous of the people that knew early on what they wanted to career-wise. For some, they excelled at a particular thing. For others, they were passionate about something.

I was neither.

I was lost.

I had no clue during college what to pick, but was determined to finish within four years.

I did it!

Only, as I walked to get my diploma, I could hear a voice saying “I know computers is right for me, but what is?

I wish I had taken a different path back then. My field, while it appears to be lucrative, is riddled with ups and downs. Along with many colleagues I we feel pigeon-holed into a particular technology unable to transition to other aspects of our field. It is a project based world which meant many periods of unemployment. We went from the early years jealous of those with more experience on their resumes to approaching our 40s and finding that the technology we were strongest at was disappearing and we were being overlooked for opportunities due to age.

As I sit here at yet another transition point in my career, I would love the opportunity to tell my 20 year old self to seek a different path even it takes a little longer.

“Pick a career that allows you to learn the skills once and utilize them long-term. “

“Pick a career that can be done in any community (doctor, dentist, mechanic, hair dresser, therapist).“

”I would tell myself to pick something as a sole proprietor dependent on my own skills to succeed, but where it is not dependent on my physical capability should that change over time.”

Now that I have spent some time writing this, a few other incidents are coming to mind.

A life lesson about Elders that with proper insight in my youth could have been avoided, avoiding the strain it caused on a relationship.

The emotional, physical, and monetary cost of a business gone wrong. This is the biggest and most surface level wound I wish I could make disappear.

I am strong, as long as I focus on what I learned from the experience and use it as the foundation for the next experience, it will lead to future success.